By: The Venerable Michael J. McKinnon
“Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete…”.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” – Philippians 4:4
From sorrow to hope: The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as “Rose Sunday”. There is a slight shift in the hearts of God’s people from the greater solemnity of the Season toward a spiritual posture of anticipated and joy-filled hope at the coming of our Lord. “Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! Whose hope is in the LORD their God…” (Psalm 146:4).
When one turns their heart (that is, repents) from sin, one turns the heart toward God and are received ever more fully into His loving and healing embrace. As they are drawn into the fuller presence of God, their darkness is replaced by His light; their sin by His forgiveness, their woundedness by His healing; their despair by His hope and their death by His life – for He is the author of life. It is through repentance that we come to the realization that salvation does not depend upon us. Praise God! As we grow in our understanding that this unattainable task (that of saving ourselves) has not been placed upon our shoulders, but rather has been placed upon the shoulders of our Lord (and accomplished by His death), we begin to be enveloped by a sense of real hope – we begin to taste LIFE initially or anew. “O taste and see that the LORD is good!” – Psalm 34:8a
St. Cyprian of Carthage, 255, wrote, “If we believe in Christ, let us have faith in His work and promises; and since we shall not die eternally, let us come with glad assurance to Christ, with whom we are both to conquer and to reign forever.” That is, it is not what we have done or even failed to do that truly matters (in the sense of attaining to salvation), but what He has done for us through His incarnation, death, resurrection, and glorious ascension. We have only to embrace this gift of grace by faith. If we do so, we will not often fail to bear fruits worthy of the gift we have received (of course, in those times when we do fall short, the doors of repentance remain open to us, to renew the life of Christ within us).
Because humanity has fallen out of right relationship with God, all of us are conceived and born into the kingdom of darkness. This is not so much a punishment for sin, as it is a consequence. God is light and life. Therefore, to turn from God is to embrace darkness and death. In this kingdom into which we are born, death (begotten of sin) is the final word over us all. We cannot escape death. Yet in Christ Jesus, the victory over death, which we could not attain by our own merit, is offered to all who put their faith and trust in Him. As it says in Romans 6:9, “Death has no dominion over Him”. When we trust in Christ for our salvation we become participants in His victory. We are transferred from one kingdom to another. In the first kingdom, death reigns. In the second Kingdom, life Himself reigns. “He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 3:13-14).
The initial sorrow and Godly fear that overcomes us when we realize the depth and consequence of our sin and infinite smallness before God, soon gives way to anticipated hope and joy. It is not that the first posture is inappropriate. Indeed, it is the only appropriate response to sin. However, it is not the end. Through repentance, God bestows upon us all that is good and holy. The very love that the Father has had for His Son from all eternity is bestowed upon us who have become His children by adoption and grace. This love transforms our sorrow and fills us with life. Indeed, through repentance, we are truly alive for the first time.