THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT – December 11, 2011

Here is John the Baptist again, this time not surrounded by penitents aching to be cleansed of their sins. This time it's the righteous priests and Levites who are sent to spy out what he was doing, to find out exactly who he was. John's responses do not help their investigation. He says who he is not: not the Messiah, not Elijah, not some other prophet. "Then what are you doing out here?" the guardians of Jewish wisdom and lore ask him. The answer comes from the gospel writer: what John is doing is testifying to the light. He is crying out in the wilderness to testify to the light. We are so ready for that light!

After 5:30 in the morning on December 22, the hours of sunlight begin to increase every day. It's the winter solstice; rejoice! At two worship services on December 24, we will light tapers in a darkened church and delight in the beauty of the flames. It's candlelight Christmas Eve; rejoice! Today's story about John the Baptist does not threaten as some stories do (that the ax is laid at the foot of the tree, ready to cut us down) but reminds us that light that is coming. The light that is spoken of is Jesus Christ; rejoice!

It is because the Third Sunday of Advent has traditionally been called "Rejoice Sunday" (Gaudete Sunday) that we will think about the colors of the season and especially the color pink. Some remember when the color of Advent was purple – purple stole on the pastor, purple hangings on the altar, purple candles on the wreath. In our Service Book and Hymnal (printed in 1958), the color of Advent was purple. Period.

In the 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, the preferred color of Advent was blue – blue stole, blue paraments, blue candles. Purple is a suggested alternate (probably for congregations that hadn't bought blue paraments yet.) 1978: blue or purple. In 2006 with Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the color for Advent is blue. Period. In one way, what color is on the altar is not very important. In another way, the change from purple to blue is intriguing because the liturgical colors are intended to affect our mood and our understanding of the season. The change to blue signals a change in the understanding of Advent.

Advent began as a parallel to Lent. Forty days of fasting in Advent (like in Lent) called for a purple mood, purple the color of penitence. When Advent was shortened from forty days to four weeks, the scripture texts were still about the end time and judgment; the feeling of being weighed down by sin was easy to come by even as the world was cultivating a merry spirit.

In Protestant churches, thanks to someone's great wisdom, Advent's color changed to blue, the color of hope and expectation. No one person or group claims responsibility for this change, but it must have been a movement between 1958 and 1978. Faithful Christians try to abstain during Advent from self-indulgent overeating and overspending, but fasting is no longer prescribed. For American Lutherans like us, Advent is no longer a second penitential season like Lent; it's no longer purple.

Once we say that Advent is blue (not purple), there is still the matter of which blue: ultra-marine, turquoise, teal, navy. Universities have blues named after them: Carolina blue, Yale blue, Cambridge blue, Columbia blue, Duke blue. There are so many blues! When I was about to be ordained and needed to buy a blue stole, what blue should I choose? I chose a blue that's close to navy, close to midnight because Advent is the darkest time of year. A dark blue stole reminded me of the night sky in winter.

Here at First Lutheran other shades of blue are used for Advent. This stole is kind of a sky blue, baby blue, Carolina blue. That it's a lighter shade than my first stole suggests, in the darkness of December nights, the approach of dawn. Maybe there's a greater feeling of hope with this blue: the coming of light, the coming of Christ is perceptible. It's the third Sunday of Advent now, and Christmas is only two weeks away; rejoice!

On the third Sunday of Advent, scripture tells us to rejoice. Paul says "Rejoice always." Isaiah is full of good news for the brokenhearted (now rejoicing like a bridegroom in a garland and a bride adorned with jewels). And the psalmist is laughing and shouting for joy. "The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced." The darkness is fading. The lessons are upbeat and so full of the word "rejoice" that Rejoice Sunday has at times changed the third Advent candle from purple (or blue) to rose. Is there a hint of sunrise?

So you see, pink is not only the color of Breast Cancer Awareness. Pink is not only the color for baby girls – as if an Advent wreath might have three boy candles and one girl candle. Pink is not only the sign of health on rosy cheeks. Pink is the color that the church associates with joy. In the very darkest time of year, in the sometimes hectic rush of holiday preparations, in the face of scripture's warnings that God will destroy the world because of sin: behold, pink is breaking in.

Even without a pink candle on our Advent wreath, there can be a pink spirit among us. The prophet Isaiah dresses the troubled people of Israel is garlands, jewels, robes of righteousness; the people are to be as joyful as a bride and groom; the land is to be like a garden in spring. John is crying out in the wilderness but today not judgment and threat; today he is testifying to the light. Whatever is troubling you this day, let the light of Christ tinge the horizon with pink. The light of the world, the light that no darkness can overcome, is reaching out to you through the darkness. Rejoice!