Pericope Study

Advent 3C

By Richard M Burgess

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are not necessarily anyone’s. Some words are for your enlightenment, some for your endarkenment, and some just to confuse you. A few are true. Decide for yourself.

Collect / POD:

Almighty God, you once called John the Baptist to give witness to the coming of your Son and to prepare his way. Grant us, your people, the wisdom to see your purpose today and the openness to hear your will, that we may witness to Christ’s coming and so prepare his way; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

or

Lord, hear our prayers and come to us, bringing light into the darkness of our hearts; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Zephaniah 3.14–20: [NRSV]

¹⁴Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

¹⁵The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

¹⁶On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

¹⁷The Lord, your God, is in your midst,

a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

he will renew you in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing

¹⁸as on a day of festival.

I will remove disaster from you,

so that you will not bear reproach for it.

¹⁹I will deal with all your oppressors

at that time.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

²⁰At that time I will bring you home,

at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the Lord.

Structure of Zeph 3.14–20:

1              Warnings to Judah for its arrogance

2              Warnings to the nations for worshiping gods other than YHWH; talk of preserving a remnant from Judah and also from the nations.

3.1–13     Warnings to Jerusalem as a general disappointment

3.14–15     Present

Call to rejoice: YHWH has taken away judgments, & conquered enemies, and is now with Judah

3.16–20     Future

3.16–18a   YHWH defeats enemies & exults

3.13a–19   YHWH will remove shame

3.20          YHWH will gather the diaspora & restore Judah’s fortune

Comments & Thought Questions:

Zephaniah was written in Judah during the reign of King Josiah, ie, 640–609 BCE. (Zeph 1.1) This would be after the fall of Israel to Assyria (722 BCE) and the ensuing diaspora but before the fall of Judah to Babylon (586 BCE). In Zephaniah as a whole, with its warnings to Judah & Jerusalem, there is a sense of “as Israel, so Judah”.

What is the occasion of the rejoicing here? Why rejoice rather than praise or give thanks?

Is the restoration / forgiveness spoken of here once and for all or is it part of a cycle of repeated restoration? I tell my confirmation students that there is only one story in the Bible: God gives people good stuff; people mess it up; and God bails people out. Eg, Flood, Exodus, Exile, Jesus & the disciples, overall plan of salvation, etc. Does this story ever have a final episode? When?

Note that the “rejoicing” here is primarily encouragement to Judah because YHWH is rejoicing / will rejoice. How is this different from the more straightforward rejoicing because of what God has done for us?

Are there contemporary situations comparable to that in this passage? What restoration is needed in our communities and will (or should be) received with rejoicing?

How do we deal differently with the anticipation of future rejoicing made possible by what will happen as opposed to the rejoicing that is possible because of what has already happened? It would seem there are some delicate, but important, theological distinctions to be made here.

Isaiah 12.2–6: [NRSV]

²Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the Lord God is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

³With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴And you will say in that day:

Give thanks to the Lord,

call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations;

proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be known in all the earth.

⁶Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Structure of Isa 12.2–6:

12.2    God is Psalmist’s (Isaiahist’s?) Salvation, strength, & might

12.3–4       Therefore “you” (Zion) will enjoy salvation and give thanks & praise

12.5–6       Command to praise YHWH

12.6b        warrant: “great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel”.

Comments & Thought Questions:

This is the close of the first section of Isaiah, chapters 1–12. It recalls YHWH saving Israel in the Exodus and looks to enjoying God’s saving help again. (There are similarities with, possibly references to, the Song of Moses in Ex 15.) Note that being First Isaiah, it is roughly mid 8^th to early 7^th century BCE.

Is 12.6b: “for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” Note the juxtaposition of God’s transcendence (“great”, “Holy”) and immanence (“in your midst”, “of Israel”). While God’s people are in trouble, possibly as a punishment from God Godself, the Almighty God is still with them to comfort and save them. A very compact, yet comprehensive, assertion of faith. (Cf, Rahner’s Rule: the immanent Trinity = the transcendent Trinity)

Is this passage “Christian”? Otto Kaiser finds a connection between this passage, esp Is 12.6b, and the paradox of Jesus being both humiliated and exalted on the cross. (Kaiser, Otto Isaiah 1–12: A Commentary, The Old Testament Library. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1983), 272.) How much of a stretch is this? If true, how might it be useful in preaching, pastoral care, etc?

