All Joy Wills Eternity, 3rd Sunday of Advent

All joy wills eternity.

How expansive is the joy of Advent?

The Psalmist declares that the heavens proclaim the glory of God and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands. Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes know the message. This joy event encompasses all time and space.
 St Paul looks closer to home -
All of creation has been groaning, as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time.  Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we await in joyful hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
 Everything from the immensity of the cosmos to the smallest wonder of the earth and all who dwell within wait in joyful expectation for the story that is to come. When God, The Word made flesh, comes and dwells in our midst. And by his love we and all of creation will be restored and saved and in this he himself rejoices. This is the depth and breadth of the Joy of Advent.
Today on this 3rd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) we rejoice in the Lord as we acknowledge and celebrate this transcendent multifaceted joy.  
The joy of what has already taken place in the Incarnation and the joy of our hope as we wait for the Lord to come again.
We will soon celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary in the town of Bethlehem, but for now the Christ event is still a whisper, faintly heard by the straining heart of creation. We look for (and act on) signs and wonders as the poor shepherds and the wise men did. We search the horizons of our hearts, for something wonderous and new.
 And as we wait, in this Advent season, we must ask ourselves who are we waiting for?
For surely the “who” defines the “how”?
This fundamental existential question is a timeless and universal concern.
It is asked, one way or another, by every human being. It was certainly the concern of those listening to John the Baptist when they ask him “What should we do?”
And he replies with an answer that was neither heroic nor unattainable “share with the person who has none and whoever has food should do likewise”.
In this answer John is saying repentance and loving service to others is not just for the few. Even tax collectors and soldiers came to be baptized and they said to him,
“Teacher, what should we do?”
John the Baptist answered them, “Stop cheating. Do not practice extortion.
Do not falsely accuse anyone and be satisfied with your wages.”
Repentance demands conversion and conversion always has the seeds of joy hidden within it. Believing demands doing and this also has the seeds of joy hidden within.
True joy is rooted in our experience of God’s unconditional love, mercy, and liberation. True joy is

not mere satisfaction, but is the good that gives meaning and value given to our lives. True joy compels us (not by

guilt, but by love) to act differently; to live more simply, share more generously, and work for

justice within the home and the world.

 The people that day were moved. They closed in around John - “are you the one who is to come?”

Their hearts were filled with a growing excitement and a new expectation. They desired the freedom and the glory the messiah would bring. They hoped the Baptist might be the Christ. John answered them in humility and kindness -
I am not he. I am only the one who comes before. I preach repentance to prepare the way for he who can forgive and save. I am not the Good News, but I point to the Good News of Salvation. “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming and he will baptize you with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
 This is the spirit of Advent. The radical expectant joy of “is coming”.
The eager joy of waiting for one mightier than ourselves, mightier than the tyranny of the world. John is pointing to Emmanuel, God-with-us, the Wonder-Counselor.
John is pointing to the Incarnation, the living God come to share life with us and loving us until the end. John is pointing to Jesus.
As John stood in the Jordan River he suspected in his heart what we have come to know through faith and acknowledge in our lives and in our liturgies that in the Incarnation (the life, death and resurrection of Jesus) all things whether on earth or in heaven will be reconciled, in Christ, with God. This is the good news the angels sang about to the shepherds that night
“Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people of good will. A great joy will come to all people”
 But, on this 3^rd Sunday, that same heaven and earth waits; active and patient, hopeful and joyful for he who has come and who will come again.
On this day, from the depths of creation we faintly hear a whisper. A whisper that grows stronger and louder with each passing moment.
“Rejoice, Salvation is drawing near.”
And respond in joy - Come, Lord Jesus, Come!