Reflection for The Third Sunday of Advent
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen. – Collect for the Third Sunday of Advent
You may have heard the third Sunday in Advent referred to as “Gaudete Sunday”. That comes from the Latin words that traditionally began this week’s worship in the Catholic tradition– “rejoice (gaudete) in the Lord always”. That’s how we come to have a pink candle on the Advent wreath, a joyful pop of color amidst the penitential purple. But I prefer to call it “Stirrup Sunday”–stir up your power, O Lord! And with great might come among us.
Whatever you call it, this week is meant to be a turning point in our four weeks of waiting and expectation. We’re halfway through our Advent journey, so I can only hope we’re all halfway through our to-do lists for next week–the plans for traveling or hosting and gift buying and decorating that start to dominate our calendars from now through the new year.
Yet the Church still insists on waiting, reckoning, and repentance. There’s no “gaudete” in this week’s opening prayer, but rather a tough dose of reality, that we are “sorely hindered by our sins.” When I am the most ready to skip ahead to the full joy of Christmas, I have to grudgingly thank our worship for slowing me down, and assisting me with some honesty about my life that is true all year round–mainly, that life can be hard. In some fundamental ways, I’m not living the way I could, or should, or wish I would. Thinking of the traditional Christian virtues of faith, hope, charity, and love–there are ways I struggle in my life with God or fall short in how I care (or don’t care) enough for others or myself. Jesus’ imminent arrival is meant to make us reflect on that and see that this is not how things have to be.
And so our Advent life together presents us with another glorious contrast, in the words of the preacher Fleming Rutledge, between what is and what is promised.