Rejoice?! Really?

Rejoice!? Really? And just how is that we are supposed to be reasonable when God is allowing such senseless and unreasonable stuff to go on all around us. It seems every week, sometimes every day brings something senseless and unreasonable into our worlds. Sometimes it's in a little more distant place like Connecticut, or Afghanistan, Liberia—or even with something like Pastor Chambers year long battle with a horrible bacteria. Other times it's closer to home in our own communities and neighborhoods: law breakers shooting our police officers (maybe we even know some of them or their families), police officers shooting law breakers (again maybe we know some of these lawbreakers or their families), murder suicides involving young children. Things like cancer touching people in our own families, and other health problems that result in losing a friend or loved one far too soon at too young an age to even remotely consider such a thing reasonable.

How is all this reasonable? How is God being reasonable? And yet He is telling us to rejoice and be reasonable?

To hear and/or read the entire sermon preached for Gaudete, the Third Sunday in Advent, click on this link. http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=3042