These are the readings and the written version of what I preached conversationally for worship on 12/13/15. This new worshipping community in Driggs is on its way to becoming chartered as a PCUSA congregation next Pentecost. They meet in a community center which is transformed by their creativity and artistic gifts.

Zephaniah 3:14-20 Common English Bible (CEB)
14  Rejoice, Daughter Zion! Shout, Israel!
         Rejoice and [sing] with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem.
15  The Lord has removed your judgment;
        he has turned away your enemy.
The Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst; 
you will no longer fear evil.
16  On that day, it will be said to Jerusalem:
        Don’t fear, Zion.  Don’t let your hands fall.
17  The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory.
        He will create calm with his love;  
he will rejoice over you with singing.
18        I will remove from you those worried about the appointed feasts.
        They have been a burden for her, a reproach.
19 Watch what I am about to do to all your oppressors at that time.
        I will deliver the lame;  I will gather the outcast.
        I will change their shame into praise and fame throughout the earth.
20  At that time, I will bring all of you back,
 at the time when I gather you.
        I will give you fame and praise among all the neighboring peoples
 when I restore your possessions and you can see them—says the Lord.

Isaiah 12 Common English Bible (CEB) Hymn of trust
12 
You will say on that day: “I thank you, Lord.
Though you were angry with me,
    your anger turned away and you comforted me.
2 
God is indeed my salvation;
    I will trust and won’t be afraid.
Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my shield;
    he has become my salvation.”
3 
You will draw water with joy from the springs of salvation.
4 
And you will say on that day:
“Thank the Lord; call on God’s name;
    proclaim God’s deeds among the peoples;
    declare that God’s name is exalted.
5 
Sing to the Lord, who has done glorious things;
    proclaim this throughout all the earth.”
6 
Shout and sing for joy, city of Zion,
    because the holy one of Israel is great among you.

Philippians 4:1-14
… I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances.
I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little.
I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry,
hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am,
I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

Luke 3:7-20 The Message (MSG)
… When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: “Brood of snakes!
What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river?
Do you think a little water on your snake skins is going to deflect God’s judgment? It’s your life that must change, not your skin.
And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as ‘father.’

…..
I have to be honest with you –
there are times I can really be a Scrooge about Christmas.
I can go into full Grouch mode when I see
Stores stocked for Christmas before Halloween ….
Bah! Humbug!
Mall music jingling a Holly, Jolly Christmas before Thanksgiving…
Fa la la to you too!
Decorating, shopping, gifts, hustle and bustle ….
Add the extra holiday chores to every day demands …
and some years, I’ve just said – not gonna do it.
The thought of dragging out all the decorations –
and then having to take them down and pack them away again…
well it’s just overwhelming when everything else is overwhelming too.

Some times I want nothing more for Christmas
than to just sit for a few days,
to just stay home and rest.
For others, home is the worst place they can be.
Add the stress of the season and holiday expectations
to already troubled relationships,
To households where there is domestic violence, addiction,
financial struggles, family feuds,
and home may be the last place to find peace on earth.

Home for the holidays is supposed to mean
Gatherings of family and friends-
but for some, this will be the first Christmas –
or another of many – without a loved one.
Grief doesn’t move on and out of our hearts
just because the calendar says time has passed.
Relationships aren’t reconciled just because
we want everyone to get along.
The sights and sounds of the season can be so insistent
we have a Merry Christmas that we feel at odds with the world.
Merry may be on our lips, but not in our lives.
Happy may be what we say, but not what we feel.
We may be surrounded by crowds, and be so alone.
We may be stuffed with holiday goodies,
and have a gnawing hunger in our heart.
We may be peaceful and calm on the outside,
and churning with the turmoil inside.
We may be ho, ho, ho-ing out loud,
but silently hurt and hurting.
We may be smiling and laughing, but close to tears.

Any one can have good reason to not feel very happy,
at any time of the year,
but it seems especially jarring to feel that way
at a time when the rest of the world is insisting:
be merry & bright!

Who wouldn’t want to thunder like John in the wilderness:
you brood of vipers! you den of snakes!

From the news of the world, the nation, our own lives –
we are all too aware that
so many families, neighborhoods, communities
are engulfed in the raw pain of tragic loss this holiday,
and now must find a way to live with broken hearts.
Too much senseless violence,
Too much senseless suffering,
Too much injustice
Too much evil.

Now here we are on the Third Sunday of Advent,
which the church calendar insists is Joy Sunday.
Zephaniah, a prophet to tell us to:
“rejoice with your whole heart”
Isaiah says to “shout out loud and sing for joy.”
Paul tells the Philippians to
“rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!”

Luke’s account of John the Baptist
doesn’t exactly fit the theme of rejoicing in the other readings.
his message doesn’t have much merry and bright,
calling his congregation a bunch of snakes.
But John does promise the One who is Coming,
whose very presence in the world is Good News,
who comes to the world, to us, to be God’s love.
Don’t be afraid, God is in your midst!

