Rejoice!

Scripture

Psalm 126:1-6

¹   When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
          we were like those who dream.
²   Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
          and our tongue with shouts of joy;
     then it was said among the nations,
          “The Lord has done great things for them.”
³   The Lord has done great things for us,
          and we rejoiced.

⁴   Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
          like the watercourses in the Negeb.
5   May those who sow in tears
          reap with shouts of joy.
⁶   Those who go out weeping,
          bearing the seed for sowing,
     shall come home with shouts of joy,
          carrying their sheaves.    (NRSV)

Devotion

This past Sunday is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday.  "Gaudete" is Latin for "Rejoice!"  And that is just what Christians are called to do during the third week of Advent.  We are called to rejoice even in the midst of our longing for Christ's return and a better world.

Psalm 126 fits well with this call.  Here, people suffering hardships think back to previous times when God has rescued the Children of Israel.  The psalmist spends verses 1-3 reminding the people about how God has always restored the people's fortune and turned their weeping turned into laughter.  In the past, their joy was so great that even the citizens of other nations marveled over what God had done for Israel. 

Verses 4-6 transition into the psalmist asking God to come rescue the people yet again.  There is an anticipatory type of joy built into this request.  The psalmist fully expects God take the seeds of faith and service the people sown during their current hardships and help those seeds bear good fruit.  The psalmist even expects that the same people who have sorrowfully gone out to plant those seeds will be the ones who get to return home with a joyful harvest. The people reciting this psalm may live in times of turmoil, trial, and tribulation, but they can still rejoice, because deep in their hearts, they know that God will come to save the day.

As the nights grow longer and the cold gets deeper in this year that has held so much heartache, it can be hard to hold onto joy.  I find myself clinging to the joy of remembering all the times God has saved me in the past and the assurance that God is about to do so again.  I remember Christmas Day of 1997, when God brought my family moments of laughter and delight in what had been a year full of deep loss.  I remember moments when it seemed like the world was falling apart only to have God swoop in and save the day in unexpected ways.  And as I look at all the good seeds that people of faith are planting in our current time of sorrow, I know that God is going to create a great harvest for us to reap in times of joy.

Here are just a few of the seeds I have seen planted in the last few days:

•  An employee at our local Food Lion was so moved by helping someone shopping for our Blessings in a  Bag Program (which sends food home with students each weekend) that he made an on-the-spot donation to it.
• Through the generosity of our members, our church's annual Hens and Hams program will provide 12 families in our county with enough groceries to not only cover Christmas dinner but also to help get them through the school's system's winter break
  
• In a year when budgets are tight, all of the Christmas angels the school system gave our church have been taken care of...and groups around our community have identified and shopped for their own angels.
  
•  People have been sharing inventive ways they plan to "gather"  and celebrate with family members from different locations this Christmas.
• A church in Kentucky's pastor sent home Advent wreathes to anyone who wanted one.
• A  church in Indiana is sending out two luminaries to each family: one for the family to keep and another to glue their pictures to and send back to help light Christ's way during its online Christmas Eve service.

With Christ's help, each of these faithfully planted seeds will produce a harvest of joy. Each of them will help restore the fortunes of the lost, the least, and the brokenhearted.  Each of them rejoices in the great things that God has already done for us and witnesses to the joy that is to come.

 

Friends in this year of sorrow, Advent's Week of Joy issues us a challenge.  Do we have the deep inner joy in God it takes to keep sowing seeds of faith into the world? If so, then let as act on it.  And if we find our joy somewhat lacking, let us turn to God through the help of scripture, prayer, and one another.  The nights may seem long, but the day is coming.  And though we go out to plant with sorrow, we will bring home the harvest with shouts of joy.

 

 

 

Prayer

Christ, in this time of sorrow, help me feel and share your abiding joy.  I rejoice in your faithfulness.  Amen.

 

Bonus Christmas Carol

Chorus:  Rejoice, Rejoice!
Christ is born
Of the virgin Mary,
Rejoice! 

It is now the time of grace
That we have desired;
Let us sing songs of joy,
Let us give devotion. 

God was made man,
And nature marvels;
The world was renewed
By Christ who is King.

The closed gate of Ezekiel
Has been passed through;
From where the light rises
Salvation is found.

Therefore let our assembly now sing,
Sing the Psalms to purify us;
Let it praise the Lord:
Greetings to our King.