The Problem with Joy

Why do we listen to the prophets during Advent?

Old Testament scholars understand a prophet as someone who sees the world as though God were really active in the world. Most of us find it difficult to consider how God is active in our lives or in the church. Prophets also observe and “identify those parts of our world that are contradictory to God.” After naming the challenge, the prophet describes God’s purpose for us that will indeed come even in circumstances that we can’t imagine. There is always a cycle of both judgement and hope in the prophetic books of the Old Testament. Today we hear from an unknown prophet in the book of Zephaniah.

Zephaniah was written in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem and the people’s captivity in Babylon similar to the time of the scriptures, Micah and Isaiah, that we read last week. Zephaniah cuts straight to the heart of the matter that Israel is in trouble. He begins with the words of the Lord saying, “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth…”

The book of Zephaniah contains nine oracles; eight out of the nine are promises of destruction. And yet, hope and promise are woven through these predictions of darkness and gloom. In chapter 2, “the humble and righteous will find shelter on the day of trouble and ruin” and in the next chapter, “the lowly and meek will remain as a faithful remnant.”

In the beginning of chapter 3, we hear something familiar; “Therefore wait for me, says the Lord.” Pay attention to the wait that begins long before our practice of waiting during Advent. The Lord continues, “ I will change the speech of the people to pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve the Lord with one accord.” This cycle of punishment and restoration is key to God’s relationship with God’s people from the beginning of Genesis.

In the midst of the Hebrew people’s troubles, the Lord helps them see beyond their despair to the possibility of joy, even when the conditions of their lives were not joyful. The Hebrews were in exile and the Lord called them to “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart… (3:14)” The words they sang came from the song tradition of the Hebrew women. Their singing led them to see beyond their despair and moved them from fear to joy.

Do not fear, the Lord your God is in your midst. Do not fear is not a plea, but a declaration that God is here. Zephaniah’s pastoral word to the people of God acknowledges our fear and dispels it with a promise of a transforming joy and not a threat of judgement.

In verses 17 and following, we see the promise of God’s transforming joy. “[The Lord] will rejoice over you with gladness, [and] will renew you in His love.” The next verses describe the product of God’s joy. The Lord will rejoice over you with loud singing. The Lord will remove disaster from you, so that you will not face criticism for it. The Lord will deal with all your oppressors at that time. The Lord will save the lame and gather the outcast, and change their shame into praise. The Lord will bring you home, at the time when I gather you. It is God's action and activity that creates joy in our lives.

The prophets of the Old Testament traced the path of disaster for people who were unfaithful. However, the amazing thing is that prophets turn toward God’s restoration and speak with confidence that God is working out an alternative of peace and security in spite of the contradictions. Thinking like a prophet might mean that we have the capacity to imagine the world seen through God’s eyes.

We light the rose-colored candle on the advent wreath as a visual symbol of God’s transforming joy. The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word for “Rejoice!” The epistle for this day in Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice…The Lord is near” Advent is an internal transformation of the heart that will alter our lives and our world.

Today’s scripture readings are about joy despite the surrounding circumstances. In Zephaniah, we hear the despair of people in exile. In Philippians, we are reminded of the constant threat of worry and the anxiety that worry causes.

I learned that the Greek word for “rejoice” can also mean good-bye or farewell. Let’s think about what rejoice and goodbye have in common.

They both seem to require us to let go. When we’re experiencing the joy God provides, we’ve let go of pretense and inhibition. When we say goodbye, we let go of something or someone that’s dear to us. If there’s a conflict, a worry or despair that’s gripping us today, if we feel afraid to move forward, then maybe we are holding on too tightly to something. What that something is, I can’t say for you. But in order to rejoice, we may need to loosen our grip.

And now I invite you to hold out your hands and squeeze your fingers into a fist. What are you clutching so tightly? Now slowly open your fingers, and feel the relief. You’ve been holding on for dear life. So let go so that joy can flood in. “Not to worry about anything,” as Paul writes, “but in everything in prayer let your requests be made known to God.”

God continues to surprise us with the promise of a hopeful future that frees us from fear and moves us to rejoice.