Here’s a little song I wrote. You might wanna sing it note for note. Don’t worry… be happy.” This is the opening line of lyrics for the hit song, “Don’t worry, be happy” written and recorded by Bobby McFerrin way back in l988. The prophet Zephaniah tell his listeners to do the same thing and to shout for joy and sing joyfully. When was the last time we did anything like that? Nowadays, those joyful shouts have been at a minimum. There doesn’t seem to be much to joyfully shout about. Today, this Third Sunday of Advent, we are told to REJOICE in the Lord always. Tough to do when we just don’t feel it. We get angry and upset about politics, news of international military buildups, senseless school shootings, massive shoplifting, and the list goes on. So, what do we do? Perhaps we can remember these three simple words: with, near, and always. God is WITH us, he is NEAR to us, and it is ALWAYS that way! If preachers simply tell their congregations to rejoice, and leave it at that, failure is imminent. But if we preach and understand the real closeness of God, then rejoicing will come abundantly from within.
