First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
1“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3to grant to those who mourn in Zion — to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. 4They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
8“For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. 9Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed. 10I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”
Psalm 126
1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream. 2Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. 3Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 4The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. 5Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses of the Negev. 6Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy. 7Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise prophecies, 21but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22Abstain from every form of evil. 23Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
19And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24(Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Good News!
We all like to hear humorous stories based on the “good news/bad news” scenario. What intrigues us is that no matter which we choose, the good news or the bad, chances are we’ll be amused as we hear the details turning from triumph to tragedy and back again. However, when it comes to the news we prefer, we all prefer good news to bad news. There’s a story that illustrates this reality about two friends who were avid baseball fans. These two friends made a pact that whoever died first would come back and let the other know if there was baseball in heaven. The first one died and came back and contacted his friend and said, “Hey, man, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that there is baseball in heaven. The bad news is that you’re scheduled to pitch on Friday.
Isaiah the prophet understood the good news/bad news concept. For what seemed like way too long, the prophet’s messages were words of nothing by gloom and doom. It appeared that every syllable he shared from God, was nothing but bad news. The people of the Southern Kingdom had been living in captivity, under the rule of the Babylonians, for so long, they wondered if they would ever see freedom again. Then suddenly, God’s faithful messenger brings hope-filled news. Stop and consider the situation.
For decades, God had repeatedly warned the people, through several prophets, that the Southern Kingdom would be punished if it didn’t turn from its sinful ways. Clear back in Exodus and Leviticus, God warned His people not to make treaties with foreign nations, yet they looked to Egypt to help protect them from the Babylonians. In the same rules, given to Moses on Mount Saini, God had told the people not to marry foreigners because they would pressure them to worship false gods. The people refused to listen, and they intermarried and started worshiping idols.
God warned the people against the mistreatment and neglect of widows, orphans, and sojourners. Yet they repeatedly developed trading practices that cheated people. According to some experts, the people were violating as many as 70 of the laws that God had handed down. So God repeatedly sent prophets to call them back to a right relationship with Him. And instead of listening to the prophets, the people chose to abuse and kill the prophets. Even after witnessing the destruction of the Northern Kingdom, they still refused to turn from their sinful ways and back to God. It was a story that only had a bad news ending for their refusal to change their ways. And true to God’s word, the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were conquered by king Nebuchadnezzar and taken into captivity.
God had warned the people that because of their refusal to obey the laws handed down, they would be in captivity for 70 years. They would be under foreign rule, in a strange land, for so long, that God directed them to give into their captors and settle in the land. And for a good many of these years they had to listen to the bad news coming from God’s prophets. Now, suddenly, there was a change. Abruptly, the message became such good news that it overcame all the bad news which had been in place for so long.
In words that would bolster and strengthen, the prophet now delivers words of promise and deliverance. The people had confessed their inability to save themselves. And suddenly the message of the prophet was, that God would soon intervene with grace and power and bring redemption and the reaffirmation of His everlasting covenant. The prophet’s good news was so good that the people could hardly believe it.
In these new words of hope and comfort, they suddenly realize that the bad news has ended. And the good news for you and me is, this “good news”, of the prophet Isaiah, is also “good news” for the Church during this Advent season. The prophet announces to the people that in the midst of their suffering, there is indeed good news in Judah. Their time of punishment was coming to an end and weary exiles would finally get to go home.
When they were carried away into captivity, all they saw of their beloved Jerusalem was piles of rubble, and their only thought was death, destruction, and hopelessness. Their exile in Babylon seemed to be without end. Now, God’s prophet was speaking words of hope for a future; words of reassurance that there would be an end to their isolation and a return to their ancient city. The visions of the Holy City in ashes were quickly being replaced with dreams of escaping captivity, of rebuilding, of restoring their homeland to its former glory, and of being restored as God’s chosen people. Suddenly from out of nowhere, Isaiah appears with news — good news from God.
What’s more, Isaiah was certain that he had been sent and joyfully announced: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners” (61:1). The message of God’s prophet was simple, yet startlingly good news! And the message was one they had been taught from childhood: “God is faithful to His word, and to His promises. God always keeps the covenants He makes. And if that weren’t enough, there’s more, much, much more; God is a God of salvation who brings relief and comfort to His people.” God through His prophet wants the exiles to understand that their cities will be restored, and they will be compensated for their loss.
These people, so beaten down, needed to be freed from their fears and have the joy of living restored. When we look at our Old Testament lesson for this Third Sunday of Advent, it’s as if we’re seeing a woman dressed for a funeral. The symbols of ashes, the sound of weeping, and a faint spirit are apt descriptions of those in mourning. Judah suffered these symptoms because the people had lost all hope and felt they were doomed to death.