There’s an urgency about John’s message:
repent – now!
change your ways – now!
The people seem to be getting the message
because they asked
– What should we do?
John’s answer is very simple – share
Something anyone can do, in our everyday life.
If you have 2 coats – give one to someone who has none
If you have food – give some to someone who is hungry
If you have power – don’t use it to abuse someone who doesn’t
Do your job – tax collector or soldier or whatever you do every day –
with integrity and compassion and fairness.
How we live our lives every day, in little things as well as big
makes a difference in the lives of other people –
That’s how we contribute to the work of justice,
That’s how we do God’s work in the world.

Rejoice! Sing! Be joyful!
That’s not the same as “Don’t worry, be happy.”
Paul advises us to “shape our worries into prayers.”
According to John, we should be worried,
because we will be held accountable before God.
We will be judged, not by what we say we believe,
but by how we live out our faith.
Are we living as God’s agents of love, peace, hope,
working for justice, with generosity, compassion?
Rejoicing always is not the same as being happy.
The difference is the source.
Happiness is an emotion based on circumstances.
We are happy, pleased, glad about a particular thing.
We don’t rejoice because of our circumstances
but in spite of our circumstances. …
Making the choice to rejoice,
even in the midst of tragedy,
is a reminder that life is a precious gift,
that we have to make the most of today
and that we have people who love us and whom we love.

Joy comes from within, a gift of the Spirit,
an expression of a peace
that the world cannot give – or take away.
Joy recognizes the presence in our lives of the Divine,
knowing we are beloved by our Creator & Redeemer.

Two years after the sudden death of her husband,
Artist and poet Jan Richardson spoke about her heart
being widened to be filled with both grief and joy.
“…in the deepest, sharpest grief – she says,
Joy can come and inhabit the very same space …
In the mysterious physics of mourning, they abide together…
Joy allows sorrow to have its say –
But it does not let despair have the final word.”
Reflecting on today’s scripture readings she says:
“Advent is a season for remembering
that the joy that makes it way toward us
does not depend on mere happiness.
Joy is what comes when –
In days that tempt us toward despair –
We choose to celebrate –
Not in denial of the causes of despair,
But in defiance.
In hope.
In delight.
In gladness for the One who comes
To sing for us and with us,
Ever renewing us in love.”

The book of Zephaniah is mostly warnings to Israel
of God’s judgment to come,
but the last chapter is filled with praise because:
“The Lord is in your midst.”
You shall fear disaster no more.
God is the One who Rules, the ultimate power –
not the conquering armies, not earthly leaders, not terrorists.
Zephaniah insists that God has plans for the world,
that God will act, does act in history, to keep promises:
the hurting will be rescued, the outcast will be gathered
God will bring us home and restore us.

Isaiah offers a “hymn of trust” in God’s promises
Isaiah reminds the people of the Exodus,
that time when God did act to rescue a people.
The faithfulness of God is the source of our hope:
“Surely God is my salvation.
I will trust and will not be afraid,
for God is my strength and my might.
Sing praises to the Lord … give thanks, sing for joy …
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

In our midst,
God is with us.
The very meaning of the name: Emmanuel.
One Bible translation puts it this way:
God put on flesh and blood
and moved into the neighborhood.

That’s what Christmas is all about,
celebrating and remembering that God loves us,
loves the world so much,
that Jesus was born to show us God’s love,
to BE God’s love for us, with us.
Joy for the Christian comes from knowing Christ.
That’s why Paul can write to the Philippians
from a Roman prison and say:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; I say again, rejoice.”

[NOTE: I omitted some of the paragraphs above referring to Zephaniah and Isaiah, along with a quote I was going to use about Advent written by a pastor in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy and an Advent Affirmation of Faith by Rebecca Harrison. Instead I shared much of a blog post that I read that morning by a young mother titled “The Brutally Honest Christmas Card” detailing what a difficult year it had been for their family, concluding with her affirmation of hope.]

“But perhaps the most significant thing is that Jesus is no longer an abstract person, a walking theology, a list of do’s and dont’s to me. This is the year I recognized him as my battered, bruised brother, and I see how he never once left my side.

Every year I think now this year, this is the year I finally *get* Advent. The sadness, the waiting, the longing for all things to be made new. And every year I do understand it a little bit better. This does not show any sign of stopping.

It’s been our hardest year yet my husband said. He paused for a minute. But our kids sure are great. We don’t have the energy to pretend we are OK, because we aren’t really. But the light around us remains, we take our mercies as we get them, we see a new year just around the corner. Maybe, just maybe, this one will be a little bit easier.”

http://www.dlmayfield.com/dl-mayfield/2015/12/9/the-brutally-honest-christmas-card

For the prisoner, for the lonely, the outcast,
for the grieving and hurting and fearful –
the Christmas story is glad tidings,
good news of great joy for all people.
God is with us.
The Lord our God is in our midst.
We are in God’s loving embrace.
And because we know God’s embrace,
we are called to reach out and embrace others,
to be the flesh and blood of God’s love to our neighbor.
What should we do?
We are called to speak and to act
to bring peace to a violent world.

In every day, in every mood,
even in sorrow and distress,
in every season of the year:
God is our strength and salvation.