Rejoice and Exult

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent

The very first verse of our reading from the Prophet Isaiah reminds us of the designation for this particular Sunday in Advent; the third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday. The desert will exalt, and the steppe will rejoice. This beautiful, poetic passage from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah can be read both symbolically and literally. We know that the wilderness and the desert cannot literally be glad. However, the description of the deeds that the Messiah will accomplish is a very real picture of what Jesus accomplished during his time on this earth. He opened the eyes of the blind, cleared the ears of the deaf, made the lame to walk and the tongues of the mute to sing.

When the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and questioned whether he was the one who had been promised, Jesus answered by pointing to the fact that he had given sight to the blind, made the lame walk, cleansed the lepers, raised the dead, and had preached the good news to the poor. There is a certain uncomfortability in the question that John the Baptist wishes to have answered. After all, he is the one who had pointed to Jesus and told his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Now there seems to be some doubt. However, if we have listened to the words which John preached, we would realize that he was expecting an entirely different kind of Messiah, someone who would separate the good from the bad. Yet Jesus has welcomed sinners and eaten with them. John preached that the Messiah would come with fire and power. Yet Jesus preached mercy and forgiveness. We can, therefore, forgive John for any doubts he may have had. John, indeed all of the children of Israel, had been expecting a Messiah that would help them throw off the yoke of Roman occupation, who would restore righteousness to the high priesthood, and who would punish sinners.

As we think about the future and second coming of Jesus, we might have fallen into the same trap. We might be thinking that Jesus will come as some political figure who will restore civility and morality to our public, secular lifestyle. We might be thinking that Jesus will come and punish the evildoers and terrorists of our world, someone who will bring low the arrogant and proud. However, isn’t it just possible that Jesus will come among us just as he did the first time?

The passage from the Letter of St. James is all about patience. Jesus is not fast food. He is not instant coffee. He does not come when called, like a dog. He does not give us a timetable. If anything, he is like a fisherman who patiently plays the fish. To work with him, to operate with him, to cooperate with him, we have to have patience. We must set aside our expectations. That is the first lesson in fishing. And in surfing: wait for the wave.

Why does St. James counsel patience? The fact of the matter is that our souls, like our bodies, are limited by time and space. Just as our bodies grow gradually, like a plant, so too our souls develop gradually. St. James writes, “See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.” This is what God is doing in our lives right now. It may seem like God is doing nothing, because we are not getting many quick or miraculous answers. Everything in nature takes time. God is at work in our lives, preparing the soil for that growth through the events that come to us from our world and in our response to them. Our lives are a story, and God is a very good storyteller. A good storyteller does not move too quickly from “Once upon a time” to “they all lived happily ever after.”

All good stories have two parts: challenge and response, problem and solution, bad news and good news, suffering and joy, fall and redemption, death and resurrection, evil and deliverance from evil. The first part of the story is a test of faith – do we trust God by obeying his will? Or do we give up on God and play God ourselves?

St. James doesn’t just give us good general advice about patience, but he points to concrete examples when he writes: “Take as an example of hardship and patience, brothers and sisters, the prophets.” Throughout Advent, we have been listening to the prophet Isaiah, the very epitome of patience. Though God had shown him what was to come, he did not experience it during his lifetime. His patience led to hope, the kind of hope that comes when one puts one’s trust in the promises God has made to us.

God is like a farmer, and the crop he is growing is us. God is like a fisherman, and he is fishing for us. God is like a weaver, and he is weaving the tapestry of our lives. God is a teacher, and he knows that we are slow and lazy learners. God is an artist, and he is painting a masterpiece. God is a composer, and we are his symphony.

Today we exalt with the desert and rejoice with the steppe. We have reached the midway point of Advent. Let us rejoice in our God who has promised us marvelous things.