Advent Three: Rejoice?

Last updated on: December 13, 2015 at 11:29 pm by Guest Contributor

Advent Three: Rejoice? 2015-12-13T23:29:31-06:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This guest post was written by Jill Crainshaw.

Photo by Sheila Hunter. Used by permission.

“Rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4). “Sing for joy!” (Isaiah 12).

With these words, ancient biblical voices call us to joy on the third Sunday in Advent.

The Latin term for this week in the season of Advent is “Gaudete” or “Rejoice,” and on this Sunday many churches follow the historic practice of lighting a rose-hued candle of joy instead of the penitential purple or anticipatory blue candles of the other three Sundays.

I have been thinking in recent days that perhaps this Advent we should forego Rejoice Sunday. The world is too weary with violence and pain. Indeed, what manner of rejoicing even rings true as we strike a match and touch its flame to the joy candle on this year’s wreath?

My friend’s 75th birthday celebration made me stop and reconsider my decision to snuff out the joy candle. Party-goers were asked to write my friend a poem or blessing. As I thought about this request, I realized that my friend’s life itself is both blessing and poem, for she has done what she could over her years of living to be kind, not just during the idyllic weeks of quixotic Christmas snow globes, but for the season that is her lifetime, even during times when life was anything but kind to her.

Thinking about my friend’s 75 years of weeks and days of learning by doing how to be a kind and caring human being has made me reconsider the meaning of that rose-hued candle on the Advent wreath. A world weighed down by fear and grief needs gifts of kindness. We may even be desperate for the kind of life-sustaining joy that can be birthed when people decide anew each day to embody God’s “fear not” in the midst of our world’s most fearful realities.

So it is that on the third Sunday in this season of waiting, we add to our Advent fire a flinty, prophetic spark of rejoicing. We say “yes” one more time to Advent’s call to a kind of rejoicing birthed in simple, everyday acts of kindness that persist in the midst of unrelenting bad news. We say “yes” because the story of Jesus calls us to embody unremitting hospitality in the face of inhospitality, radical welcome in the face of rejection, justice-infused love in the face of fear. We say “yes” because the season’s hopeful promises of “goodwill to all” are birthed in a manger of radical kindness.

’Tis the season. “Rejoice in the Lord always.” “Sing for joy.”

’Tis the season

’Tis the season
of peppermint, that is,
refreshing scent of winter
welcome
“Come, sit and sip awhile”
on mint-mingled
tea
or coffee
or mocha latte with a just a hint of vanilla
hands folded around warm mugs
as spirited steam swirls around
and between us.

Yes, peppermint season
welcomes
and invites
Red bird candies in crinkly cellophane wrappers
placed “just so” in a dish inside the door
of banks
or downtown shops
where cinnamon and Christmas
scent the air.
“Yes, please do take one. Enjoy!”
We do. Just one.
For now.
With peppermint,
one is enough
to savor awhile,
cool sweetness tingling
noses and tongues
until we exhale,
“Ah!”

Yes, ’tis the season of cooling candied confections
and extraordinary kindnesses.
Chestnuts roast over open fires.
Hearts grow a little bit larger.
Somebody does want a Charlie in the Box after all.

How fitting, my friend, that you are
a child of the season
of peppermint.
For you, too, spice lives with
refreshing kindness,
warm welcome
flavored with delectable
hospitality
and the promise of a sweetness
that lingers
for a long winter’s night
to offer “goodwill to all.”

About Jill Crainshaw
Jill Crainshaw is a PCUSA minister and Blackburn Professor of Worship and Liturgical Theology at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. She is the author of several books on worship and ministry.

Christian Spirituality

Poetry

advent

jill crainshaw

Previous Post

December 10, 2015

Homosexuality and the Bible: Beyond the Dichotomy between Biblical Prophets and Cultural Compromisers

Next Post

December 17, 2015 White Supremacy and the Pulpit: What the White Church Must Learn from Charleston

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Christian History Christian Issues Christian Spirituality Current Events Fundamentalism Islam John Shore LGBT Movie Reviews Poetry Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz