2nd Advent: "The word before the Word"

"The word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert"

Luke 3: 1-6

The word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/120918.cfm

The Evangelist Luke, somewhat of an historian as well, places the ministry of John the Baptist this Sunday in a specific historical period of the ancient world: in the “15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”  He goes on to remind us of the other notorious characters whose names will play out in the story of the Christ:  Pontius Pilate, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas and the various other ruthless leaders of the ancient world. These leaders are the mighty and the dangerous.  But they were also the key political leaders of the time. It was a time of uncontrolled power and domination and the people of ancient Palestine knew well they were essentially powerless to overthrow this oppression – yet they were filled with hope that someone would come and lead them to victory – a Messiah.

Without much notice, a charismatic figure, a “voice of one crying out in the desert” appears and invites everyone to “prepare the way of the Lord . . .” by submitting to a “baptism of repentance.” But, let’s not be too hasty to miss the point of where John is located.  Not in the palaces or courts of the mighty and powerful or the Temple of Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship, but in the desert; a place of barren wasteland and a reminder to the Jews of their birthplace.  In the desert these people were formed as they scattered from Egypt under Moses leadership. In the desert was the birthplace of something new and every Jew knew that. A new people formed by God himself to be of special favor. So, is Luke telling us that something new is about to take place with the Baptist? Yes, indeed. The political and geographic locations Luke uses here is purposely done to remind us that something new, actually someone new, is about to change everything. We are to prepare for him.

John the baptizer or literally “John the dipper” while his message was on the surface somewhat ominous in its unsettling theme (Mt 3: 11-12; Lk 3: 16-17) it also became an invitation to expectancy; a time to get ready for a greater person about to appear on the scene. A time when God would intervene and send a Savior described as John stated, “One mightier than I.” And so Luke reminds us that God reached down at a specific time and place in human history to begin a new and final age in which he would be Lord and Savior. 

John’s preaching, we may often think, was threatening or too harsh for ears to hear.  Yet it is clear that he cut to the heart and his message was compelling; engaging; and charismatic.  So people came out by the droves to hear him and to be washed in the Jordan. Rather than repel people with a “fire and brimstone” theme he attracted people with a message of hope and promise: “This is the time” that God will establish his kingdom.  Jews longed for that day and now it was here. Before the Word would come, the word of John needed to be heard, and so it was.  He was the word before the Word.

Yet, the main point of our readings this weekend seems to be one of hope in the midst of despair and helplessness. John’s message was ultimately one of hope and promise. The great new and final age about to begin with the Savior for the Word of God is about to appear.

For us Christians today, we understand the story but it has become idealized and predictable for us. We may forget in all that can distract us from the true essence of this season, who is Christ; this is a time for conversion.  Advent is a graced opportunity to turn away from sin and to turn toward the “salvation of God.”

The Baptist uses images of nature to describe what we should do: “Make straight his paths.  Every valley shall be filled. Every mountain and hill be made low . . . the rough ways made smooth.” (Lk 3: 6). Let there be no distractions and make his way clear of obstacles.  So, think desert not the internet shopping craze or the traffic or the busy malls for shopping. God is not in the distraction but in the desert.

 So, God used one lone voice in the desert to cry out the culmination of all the Old Testament prophets in the imminent arrival of his Son.  For those of the ancient world thousands of years ago, Jesus’ birth went unnoticed as God silently in human form like all of us, slipped into our space, time and history in a tiny village of Israel called Bethlehem.  It is all by hindsight, then, that we come to understand what God was up to. The contrast with the mighty political and social persons of the time is striking as to how God will now work.

In  our first reading from Baruch, not a prophetic book we hear from very often, God speaks words of peace and hope to a despairing people in captivity: “Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery . . . For God will show all the earth your splendor.”  Then Baruch continues to tell the people that God will gather back together all his dispersed children from the east and the west and he will lead them with joy. With such powerful reassuring words the people of Israel are reminded that God has not abandoned them and something, or someone will ultimately carry out this promise.

So, for today, Advent is the time to search our minds and hearts and can be a time not so much to concentrate on the baby Jesus in the crib or the next party to plan for but should in essence be to wonder where do I sense the presence of the divine in the world right now? Where do I see the Word of God fleshed out and alive today?

If we couple that with the hopeful message of the Baptist in the Gospel we can find hope that Christmas can truly be a time for great thanksgiving. I think it is good for us to be reminded that though John appeared and Jesus lived in a time of great earthly power and corruption, their voice alone still remains.

As God promised to bring back the people of Israel through a message of promise, so the same is true for us today and for every generation.  The Holy Eucharist is a true sign of Jesus’ constancy with his people.  Our walk through this life is not alone but Christ walks with us and feeds us along the way.

So, it is time once again to clear the path – to turn away from all that creates a road block between me and God and to turn toward that which helps us to make ready the way of the Lord.  We’ve heard from the word – let’s prepare our hearts to welcome the Word in our midst.     

Almighty and merciful God, 

may no earthly undertaking hinder those 

who set out in haste to meet your Son, 

but may our learning of heavenly wisdom

gain us admittance to his company. 

Who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever. 

(Collect of Sunday)