Advent
Zephaniah 3:14–20
14Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. 16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 18I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.1 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 20At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; 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.
"Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!" St. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!" So we sing "Joy to the world!" We greet our friends with, "Merry Christmas!" 'Tis the season to be jolly. These are the words that describe the season. And today is the Sunday of Joy. Officially called Gaudete Sunday which is Latin for "rejoice", joy is the theme of the third Sunday in Advent. That is why the Advent candle for today is a lighter color than the rest, pink, instead of blue, to show the lighter mood, the spirit of joy.
But the joy of today isn't about the joy of the holiday season. There's a deeper joy, a more transcendent joy. Looking at our text we see the words, "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save, HE WILL REJOICE OVER YOU WITH GLADNESS, ... HE WILL EXULT OVER YOU WITH LOUD SINGING." Today's joy isn't just about our joy, it's about God's joy! Now that is something to be joyful about. When God is joyful all is right with us. So today, let's meditate on God's joy. Why is he rejoicing? What makes God rejoice?
Why is he rejoicing? He tells us in our text: He is rejoicing because he "...has taken away the judgments against you..." God is rejoicing because he has cleared the judgments that he himself had against us. In other words, he is rejoicing that you are saved from your sins! He is rejoicing because you are his! You might compare it to new parents who rejoice over the birth of their child.
But, by saying the judgments have been taken away he is saying that there were judgments against us. God tells us through the prophet Jeremiah, "The Lord will roar from on high;...he will roar mightily against his sheep...the clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations, he is entering into judgment with all flesh..." and again he tells us through Hosea, "The Lord has an indictment against Judah and will punish Jacob according to his ways; he will repay him according to his deeds."
So God tells us, "Arise, plead your case before the mountains and let the hills hear your voice. Hear, you mountains, the indictment of the Lord...for the Lord has an indictment against his people." The Lord asks us, "O my people, what have I done to you? How have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery,..." but you have delivered up your Redeemer to be crucified.
When God looks at our world, what does He see? He sees a world full of violence, killing, war, bloodshed. He sees poverty, oppression, hunger, and racism. He sees one man setting himself up above another. He sees people pushing others around. He sees gossipers, self-righteous people. People pointing fingers of blame at each other. He sees babies murdered in the womb. He sees rampant sexual immorality. He sees crippled and maimed bodies from wars and disease. How do you think he feels?
He looks at us, turned inside ourselves with little or no interest or caring for those outside who are hurting, hungry, homeless. He sees into our hearts and thoughts. Yes he knows every thought you have ever thought. He knows your words before you speak. He looks into the deepest, darkest corners of your thought life and what does he see? Think about it. If all of a sudden there were some radical change in the laws of nature such that everyone here in this room could hear your every thought, and know everything you were thinking, you would cover your head and run out of here in sham and disgrace. How do you think God feels?
And still you think that everything is right between you and God. You have convinced yourselves that God approves of you, he is pleased with you, that he considers you a good person. You hate hearing sermons with law in them that tell you, "you are a sinner." You don't even believe it. You don't even think you are much of a sinner. If asked to stand up and confess all your sins right here in front of all these people, you wouldn't even be able to think of anything to say, at least not anything you consider serious. You fully expect God to let you into heaven on judgment day and it doesn't really matter what you do or how you live. You think that because you are a member of the church you have a free pass. You think that Jesus is your "get out of jail free" card. So when God tells you in the Bible to do this or don't do that, you just go "ho, hum," because you don't think God will do anything about it anyway. You just don't believe you will be judged or go a hell.
But God says judgments have been entered against you on account of your rebellion and your sin. And the sentence was death, eternal death in hell.
But does this make God happy? Does he rejoice over this? No! He grieves. He says in Genesis he is "grieved to the heart." He says he "has no pleasure in the death of the wicked." He desires all to be saved, but thousands die every day and go to eternal condemnation and he is sorely grieved.
For all our sinful ways and thoughts a judgment has been entered against us. It's worse than a lien on your house. It's worse than foreclosure. It's worse than your car being repossessed. The judgment pending against you is in the court of heaven. And this is grievous to him. His heart is heavy with sorrow. He does not delight in the death of the wicked. He desires that all men repent of their sin and come to the knowledge of Christ and be saved. God's greatest sorrow is that some will perish.
So why is God rejoicing today? He is rejoicing over you because the judgment against you has been taken away. You have been cleared. God is rejoicing because his Son came into our world, became one of us, took our sin from us and bore it on the cross. Because his Son has dealt with our sin and paid for it the judgments against you have been removed. He says, "You, who were dead in your trespasses...God made you alive together with him, having forgiven you all your trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against you with its legal demands. This he set aside by nailing it to the cross." "Who shall lay any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised."
That is why God is rejoicing. He is rejoicing because you have been saved from your sins. He is rejoicing because Christ has reconciled you to him and now he can dwell in your midst. He is rejoicing because he desires you to be saved. He is rejoicing over you with gladness and will exult over you with loud singing! If you listen closely to the sounds coming from heaven you can almost hear the loud singing, a boisterous party, like the banquet the father made when his prodigal son returned home. Like the celebration the woman made for her friends and neighbors when she found her lost coin. There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Listen to the sounds in the heavens! It sounds something like a wedding celebration with music, singing, dancing and laughter. Indeed, it is a wedding celebration! It is the wedding banquet that the King made for his Son. And you are the bride! A royal wedding, a joyous celebration, a festive banquet, and you are the reason for all the joy.The Lord delights in you as a father delights in his son. Christ says that at the creation he was working alongside God and was delighting in the children of man. Jesus says of you, "You are beautiful my beloved, truly delightful." And the prophet Isaiah tells us, "You shall be called 'My Delight is in you.'"
Just take a moment to absorb that thought: You are God's joy! You are his delight! It is you that God is rejoicing over. It is you that brings joy to God's heart. Is there any greater reason for joy on the Sunday of Joy? How much more joy could we have than to know that God himself rejoices over you with gladness and will exult over you with loud singing. The very heart of God that was broken when you fell into sin, is now filled with joy over you because Christ has taken away your sin and removed the judgment against you. He now invites you to the celebration in heaven. In worship, in the Sacrament of the Altar, we join in the celebration in heaven; we are present at the wedding banquet; we partake of the feast today. In Word and Sacrament we join the loud singing at the celebration God is making for us.
And soon Jesus will come again for us. He will come to deal with all your oppressors for the final time and eliminate them forever. He will save the lame and gather the outcast from the furthermost parts of the world. He will bring you in and gather you together in his kingdom and restore your fortunes before your eyes.
Therefore, Rejoice with gladness and exult with loud snging. Amen.