By the third Sunday in Advent, truthfully, scarcely any of us is really in the mood for what John the Baptist has to say with threats of doom and gloom, with cries for fruit-bearing repentance, and warnings of winnowing forks and unquenchable fire.

Even the late bloomers among us are beginning to get with the program and acknowledge that Christmas is only 12 shopping days away. The parties are underway, the reveling is rolling, and folks here in LA in contrast to the Midwest, are singing “Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain.” As for John the Baptist? Not so much.

After all, the pink candle on the Advent wreath is now lit, reminding us to rejoice and to take heart in the night as earth crawls to its darkest day. In fact, once upon a time on the unreformed Julian calendar this date — December 13 — was the longest night of the year and so on the ancient church calendar the saint whose name means light, lucis, Lucy, “Santa Lucia” is given this day on the calendar to be remembered for her light-filled witness to the gospel amid a time of great persecution for those who bore the name of Christ. We light a pink candle today and rejoice because there is now more light on the wreath than there is darkness, and we are journeying closer and closer to the one to whom we shall soon sing, “Hail, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace, hail the Sun of righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, ris’n with healing in his wings!”

So can’t we just stick with the pink candle and rejoice and think happy thoughts of Christmas coming rather than deal with this biblical Scrooge, John? Every other reading from the scriptures for today exhort us to take joy & rejoice. The prophet Zephaniah proclaims, “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!”

The psalmist sings “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid… With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation…”
St Paul reminds us to “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again he says, Rejoice!” The word Paul uses is gaudete — rejoice, 2nd person plural, all of you! Y’all rejoice! And so for centuries this Sunday has been called Gaudete Sunday. And so we sing and rejoice and light pink candles and celebrate Santa Lucia and “here we go a’wassailing” and eat another Christmas cookie, and…

…And then along comes good ol’ John. Reminding us that in addition to rejoicing, there is that other “R” word that is to be on the tips of our tongues as we are making our way through Advent: and that word is repent. In Greek, metanoia, repentance: to turn, or to turn around. In other words, God allows U-turns.

And though at first hearing we may think we have a party pooper on our hands, wet blanket and all, John’s words from the banks of the Jordan River need to be heard along the freeways of L.A. and the streets of Santa Monica — Lincoln Blvd and Washington Avenue to be specific. Rejoice, yes! And repent, yes also! Going the wrong way? Heading in a direction you ought not be headed? Repent! God allows U-turns. Rejoice! The two words need not be mutually exclusive and indeed for John they are not. Gaudete and metanoia. Rejoicing and repentance.

For in order to be ready for the Coming One, John’s word for us is that we maybe need to re-arrange the furniture in our hearts and souls to make room for the one who is to come. Sometimes the clutter gets in the way, and we find ourselves distracted by things that are secondary and forget what is primary. So to us, even as to the crowds along the banks of the Jordan, John says “Bear fruits worthy of repentance.” And in every case, to those who asked him “What then should we do,” John’s response was — in essence — “Take stock. Take inventory. Share of your means. Care for the needy. Practice truth and justice. Make unselfish choices. Share. Live within your means. Do the right thing. Keep no more than you need. Share. Be fair. Treat others with care. Be honest and just in all your dealings. Oh, and did I say share?”

To repent is nothing more than turning away from the selfish part of ourselves, our self-directed ways, and to turn once again toward God. And then, says John, when we do that we are in a posture of expectancy and receptivity — ready to receive the One who comes to baptize us with his Holy Spirit and fire: his blazing fire of justice, his enlightening fire of truth, his white-hot fire of love which burns for all the world.
And that, my friends, is a holy fire we can rejoice in.

Repenting is a gift and a joy when we know that the One to whom we are turning is among us as one who does not judge us. Perhaps the best news of this Gaudete Sunday is buried in the words of the prophet Zephaniah who, just after exhorting us to rejoice and exult with all of our hearts, says “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you.” And not only does God take away all judgment against us, but God also (according to verse 17 of Zephaniah ch. 3) “will rejoice over you with gladness, (God) will renew you in his love; and will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.

So you see, not only is this a day of repenting and rejoicing for us, it is also one of repenting and rejoicing for God. For God has repented (turned away) from judgment toward us and has redirected the divine self toward rejoicing over us! Imagine! God exults over you with loud singing! Imagine! God takes joy in you! Imagine! God sings loudly on account of you! In other words, God is simply tickled pink with you. Overjoyed that you are his child. Beside Godself with glee so much so that God came down to be with us, become one of us, in Jesus.

Now that’s cause for true rejoicing.

And a truly happy reason for repenting.

God: tickled pink. For you. For us.

Amen.