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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

Third Sunday of Advent

This Is Only a Test

Twelve-year-olds sauntered into the school cafeteria. Seventy year-olds sat down on benches around the lunch tables. I was giving an intergenerational workshop to about a hundred and twenty people. There were as many middle-schoolers as there were adults. As a presenter, you learn to gauge your audience. This audience felt squirmy. Downright wriggly. So I said, “We’ll have a test at the  end.” Suddenly “squirmy” turned into “attentive.” 

I did give a test at the end. The middle-schoolers did better than the adults; they were more oriented toward being tested and thus more attentive. A few adults chatted in the hallway, assuming “she  doesn’t really mean it.” But I did mean it. 

How does “there will be a test” change a person’s attentiveness? In Jesus’ day, the Israelites were oriented toward being tested: the God in whom they believed was the God to whom they were accountable.  You can hear it in their repeated question to John the Baptist: three times, they ask, “What should we do?” If the Judge of the Universe is coming near, what should we do? 

Yes, there will be a test at the end of life. Yes, God means it. St. Paul says, do good, be honorable, be true—run on God’s power. Be pure, be just, be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit. 

Should “there will be a test” send us into a funk of gloom and doom? By no means! But this Advent, we cannot presume on God’s kindness and keep chatting in the hallways. The Divine Test-Giver is coming. We are to be attentive. The God in whom we believe is the  God to whom we are accountable. 

God’s judgment is also God’s mercy, says the prophet Zephaniah.  Today is Gaudete (joyful) Sunday. That mercy is also our joy! Rejoice  always! The Lord is near! To be ready for his coming, we ask, “What  shall we do?” 

Consider/Discuss 

  • Jesus Christ himself is the ultimate test. How closely do our lives resemble  his? That’s a pretty high standard. Good enough is . . . well . . . just not  good enough. This Advent, we can look inside and ask ourselves, How am  I orienting my thoughts, my energies, and my actions? Am I chatting away  in the hallway? Or am I paying close attention, asking, “Lord, what should  I do?” and then doing it? 
  • Judgment and mercy—how do we keep those both before us? Today’s  readings lift us up to help us to soar in the Spirit: Rejoice always! Shout  for joy! Be glad and exult with all your heart! Do not be discouraged, do  not fear! How can we get more in the habit of rejoicing in God always? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Good and gracious Test-Giver, have mercy on us. You know that  we don’t live an A-plus life all the time. You know that being like  Jesus sets a really high standard. And yet you draw us to that kind  of life anyway. We know that there will be a test at the end. Do not  let us grow slack. By your grace, keep us attentive to the movement  of your Spirit. My Lord and my God, what shall we do, together, today?

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Scripture Study for

The book of Zephaniah is marked by a strong and graphic emphasis on the destructive consequences of Israel’s infidelity to their relationship with God. One gets the clear impression from the  rhetoric of the first part of the book that this relationship has come  to a definitive end. This dire scenario nevertheless gives way to an ebullient oracle of hope, in which the divine protector of Jerusalem assures the holy city that God remains committed to the relationship.  Indeed, God will rejoice over this people with gladness and joyfully renew them in love. The divinely ordained response: “shout for joy,”  “be glad and exult,” “be not discouraged.” Judgment, as merited as  it may be, is never final in God’s intentions. 

Despite the troubles Paul has found in Philippi, which largely stem from the inability of some in the community to overcome their  differences and to be united in Christ, the Apostle urges all of them to  “rejoice,” and again, “rejoice.” Human troubles and infidelities must be attended to, but in the end, they must not be allowed to bring  anxiety, because “the Lord is near.” While the Philippians, along  with all Christians, await the consummation of God’s promises, they  should ground themselves in trust in the Lord, turning to God for  all their needs. If they can do this, then instead of anxiety they will  experience God’s peace, which will keep them safe in Christ Jesus.

Although all four Gospels feature John offering a baptism of  repentance, only Luke gives us a sense of what such repentance looks  like, and it is unsurprising to anyone familiar with Israel’s scriptures.  When the crowd asks what they should do to prepare for the coming  of the Messiah, John reminds them of God’s expectation that those  who have should take care of those who have not (Deuteronomy  15:10–11; Tobit 4:7). Tax collectors, who made their fortunes by  collecting more than the Romans required, should stop, and soldiers  (and everyone else) should likewise obey the Law and avoid greed.  When the Messiah comes, John insists, he will bring salvation to  those who have reformed their lives, but judgment to those who  have not. 

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