The first reading for this Third Sunday of Advent (Zephaniah 3:14-18) has a jubilant feel. Israel has no more to fear – the Lord God is coming to the rescue of Israel as a victorious warrior. Sentences are repealed, enemies have been driven away.
What does this promise mean for us? We are struggling with so many different things: The fourth wave of the pandemic, endemic corruption, economic instability and climate change. It is a mess.
Here we have a promise. There will come a day when those things with which we are now so burdened will not be a struggle anymore—a day when we will be free. The promise is made here to Israel in a specific time and context – but it is also the promise of our faith. That God chooses to help us out of the mess we have made.
But it is not a sitting back and waiting for someday when God will wave a magic wand. There is a double call. To trust that ultimately God has everything in hand and that there will be redemption, restoration and celebration. But we also know that God chooses not to redeem us without including us as active participants in that process. Today we are called to co-operate with God to bring about that future joyful reality.
Even at this moment, as we live in a world groaning under the weight of grief and struggles, God exults with joy over you, dances with delight because you exist, renews you in his love. This is something to marvel at and rejoice over.
I invite you to spend some time in prayer today, allowing yourself to sense how God exults with joy over you.
