The third Sunday of Advent is sometimes called Gaudete , or Rejoice Sunday. Gaudete is Latin word that is translated "rejoice" . Rejoicing means to give expression to Joy
When John stood on the banks of that Jordan he had a message which called on the people of Israel to repent, that is, to change the way they thought and behaved.
He called on the people of Israel to repent, in light of the coming of the Messiah , to alter their lives, to be free of the ways that led to heart ache and suffering;
"In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" Matthew: 3:2-3
Jesus' coming into our lives always calls on us to repent, to change, but in doing so, we can truly "rejoice and be glad in Him". We can rejoice in that we can be free from the past ways of thinking and behaving that brought on so much suffering. We are now free to enter into the fellowship which our God has always intended us to have with him and one another. There is hope.
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Philippians: 4:4-6
This rejoicing is the understanding that the things of this world are temporal and only last for a moment, both the good and the bad. We can understand repentance as a letting go of the things of this life and the world, that because of Jesus’ coming we can now take hold of the eternal. The things which are above and the relationship which our God calls us each and all to be in.
All things of this life which brings us only momentary joy or suffering, whatever they might be , are for this life alone. Gold, silver, titles, positions, fame, bricks and mortar; all of it ends when we depart this life and are left behind.
Things Above
“If you then be raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory”. Colossians: 3:1-4
When we have let go of the things of this world, we have an eternity to look forward to, but even more we have Jesus here and now, not just “someday”.
St.Paul wrote regarding Jesus, calling him as, “who is our life” ; that is even now, Jesus is living moving and shaping and preparing us for eternity . We so often think of these things as just “some day”. But here and now we can rejoice over what is ours in our Lord, this should all the more, should heighten our joyful anticipation of what awaits in Him. We are able to have but a glimpse of it even now this side of Eternity.
He Comes to Us
These are the things we can embrace and walk in, as we live by the lead of the Holy Spirit. We can rejoice as our Lord transforms us in His coming, his advent to us. Jesus lives in us and his life in us is demonstrated by the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, and all the more his life is lived out in and by us.
This happens when Jesus “comes to us” through the agency of the Holy Spirit
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;” John: 14:16
“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me: because I live, you shall live also. At that day you shall know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you” (18-20)
What Jesus describing to us is that even now through the Holy Spirit we are brought into this Holy relationship with God.
Jesus comes to us, so that we might be made partakers of the Divine Fellowship of the Holy Trinity all through Jesus.
The Holy Relationship which God has within himself and offers us each and all to be a part of was described by the Primitive Apostolic Church by the word Perichoresis , meaning to eternal dance around one another is joy.
This is why the Advent of Jesus has truly occurred, that we might all through himself be admitted into to this eternal dance of joy, to join in and be a part of the Joy that the Great God has within himself.
The call of John the Baptist there upon on the banks of that Jordan was a call to repent of any and all things which would keep us from experiencing the Joy of this Holy Relationship.
Those around us see this relationship in which we live as the decreasing of “ourselves”, by the character attributes of Jesus himself increases in our lives. The decreasing of the "fruit of the flesh", that is , we now have an all new joy filled life, the life of our Lord in us. Jesus did not just come to enhance our present life, that is , to amplifying us, but rather, Jesus came to be our life, it is a transposition from who we are, to being who he is.
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, jealousies, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Contentions, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians: 5:16-26
When we hear the call of John to repent of the things which have sowed such strife among us, when we experienced the forgiveness of sin, there can be such joy come to us.
Understand this, we are not just forgiven of what we have done, or thought, that is ours sins, but rather we are forgiven of who and what we are. God in the person of his Holy Son has dealt with the very heart of sin which is our flesh.
We, in Christ, have been crucified, that is the very flesh form which our sin proceeds from has been dealt with. The Apostle St. Paul writes of this crucifixion of our flesh through our Lord and what Jesus accomplished for us.
Jesus shares our flesh, that is our humanity, so that we might share eternity with him in this Joy filled Perichoresis relationship.
"For the love of Christ constrains us; for we have considered , that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not from now on live to themselves, but to him which died for them, and rose again." 2Corinthians:5:14-15
We are, even now, new creations in Jesus. All that we were is now past. We can rejoice in this.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ,he is a new creation;the old is gone; behold , all things are become new." (17)
The Joy Beyond
We can rejoice in Jesus' coming, his advent, to us here and now knowing a midst all that we might deal with in this life whatever we contend with, that beyond it all is great eternal joy which awaits us. Just as our Lord faced the sufferings of the cross and saw beyond it all to the glory that awaited him.
"Looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."Hebrews:12:2
This joy, even facing the cross of suffering ,can be ours as well when we take hold of all that our Lord has come that we might have. When we see it , that is, what awaits us beyond all that we face in this life with its hardships and troubles and pain then we can rejoice.
Consider that the Great God , has come for you and I , for each and all, none are found outside of His love.
He Loves each of us and would not be without us. He has come in the person of His Son Jesus, He has come to die that we might live. He has come to show us that He loves us more than He loves Himself and proved it in taking on our flesh and dieing in it.
Jesus' coming, His advent, was an act of love not just a necessity.
"God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that who so ever believes in Him should not perish have eternal life" John:3 :16
When we come to grasp the depth of God's love for us it should alter our lives, transform us. If we could only take hold of it ,we would be forever changed by it. Joy would fill us and rejoicing would break forth in or lives.
Jesus' coming, his advent, brings us great joy, a joy that can resound in this life as we rejoice in him here and now and on into eternity, giving him all the praise and glory for what is Advent has brought to us.
Benediction: May we, each and all, forever rejoice in our Lord Jesus has come to each and all and for all that Jesus has done for us, and all that we have in him, today, tomorrow and forevermore .Amen.
The Fountain of life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion 2101 Old National Pike, Washington, Pennsylvania, 15301 www.gcfountainoflife.org
The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com
You can follow the Fountain of Life on Face Book - Click on our Face Book link : https://www.facebook.com/Fountain-of-Life-Church-349595355088375/
"If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not About Anything"
No comments:
Post a Comment