This passage takes the place of the “psalm” today. Is this a Psalm? Is it appropriate for this usage? Is there a difference between the “Psalm” and the other texts for a Sunday?

Philippians 4.4–7: [NRSV]

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Structure for Philippians 4.4–7:

4.4            Rejoice, Rejoice

4.5a           Let your “gentleness” / “forbearance” be known

4.5b    The Lord is near

4.6a     Don’t worry; Pray

4.6b          Give requests to God via prayer, supplication, & thanksgiving

4.7            Then God’s peace will guard your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus.

Comments & Thought Questions:

What is the connection between “rejoice” in 4.4 and “gentleness” in 4.5a?

“Gentleness” in 4.5a (RSV: forbearance; KJV: moderation; Gk: epieikeV epieikes) means reasonableness, fair mindedness, patience, trusting God to care for one’s concerns. It can also mean “farewell”.

Verse 4.5b, “The Lord is near,” is something of a pivot in this passage. Is it a conclusion / summary of 4.4–5a or does it set the tone for 4.6–7? (Don’t rely on the verse divisions—the letter first distributed in Greek probably didn’t even have spaces between the words, let along punctuation or versification.) Does this represent an apocalyptic expectation or is it an encouraging affirmation of the Lord’s ubiquity?

Verse 4.7, “Let the peace of God . . . in Christ Jesus,” has been used as an excuse for quietism or withdrawal from the world. How might this be justified or not in the immediate and/or larger Biblical context?

Luke 3.7–18: [NRSV]

⁷John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‛We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” ¹¹In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” ¹²Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” ¹⁴Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Structure for Luke 3.14–20:

3.7–9   Bear Fruit or Else!

3.8                  No excuses

3.9                  Judgement is coming—soon.

3.10–14     Then what should we do?

3.10–11           To Crowds: Share

3.12–13           To Tax Collectors: Don’t gouge.

3.14          To Soldiers: Don’t abuse your authority; Be satisfied.

3.15–17     John the Baptist Is Not the Messiah

3.16a         Messiah much greater than John the Baptist

3.16b        Messiah will baptize with Holy Spirit & Fire

3.17          Messiah will judge, separate wheat from chaff

3.18    This is good news & John the Baptist proclaimed it in many ways.

Comments & Thought Questions:

Is the difference between John the Baptist’s baptism and Jesus’ significant?

If being a descendent of Abraham is not good enough (3.8), what does that say about the Covenant? What is the modern Christian equivalent? Try both loose and close parallels.

John the Baptist gives different answers to the same question, “What should we do?” depending on the questioners’ situation. What is the common theme in his three responses? (some possibilities: be content; trust God, not worldly stuff; justice) What answer would he give you if you asked, “What should we do?”

John the Baptist promises not only a more powerful baptism, but judgement. How is this “good news”? (3.18)

One of my seminary professors saw this passage as pointing to a temporal purging similar to, but not necessarily the same as, “purgatory”. What do you think? (Try to focus on the biblical theology, not metaphysical or sectarian tangents.) How is this related to being “good news”?

If God can raise up children of Abraham from rocks (3.8b), why doesn’t God do that? Has God?

What is wheat & chaff in your life, family, congregation, community? What is wind &/o fire? Is it possible to change your wheat to chaff ratio by yourself?

General Considerations

Jesus is not explicitly a character in any of these lessons, though he is in the background. Realizing it is Advent, should we leave it at that, or do we need to do some overt Christocentrification here and there?

Our Sunday School program is the “sermon” for this Sunday and relatively unrelated to the lectionary. Is there anything in these lessons that needs more than a mere reading? If so, how can that be accomplished with minimal interference to the Sunday School program.

How do these lessons prepare us for the coming of Jesus: This Christmas? In our “hearts”? Eschatologically?

Possible Sermon Titles:

Be Alert, Not Anxious. (Philippians)

Don’t Worry, Be Happy! (Philippians)

Fruit or The Doom? (Luke)

Here Come de Judge (Luke)

Rejoice—Now or Later? (Zephaniah, Isaiah)

What Kind of Tree Are You? (Luke)

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Copyright © 2004 by Richard M Burgess                                      latest revision: December 31, 2004