ADVENT 3, C, 2009

SCRIPTURES - Zephaniah 3:14-20; Phil. 4:4-7; Luke 7:18-28

            “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4) So says the apostle Paul. Well, that was easy for him to say. He wasn’t dealing with a serious recession; with having no job; with incredible state and national debt that, you can be sure, will bring much higher taxes; with banks that won’t lend money; with having to cut back this Christmas because we just don’t have the money. He wasn’t dealing with swine flu; with the ever rising cost of health care; with wondering whether a health care bill from Congress will improve things or, more likely, make things much worse. Paul wasn’t dealing with what we’re dealing with!

No, he wasn’t. He lived in a time when there was little health care and no banks. He lived under the rule of Caesar. And, he was in prison when he wrote to the Philippians and told them to rejoice in the Lord always. He had little… except God, the same God you and I have. It’s because He had God that Paul could urge us to

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS!

But, how can we do so? There are so many difficulties and sufferings that afflict us in this world, even in this joyful time of the year. Even so, they are not the cause of an inability to rejoice. After all, there are people who have suffered much more in life than you or I who still have much joy in the Lord.

• Joni Eareckson Tada suffered a diving accident at age 17 which left her a quadriplegic, in a wheelchair and unable to use her hands. Still, she didn’t blame God, or curl up and withdraw with a “woe is me” attitude. No, she went forward in the very different life she now had. She learned to paint by holding a brush in her teeth, and her paintings and prints are sought after and collected. She has written numerous books. She has become an outspoken national and international advocate for the disabled, and has helped many thousands of disabled people. In all of this she above all witnesses to God’s love and help in Christ.

If trials and tribulations are not to be blamed for difficulty with always rejoicing in the Lord – as Joni illustrates, for in spite of her paralysis and the sufferings she endures she is a joyful Christian – then where does the problem lie? It lies here, with the mind and the heart. The problem is not God, His seeming weakness in allowing bad things to happen. The problem is our lack of trust in Him. You must look upon your God with confidence and trust! Only then will your sufferings ultimately result in blessing. You can do so if you look upon Jesus and take to heart what God promises you in Him.

Jesus changes everything. You don't have to be alone in your hurt!” Joni said. “Comfort is yours. Joy is an option. And it's all been made possible by your Savior. He went without comfort so you might have it. He postponed joy so you might share in it. He willingly

chose isolation so you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow.” Knowing Christ enables you to rejoice in the Lord always, no matter what is going on in your world or your life.

We heard the prophet Zephaniah speak of Christ very beautifully this morning. Listen again to what he says. “Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.” What wonderful news! God has taken away the judgments against us. We know that He ultimately did this, not by ignoring them – that wouldn’t help, for they would still be on us, then, and like a disease hidden in the body would be threatening us with future sufferings – but by placing them on His Son. Jesus bore our sins and God’s righteous anger because of them. His death was God’s final punishment of them.

What does this mean? It means that God now looks on us with love, as our Father. Two times He calls His people “daughter.” He is your loving Father in Jesus! So, even though you still sin, God has taken away sin’s judgment. Yes, we sin, but God does not respond with disappointment and eternal anger; we will die, but there is no longer the threat of hell; we suffer, but our sufferings are not meaningless and purposeless happenstances, nor are they because God is angry and is punishing us. They are a discipline, directed by a loving Father for your ultimate blessing.

• Think of yourself with your children. Do you punish your children because you enjoy it? Do you do so without reason, just because you feel like it? Of course not! We do so because we want our children to be good and to learn.

Now, if we, who are sinners, discipline out of love and with good in mind, how much better will be the disciplines of our loving and utterly good Father in heaven! Contemplating God’s good work in her life through her own sufferings and how wonderfully He has blessed her over the 42 years she has spent in a wheelchair, Joni Eareckson Tada has wisely said: "Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves."

He will always accomplish what He loves, even though sometimes our trials and sufferings are great, and we do not understand them. Can we be sure then that God will use them to accomplish good in our lives? Yes! For, “The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil,” says Zephaniah. Christ is the Lord who rules as king over all things. And, He is in our midst. He comes to us in His Word and Sacraments to dwell with us and take us into His kingdom. No matter how it may seem, no trial or suffering in this world can ever have its way with you who trust in Jesus. Our King rules! He rules over sin, over death, and over every power and event in this world. For, as we sang in our Introit, He is the One “who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” (Ps. 146:6) All creation must serve Him who made it; and, as He is our Father, it must serve us. Believing this, Joni said: “It is a glorious thing to know that your Father God makes no mistakes in directing or permitting that which crosses the path of your life. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter. It is our glory to trust Him, no matter what.”

Rejoicing in Him always is a sign of trust. So, rejoice in the Lord always! “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.”