So I want to help you notice two things about today’s Bible Story Readings.
They are to:
Rejoice in the Lord always; (and) again I will say, Rejoice.
It’s a twofer one of Rejoicing… Or to help you remember this another way…
(singing) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
Some of you know this song… and good, because we’re going to be singing it in a few minutes together….
In the mean time, let’s figure out what it is we have to rejoice about, what is the good news for the people- for us, and for our friends and neighbors.
Now, one of the first things that pops in my head when I say Rejoice,
Is… my twin sister, Joyce. And overall, my sister Joyce is a pretty-happy-joyful person, which is what her name Joyce means, and it’s what I think of when I think of rejoicing, happy joyful people.
Now one of the glorious things about Rejoicing, as our first Bible Story Reading from Zephaniah says, is that- people,,, aren’t the only ones… who rejoice…
The Lord, our God, also loves to rejoice.
About halfway down, in fact, the story goes…
The Lord, your God…
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will renew you in his love;
He will exult over you with loud singing
As on a day of festival.
It makes me happy just thinking about all this. God has done what God said he would do….
I love that God loves rejoicing, of how God is rejoicing with gladness, renewing love for us, God is even singing with joy, because we have been saved,
I mean, I’m sure God also knows how to sing the Blues, but here, God is singing joyful songs for us, talking about preventing disasters, saving society’s outcasts, changing shaming into praising, and overall working towards making the world an awesome place to live…
Verse 17- The Lord, your God is in your midst.
A warrior who gives victory… He will rejoice over you with gladness…
Speaking of peace winning warriors, in the Gospel there were several groups that were asking John the Baptist, about what then they should do…The crowds asked him this question, the tax collectors, and it says Soldiers also asked him “And we, what should we do?”
Now, John responds to all of these questions with very reasonable answers, Share, be fair, and be satisfied; were his answers.
However…by the end of the story, it really isn’t about what people should do that is so central, it is about what God can do for people.
The story moves from, “And we, what should we do?” to what God is going to do.
John himself, says he’s not even worthy to shine Jesus’ shoes, it’s not really about what we should do.
Instead, it is about what God, what the Messiah, what Jesus can do for you…
And on this, John says… “He (meaning our Lord Jesus) will Baptize you.”
What God does… is what matters here; and it is God, who baptizes…
In Baptism, It is God who makes us who we are as Christians, and to remind us of this, God has even put his name Christ in the title Christian, to remind us of who we work for, so to speak; of who God has Baptized us to be…
Fortunately, we’re not alone in trying to do God’s work, it’s not like were the first ones in history finally to do good stuff for God.
Instead, God begins by doing for us what we can’t by ourselves.
God acts and then we follow; it’s not the other way around.
It is God who saves us, God who forgives us, and it is God who baptizes us.
God is the first one with actions in our lives for each of these…
Beginning our work based on what God has done for us, is how we do… God’s work. This is why we pray for God’s mission and God’s vision for today to be revealed for this congregation.
All of our work begins with God—
with God’s peaceful purpose in our lives,
with God’s faithful forgiveness in our hearts and minds,
and with God’s joy as the tune to whistle while we work.
So starting again today, God invites us to do what God is already doing.
Beginning with, rejoicing and singing.
So,
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.
