And the Father will dance over you in joy

Is that a choir I hear,

Singing the praises of God?

No, it's the Lord himself exulting in jubilant song.

And he will joy over you in song.

And he will joy over you in song.

It is a glorious image of the effect our faithfulness can have on our God-making God so happy that God sings and delights in us. It just makes me smile to think of it.

On this third Sunday in Advent, we prepare for the unrestrained singing and exulting joy of Christmas. It is a day for which we make long and complex preparations. It is a day, in my way of understanding scripture, that is without equal and over which I exult and in which I take great joy.

While that joy and rejoicing of God over us is exciting to ponder, it seems never to last very long. So much gets in the way of unrestrained indulgence in ecstatic visions and spiritual communion.

Among the irritations that compromise my joy, those that arise from people I want to view as my sisters and brothers in the faith are perhaps most vexing of all. One example comes from a newspaper article that portrays some of the worst of what religion can become.

It's from Thursday's USA Today (page 7A) and entitled "Christian groups spar over video game." Here's some of the text:

Talk about warfare. A Christmas season turf war is underway over whether a new computer game, laced with violent virtual battles and spiritual messages stressing the urgent need for salvation, is authentically Christian.

An alliance of Christian progressive groups fired first, calling for Wal-Mart to stop selling Left Behind: Eternal Forces, a $39.99 real-time military strategy game based on the best-selling Left Behind Apocalyptic novels. Players battling the Antichrist, the ultimate in evil, can pray to increase their strength, recruit converts to the Christian cause, even conduct exorcisms.

"It's faith-based killing that teaches God wants people dead if they don't see Christ as you do," says the Rev. Tim Simpson, head of Christian Alliance for Progress, who has played the game. "Jesus would turn the other cheek."

Shooting back in defense, conservative Christians and the game's producers say the computer game battles are all between good and evil, with no explosive blood or gore. They say it takes spiritual weaponry, not firepower, to win.

"These groups don't attack other violent video games. Their real attack is on our theology," says Tim LaHaye, co-author of the novels, who endorsed the game.

And the game isn't about mindless violence, says Jeffrey Frichner, president and co-founder of Left Behind Games. "True," he says, "players can engage in battle, fire guns, even kill innocents in the game, but there will be severe consequences. In fact, you can win this game without ever firing a shot, using weapons of spiritual means, such as prayer and worship."

If a player increases his force's spiritual strength, angels will even come to his assistance. But it's the action, not the angels, that has put the game in 10,000 locations,...

The Campaign to Defend the Constitution, an alliance of groups including Simpson's, launched its attack on the game this week. Simpson calls Frichner's descriptions "weasel words."

Simpson says it's true that "once you do a kill, it causes your 'spiritual points' in the game to go down, but all you need to do is pray and you're good to go again, as if nothing else happened," says Simpson.

He adds that the bad guys are non-Christians and that a stand-in for the United Nations is portrayed as the army of the Antichrist, the embodiment of evil.

Alliance co-founder Clark Stevens says they've rallied 26,000 emails so far to Wal-Mart, because the game "advocates intolerance toward other religions."

At the risk of adding hype to this product, which it seems is often the real objective of those who produce such things—more hype, more sales, I'd like to add my voice to those opposing this and all violent games. Perhaps I'm being over-sensitive, but I would rather this kind of thing steer clear of Advent. While we are supposedly preparing our hearts and spirits for the coming of the Prince of Peace into the world, those who call themselves Christian are supporting one more game based on violence—not to mention pitifully poor theology.

My joy is compromised. I suspect God's is too.

Still, in Advent, I can't stay in the doldrums long either.

Indeed, today all we need to do is look no further than the second lesson. Here is another very welcome word about rejoicing. This one is from Philippians.

Did you notice how the second lesson this morning balances the first? Zephaniah tells of God's joy in us. In Philippians, Paul speaks of our joy in God:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yes. I want you to grasp something more of the joy of God today-and its source in the faithful behavior of believers—whether in keeping Advent as Advent rather than merely a backward extension of Christmas for the sake of satisfying our gluttony for food or goods or in our grateful living of forgiveness and grace. I want us to become more a people in whom God may take delight.

But I also hear Paul—and I want you to hear him. I appreciate being reminded that I need not let the fools of the world get me down. I welcome this exhortation from Paul that regardless of circumstances, I may still rejoice in the Lord. Indeed, I may rejoice in the Lord at all times. The Lord is near. There is no need to worry about anything—even those Tim LaHaye crazies who totally misunderstand the book of Revelation and who seek a profit with misguided and counter-productive messages that threaten the spiritual health of our children.

God is able even to take care of that.

And so, I want you to hear this too, regardless of what irritations plague you in this waning but precious season of Advent. God is near. Rejoice. Remain steadfast in gratitude to God for all that God is doing.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Which is, of course, the phrase that I have taken to using as my closing for sermons. And so, I close again with that reminder today.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto eternal life.  Amen.