Joy by Fire

Readings

Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:10-18

What Do You Want?

On Gaudete (“Rejoice”) Sunday, halfway through Advent, God asks us, “What do you want for Christmas?” Joy. Deep down, everyone wants joy, happiness, and bliss. But what is joy? 

As we enter into the hopes and dreams of Israel through the centuries, the prophets’ answer from Moses to John the Baptist is holiness. Joy naturally overflows from the heart of the holy, pure, and divine. Recognizing their brokenness and sinfulness, the Israelites, exiles in Babylon, lift their hearts in song, confident of God’s promise of restoration.

Shout for joy, daughter Zion!
sing joyfully, Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has removed the judgment against you,
he has turned away your enemies;
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, Zion,
do not be discouraged!
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior,
Who will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
Who will sing joyfully because of you,
as on festival days.

Zephaniah 3:14-18a

Eternal Joy

Six centuries after the prophet Zephaniah, John the Baptist warns from the wilderness, “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees” (Luke 3:9). Flailing for answers, the bewildered scramble to reform their lives in accordance with God’s holy will. John exhorts everyone to give alms, tax collectors to be honest, and soldiers to stop extorting.

Dismissing rumors that he might be the Messiah, John defers to the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John hints that the Messiah will descend with divine power and judgment. 

“His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Luke 3:17

Divine fire ignites a joy that can never be extinguished. Gaudete! “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” Paul writes. “The Lord is near” (Philippians 4:4-5). John’s “good news” promises the Messiah’s refining fire to purify his people, incinerating sin and filling them with the eternal joy of the Holy Spirit.

Traditional Chinese Translation

《火中之樂》
歡樂吧! 基督帶著火焰來精煉
以色列，祂的新婦，使她成聖。