The scripture readings for this Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, seem to be a strange mix. We would expect the Gospel text to mirror the earlier readings, especially the first, which calls on the daughter of Zion to “shout for joy” (Zephaniah 3:14) and portrays God as, “dancing with shouts of joy for you” (v.18).
Likewise, the canticle from Isaiah 12:6 repeats the theme of “shouting for joy” while Paul, addressing the Christians in Philippi from prison in Rome, makes a point of repeating his prayer that his friends there will be, “happy in the Lord” (4:4).
However, the reading from Luke 3:10-18 does not have an obvious sense of joy about it as the people come to be baptised by John and ask what they must do? You might expect John to answer, “Celebrate, rejoice!” but no! All they get is a moral sermon on being generous and just.
In fact, the second part of the gospel is a real turn off, at least at first sight, with a reference to the violent action of the coming messiah, gathering the wheat into his barn but “burning the chaff in a fire that will not go out” (v.17). It sounds like the threat of hell fire – not very joyful at all!
I think one way of explaining this disconnect between the readings is to begin with God and what he does, not with what we need to do. The answer to “what must we do?” is simply “Imitate God, the God of joy!”
In that first reading from the prophet Zephaniah, the people are told that their sentence has been repealed. In other words, the sins that sent them into exile as punishment are now forgiven and they can get out of prison and return home. But their loving, forgiving God, is accompanying them, even going so far as “to dance with shouts of joy for you.”
Imagine if we were to apply that image to the Sacrament of Reconciliation; God is so delighted with the penitent that he wants to waltz them out of the confessional, shouting for joy – “You are forgiven, you are free as a bird, go in peace and dance your way home!”
That same image of the joyful God who delights in forgiving is underlined in the Parables of the Lost in Luke, Chapter 15, where the finding of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin are celebrated with neighbours (vs 4-9).
This is the Father of Jesus, who has sent his Son to find the lost and bring them home. The activity of searching and finding is followed by a natural joy and relief, the expressions of a profound love by our Father / God.
The final parable of this trio, the famous Prodigal Son tale (vs.11-32), expresses the activity of God in a more dramatic way still. When the woebegone son returns, the father goes out of his way to make him feel welcome, first, running down the road to embrace him, then bringing out the best robe to clothe him, putting a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, killing the fatted calf and throwing a party.
Was ever a joy so extravagantly expressed in action? The more the father does things, the more his joy increases. And all he asks of his other son is to do just one thing – to celebrate by coming to the party!
Surely the message of the Gospel, the message of Advent and Gaudete Sunday is to do what God does as far as this is possible in our circumstances. But first we must experience the joy of being forgiven before we can pass it on.
At this stage, I must express a certain disappointment in the way the character of the errant son is portrayed in the parable. The issue is that he does not appear to experience any joy in being forgiven. Even his motives for coming home seem self-interested – better to be a servant at home than to die of famine far away.
Perhaps he will discover this joy after so much love has been showered on him by his father. We are not told, as all the emphasis passes on to the older, kill joy brother.
To complete the picture of celebrating reconciliation, we need only turn to the story of the tax collector Zacchaeus (Lk. 19:1-10) who must climb down from his tree to act as host to Jesus, who has invited himself to the sinner’s home.
What Jesus does here makes joy erupt in the heart of this man. Because he feels forgiven in being accepted, we are told he climbs down with joy (v.6) and expresses that joy in committing himself to making reparations for his unjust practices, like his colleagues in today’s gospel.
In these Gospel stories it seems to me that joy comes after doing, not before. As with happiness, joy is not something we aim at in life, but it comes as an effect (maybe at times a side effect) of what God is doing in the first place and then what we do in imitation of Him.
And this brings us back neatly to my dissatisfaction with the lack of joy in the Gospel. For, now we see, I hope, that the advice of the Baptist, first to ordinary, decent folk, viz. to be more generous in sharing (Lk. 3:11), and then to the “bad guys” to be simply just (vs.13-14), is the prelude to experiencing the joy that comes from beginning to act in a godly way.
In Advent, we may find ourselves in a similar position. The joy which awaits us at Christmas is predicated first, on what God has done for us in sending Jesus to forgive our sins. We need to embrace God’s joyful forgiveness, recalling what Jesus said about the angels in heaven rejoicing more over one repentant sinner, than over the many who have not strayed (Lk 15:10) and then we need to pass on that message to others.
Our God is a joyful God, who finds joy in forgiveness, who sends his Son to fix the broken relationship between God and his creation, in particular the human part that ought to know better!
By doing the things John advocates in the Gospel for Gaudete Sunday, we may find ourselves “surprised by joy,” a joy that only God can give, a joy deeper than the forced jollity of Christmas office parties and the saccharine advertisements crowding our televisions these days.
It could be that Zacchaeus is the model of Christian joy and celebration for us this Advent. For he is the one who celebrates what God has done for him in Jesus and is then inspired by that joy to reform his life and to do the right thing for others.
Doing (by Jesus) leads to joy and joy (in the sinner) leads to doing.
May you have a “really” joyful Christmas, a Gospel one, a one we can all celebrate sincerely with body and soul.
Kieran ofm.