Now this lady who has received a death notice and is dressed for a funeral, suddenly receives a message that a mistake has been made. Instead of receiving a death notice, she should have received an invitation to a wedding. And what does this grieving person do? Immediately, she washes the ashes of mourning from her face, changes from funeral clothes to clothing appropriate for a wedding, and then decorates her hair with a garland of flowers. The ashes of death have given way to a crown of joy.
The prophet Isaiah envisions this change of circumstance as a bride preparing for her wedding, flittering here and there with a blush on her cheeks, singing, humming, smiling, and laughing. The wedding dress of Jerusalem is the “garment of praise” which symbolizes the transformation of character. God’s chosen people are now seen as a beautiful bride dressed for her wedding, and not a sad mourner headed for a funeral. Something good has happened to the people of God. They have been given a new name, “the Leaders of Righteousness, “the planning of the Lord”, and a new status. The new name will remind them that they now have a new future that will offer them potential. They are now like large trees with deep roots for the purpose of displaying God’s glory.
The people will once again be able to repossess the land that was destroyed and taken from them. All their ruin and brokenness will be restored. Here, in this passage, is a picture of the hope of Advent. God will keep His word. God always keeps His promises. Our redeemer will come and take away the funeral dirge from our lips. In its place, He will give us a song of praise. Today, too many people are living dressed in the garment of death, but the good news of Advent is, that there is One coming who will give us life, and that life will be abundant. The Good News for the people of Judah is the good news of Advent; there is hope for you and for me. Not only was there good news in captivity, but Advent reminds us that there was also good news to come from Nazareth.
Before the coming of Jesus, there wasn’t a lot of joy in the world or in Nazareth. Poverty, slavery, superstition, and fear ruled the lives of the people. They were dominated and controlled by a foreign power. Once again, there was little to hope for. For many, God seemed remote and distant from the scene. Then one day a young man thirty years of age, a Jewish carpenter, and the son of a carpenter in Nazareth, a despised village in a despised district, stood in a Sabbath service in the synagogue and was handed the scroll of Isaiah to read. He read a portion of this lesson. To everyone’s amazement, when He finished, he stated: “Today this scripture is fulfilled!” Who would have thought that the Messiah would come from Nazareth, of all places? Who would have thought that God would come down to a dirty back water town?
They didn’t rejoice or celebrate when Jesus made that claim in Nazareth. He was just a hometown boy. Their response was to rush Him out of the service and try to throw Him off a cliff. The people of Nazareth were scandalized by the offer of unlimited grace and therefore didn’t receive the “Good News.” Jesus, the Son of God, was there, in their midst a resident of Nazareth! The day of Salvation had dawned, and God’s promises were being fulfilled in their hearing.
This was the dawning of a new day; a new age had started. Advent is advance notice that our God is coming. The “good news” which was rejected down in Nazareth is now available to you and to me. Today, this day, the scripture is once again fulfilled in our hearing. Yes, there was good news down in Nazareth, but the real news is that the good news of Jesus’ coming is our good news as well. In Jesus, there is hope for us and for our future.
God is breaking through in the person of Jesus who is the hope of Advent, God is coming to our world where there is sorrow, sin, and guilt. Advent anticipates Jesus coming to meet us in our despair, sin, guilt, and death with the good news of forgiveness, hope, and restoration. Our readings for today remind us that God will come to us when everything seems wrong, and we’re wringing our hands in despair wondering if it will ever be right again. The hope-filled message of Advent is, that when we’re down, sick, and depleted, “Jesus has come, and He will be coming again.” In Christ, we have nothing to fear; He will make all the difference.
The story is told by Ian Macpherson of a tourist in Switzerland who spotted a beautiful mansion on the shore of a lovely lake. The tourist was deeply impressed by the large and well-manicured garden in which the mansion was set. Not a weed could be seen anywhere. As the tourist was admiring the garden, he spotted one of the staff, the curator, and began to praise its beauty and order. He asked the curator, “How long have you worked here?” “Twenty years,” was the reply. In the ensuing conversation, it was disclosed that the owner of the mansion was absent most of the time.
“How often has the owner been in residence during your twenty years of service?” “Four times,” replied the curator. The visitor was amazed. “To think,” he exclaimed, “that for all these years you’ve kept this mansion and garden in such superb condition! Why, you look after them just as if you expected your master to come tomorrow!” “No,” corrected the curator, “I look after things as if I expected my master to come today!” This is a picture of Advent people. As God’s chosen people, we live each day as if the Savior is coming today.
The Advent season is like the preparation for a wedding. There’s the moment of great expectation as the bridegroom anxiously awaits the bride. For Isaiah it’s a picture of both the bride and the bridegroom clothed in special garments, which are the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness. This is the same spirit of excitement that God wants His church to have, for God wants “praise to spring up before all nations.” There was good news in the land of captivity, good news down in Nazareth, and the best news is, that the good news given to God’s people then, is also good news for you and for me. Our souls will indeed rejoice in the Lord, and our souls will exult our God as we joyfully pray, come, Lord Jesus, come!
Amen