Gaudete! Rejoice!

Zephaniah 3:12-20

Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan

If you read your Midweek Update from last Wednesday, you know historically Advent was a penitential season, but on the third Sunday, when we light our pink candle, Gaudete! We are told to Rejoice! Break the fast; crack out the chocolate; wear pink to worship; whoop it up. God is coming among humanity. So, we might find it curiously fitting to hear from Zephaniah, written to a people who had been crushed by foreign occupation, now dejected, even straying from the faith. Society was ruled by the wealthy who were only interested in making more and protecting the other rich folk (something sounds familiar here). Into this society, Zephaniah brings a harsh word of judgement from YHWH God – much as we heard last week of severe actions, like scrubbing and refining, to cleanse society. God is seriously present in correcting the unrighteous, but then God’s promise to be present for the faithful is joyful. Twice in the final verses of this brief book, the glorious statement: “LORD Yahweh, your God, is in your midst.” (v.17) Then follow 6 promises from God, each beginning “I will…” Our administrator Kate set them out clearly when she reproduced the scripture below. From the 3rd chapter of the book of the prophet Zephaniah, listen for the Word of God.

For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord— the remnant of Israel; they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths. Then they will pasture and lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.

People report amazing scenes from last century when the ending of 300 years of British colonial rule in Jamaica was announced. A date was set for signing final papers and surrendering power to Jamaicans. But the reveling began immediately. Weeks before the actual turn-over of power, the people began celebrating their independence. They partied. They filled the streets with music and dancing and feasting, because they were certain the promised day was coming, so the rejoicing began. Their time of occupation was over, even before the day arrived. Gaudete!

God promises to be with the oppressed. Those who are crushed are in the presence of God. The Holy Spirit is surrounding them; trying to strengthen and comfort them, promising the downtrodden will be lifted up by God. Zephaniah foretells divine liberation from oppression of foreign powers, but also liberation from their own leaders who abused their positions. Common people suffered while the privileged, who don’t care who gets stepped on, accumulated more and more riches. All over, people were losing their livelihoods, being thrown out of their homes, as the wealthy got richer and the poor got poorer. Significant numbers experienced hopeless poverty in their own country. So, no wonder Yahweh promises to come among the persecuted. Zephaniah reports: Our God will make things right, saying “I will bring you..  home.” So, God will not only free you from occupation but will provide a place for you to live in fruitfulness and joy. These are glorious promises to the oppressed!

But where do such promises manifest today? How are unjust systems being corrected and oppressed people being protected? A bit like the situation 60 years ago in Jamaica, we saw exuberance in Syria when Assad was first ousted just a few days ago, but now the heartbreak of piles of dead bodies and walls covered with photos of the disappeared; crowds of people searching for family members. How are those oppressed healed?

It may not seem like much, but we are assured, during the years of torture, whenever all hell broke out, God was with those being crushed. Not only was God in the prisons and with the families of the disappeared in Syria, but also God is present wherever evil seems to have its way. The promise is not that powers of evil will never conquer anyone. Rather, the promise is that in the midst of our greatest heartbreak, God is present. And eventually, God’s ultimate victory will come. Evil will be stopped. Justice will reign. Those who are broken will be made whole. God’s word of holy promise is divine presence in the midst of oppression now, and the coming reversal of oppression. An unbreakable holy promise. God says: I will liberate the crushed and I will gather the outcasts to myself. God promises to be with the oppressed.

So we find God by joining the work. Getting where the oppressed are, gets us into God’s presence. Rejoice! But some of us don’t feel very joyous. In fact, some of us wonder where God is at all. We fear God is not among us. We fear the enemies of the good are winning. But the prophet Zephaniah is firm in speaking to the oppressed: “Do not fear! God is in your midst.” So, here’s the key. If God’s joyous promise is to be with society’s least, those of us who live easy, need to get with the least. A sure way to experience the presence of God is to get where God’s work is happening. We don’t have to fly to Syria to help in the search for loved ones. Plenty of folk around here feel the crush of life circumstances. Any place where injustice is having its way, is a place to find God.

Think of how many people flock south in the winter, not to their second home, but because it’s warmer here and they have no housing at all. At the same time, multi-state rental companies are making larger profits than ever. In great comfort, without a second thought, landlords put profits before people; stockholders before public service. Zephaniah assures us, God is present under bridges as people wrap up in sleeping bags at night, and in remote areas around town where groups might huddle around a little fire, or sleep in make-shift tents or in cars where mothers comfort their children.

So if we want to find God in the midst of us, we need to get where the outcasts are. We could work directly with unhoused people, volunteer at Resurrection House, or we can join the efforts in bringing justice to poor neighbors. We could work to support fair housing legislation, fight evictions, encourage building more low-income housing; raise the minimum wage. God’s Holy Spirit is already bringing restoration in the midst of desperation. Then when we get involved, we find ourselves in the very presence of YHWH God, so the word of renewal and release for the oppressed becomes a word of release for us as well. We find God by joining the work.

Then everyone can rejoice! When God’s work is being done, joy can’t help but break out. Jesus gives a promise to the community of faith. “Wherever two or three of you gather in my name, there I am in the midst of you.” Which means, when we gather for worship or work in the name of Jesus, Jesus is present. But here’s something else. Biblical scholars of the four Gospel books frequently point out how the writers show time and again, wherever Jesus is, the Realm is breaking in. Certainly Jesus teaches about God’s Realm, but then as he acts: healing, feeding, blessing, we can sense it. The Realm is breaking in through him. Get it? We gather here in the name of Jesus to worship, and Jesus is present. And wherever Jesus is, the Realm of God is breaking in. So let’s pay attention, because the Realm is here among us right now. When we gather for worship, pray for those in oppressed situations, collect offerings for retired ministers struggling to pay bills, celebrate where justice is winning:  Gaudete. Rejoice! Sense the Realm of God among us.

But also when we gather to cook a meal for the men of Project 180 – Gaudete! Rejoice! Or if anyone happens to pass our church kitchen (or the hallway or fellowship hall) at 10:00 Sunday morning, we can hear the Realm of God obviously rolling out with Brunch preparation holy laughter. Or when a couple of church members drop in to visit a shut-in member of the St. Andrew family. Gaudete! Rejoice! There’s the Realm again. Or when we volunteer at the food bank, or Resurrection House, or the library, or ALSO Youth, or anyplace else we can get with the least. Gaudete! Rejoice!

Here we are on the third Sunday of Advent, moving toward Bethlehem, anticipating the birth once again. Let’s feel the promise Zephaniah reported 600 years before Mary went into labor. Do not fear…  God, in your midst says:

I will remove disaster from you;

I will deal with your oppressors;

I will save and gather you to myself;

I will change shame into praise;

I will bring you home;

I will restore you.

The prophetic word is extended to all. God is present and active among even us! Everyone, join the rejoicing! Gaudete!