Joy in the Waiting
For Meditation
Have you ever wondered why the Advent wreath candle for the third week of Advent is pink, not purple? (I'm guessing some of you are thinking: No, I have never wondered that nor even noticed it was pink. No worries. At least a few of you have probably wondered!). The reason the third candle is pink is because the third Sunday of Advent is called "Gaudete Sunday." Gaudete is a Latin word that means "Rejoice!," taken from the first word of the ancient liturgy for this Sunday and also the first word of Philippians 4:4-5 ("Rejoice in the Lord always!). In this season of waiting and penitence, the third Sunday is the "Sunday of Joy," calling us into a lightness of spirit and joyful anticipation as we wait for the promised One.
Not all waiting is joy-filled. In fact, most waiting is drudgery. But Christian waiting is joyful waiting, because it is transformed by the content of our hope: what it is we are waiting for. In our passage for this morning from Isaiah 61, we get a beautiful picture of the joy-drenched future that the promised Messiah will bring, which calls us in the present to steward our waiting with joy, despite what darkness we may be facing.
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.