Gaudete Sunday
Happy Gaudete - Rejoice. I had to look this up (including the pronunciation) but Gaudete is Latin for Rejoice which is what the 3rd Sunday of Advent represents. Like many who are lay people (not anywhere close to being an expert or even really a novice on scripture) I did a fair amount of research for today. Rather fun actually. I read sermons on Matthew 11:2-11 by deep thinking and learned ministers. I appreciated all their insights. Then I thought, as an amateur, I better tread lightly here. A quote I did find on the subject of Gaudete is this though: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. Let your forbearance be known to all, for the Lord is near at hand; have no anxiety about anything, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. Lord, you have blessed your land.” In many respects we choose to be part of a faith community “to have no anxiety about anything” and to give “thanksgiving” and to experience the wonders of Christ. Rejoice!
That sets the stage rather well. “…have no anxiety about anything…let your requests be known to God.” In Matthew, Christ says “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” That is fairly vivid and powerful imagery. All of those acts cited in Matthew we want to believe in them – and whether actual and tangible or not, they represent or symbolize faith, the opportunity for renewal, the advent for our own rebirth by believing in the teachings of Christ. Rejoice.
I think overall the Advent period, while leading up to the birth of Christ and then eventually the Resurrection, is certainly within a faith context, all about rejoicing. But as we all know even outside of our Christian faith rejoicing happens in a very secular way too. This time of year, is all about rejoicing. I am struck every December how everything changes: we are encouraged through advertising, events, and just simple one-on-one interactions to be positive, be happy, rejoice. People bust out in good cheer. Some even come to your door and force singing on you (whether invited or not). Our attitudes are reshaped, or are supposed to be, at least for the final four weeks of the year. Then we creep back into our regular lives in January. We are to be UP, UP, and UP. We know Christmas is about giving, about receiving, about some sense of renewal and rejoicing. However, we need to recognize that this is not a rejoicing period for all people. I am not being as critical as I sound, but I find it interesting whether a person is a Christian or an atheist -Santa has been watching. Be careful. Be happy. You will “rejoice” whether you want to or not.
Don’t worry I will get to more actual rejoicing in this paragraph. However, remember I am an academic and a researcher so before I get to my main point, I have to analyze all angles, provide an inordinate amount of context, along with an acceptable number of digressions. It is in my UND faculty contract. Thus a part of rejoicing is also understanding that rejoicing is actually hard for many people. People sometimes contemplate loss at this time of year. I remember some years ago my mother died four days before Christmas. That definitely clouds things. We all have losses that come into focus at this time of year. One hope when that happens people can contemplate their loss, go to the loss and all the feelings intertwined, to struggle with it -yes; but ultimately to come out the other side with some degree of clarity, healing, and that ability to stay connected – to find the opportunities and renewal in spite of how hard life is at times, to find the way forward. That is rejoicing. For many of us with a faith stance -that is the purpose and one I find from Christ or with Christ. That is what Christ is to me- a medium, a passage to find opportunity and to rejoice in Christ-like acts to make a difference and to impact the lives of others. I think of it as opportunity through meaning; opportunity through action, and opportunity through “light signs.” Every week we recount numerous “light signs.” We, as we often say “are the little church that does big things.” Asked what we do we proudly say “we feed people, we help to house people, we make quilts as gifts, we plant and care for a community garden (a very concrete example of renewal and rejoicing), we knit hats and scarves, we restart a community PFLAG, we initiate a new community process called ‘Connections,’ we are ‘Reconciled in Christ,’ we are ‘open and affirming’” -in short we are here to help people, particularly the most vulnerable. And we do this beyond our size. We are the “little church that does big things!” Rejoice! As a UCC member I have been encouraged to struggle with my faith, to question it, to question teachings, to tug and pull at it, and not accept others' definition of faith without first considering my questions and the answers that I find. I have had various UCC ministers explain that aspect of the need for struggle and not blind acceptance. The UCC national motto has been “God is still speaking,” It ends with a comma not a period as it implies that conversation between God and humans is an ongoing dialogue. Some feel it starts and ends with the Bible but in my tradition the Bible is part of the discussion but we carry it forward every day in our quest to understand our faith. Rejoice in that struggle.
I am going to close with a quote. David Letterman once said always begin with a quote or end with one. I tend to listen to Dave, a significant influence on my life.
I do not believe the quote was made during an Advent service; however, it is rather all encompassing and embracing. I read this (out loud) every week when I come here to do my prayers. It is, for me, an example of living our lives by providing light to others, by rejoicing, and how we can find that within ourselves.
This is a quote from a sermon given by Gretchen Graf.
“Forgiveness welcomes us all into God’s way of living, but when we ourselves refuse to forgive, we fall back into the world’s way. Entering the empire of Heaven is a process. We get there when we live like we are there. When we love. When we forgive. When we extend compassion and mercy. We create the empire with God when we live like the empire is already here. Forgive and you will be forgiven because when you forgive you understand the forgiveness that’s already, always there waiting for you to receive.”
Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!
- Brad Gibbens