Advent 2 A2
Matt. 3:1-12
It had been many years since the voice of God had been heard in the land. Generations had been born, had lived and died; hoping, expecting, waiting for the fulfillment that had been promised so long ago.
They remembered and believed in their identity as a people set apart for God, a holy people, a people as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were promised; that would be a great nation, whose name would be great, who would be a blessing to all the nations.
And they remembered their history and how many times that promise seemed on the verge of fulfillment –
– As Moses led the people toward their promised land
– As Joshua led the people in laying hold of that land
– In the anointing of King Saul, in the reigns of all their kings
– Especially in the kingship of their beloved David –
only to see that expectation dashed to pieces, ironically by God’s hand, by his judgment and wrath as disobedience, rebellion, idolatry, adultery both spiritually and otherwise caused a divergence from God’s will, and a rejection and denial of their very identity. And they suffered the painful consequences of that rebellion. Ultimately, their nation ceased to exist altogether except in their souls and hopes.
They had been like a soccer ball at the national invitational. Kicked around by one nation after another until now, they were under play of the Romans.
Yet, the words of the prophets continued to echo in their lives from those mouths in the ancient past; God’s word to Moses that he would appoint a prophet such as he to lead the people.
The words of Jeremiah (23:5-6) behold the days are coming declares the Lord, when I shall raise up for David a righteous branch; and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is his name by which he will be called, the Lord our righteousness.
The words of Daniel (7-13-14) and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming…and to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.
The words of Isaiah announcing that God would deal with their sins through one who would be pierced for our transgressions crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well being, falling upon him. (53:5-6)
That a redeemer will come to Zion (59:20) and that he will be anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring good news to the afflicted, bind up the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captive and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. (61:1-3)
And they knew this messiah would be announced, as they remembered the words of Malachi: behold I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight behold he is coming says the lord of hosts. (3:1)
And: behold I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. (4:5-6)
And the words of Isaiah: a voice is calling clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness, make smooth in the desert a highway for our god…..then the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh will see it together.
No word from God for all those years, nothing but the ancient voices of the prophets, and then suddenly in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar he appears, this John, looking like you would expect a prophet to look, coming out of the place where you expect prophets to come from; the wilderness, proclaiming a message that is remarkably similar to that expected.
I am not sure how we might understand this anticipation. We might liken it to that of a young child as Christmas gets closer and closer. The anticipation builds until that early morning when they first open their eyes on Christmas morn and realize -it’s here. They haven’t seen the proof yet, but they know now is the time.
Or maybe like parents awaiting their first born child. The anticipation grows for 9 months, until gathered in the waiting room or in the delivery room, with mom doing all the work, your child’s first breath is moments away. The baby is not here yet but the process is underway and arrival is all but guaranteed.
It was a curious message that this John proclaimed, that had in it the elements of fulfillment, and hope, but also of warning, with a call to action:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near, he proclaimed. Both a joyous and frightening prospect indeed.
On the one hand, God is coming to initiate his kingdom, to begin his rule. And in this kingdom all things are made right. He will heal the wounds of body and soul and mind, set free those in bondages to various things – poverty, addictions, fear, guilt, whatever keeps us from being completely who God has created us to be.
It is an invitation to bring our lives completely under God’s authority and protection, as king, to know perfect peace and contentment; to have that sense that our lives are fulfilled, valued, and loved by God.
At the same time, it is a proclamation of judgment; for to make all things right, he must discern between right and wrong, between those who welcome his coming, welcome his kingdom and his reign, and those who rebel against it. There can be no compromise on this. Those that reject the warning are cast out, burned with unquenchable fire. Those who respond are welcomed in.
And the key to this kingdom, the response that throws open the gates is the act of repentance – to acknowledge that one was going the wrong way and turn around; to recognize our lives were not living up to who we were created to be, and turn to God for his forgiveness and help, to grasp the reality that we are wrong, and we need God’s forgiveness. To realize that without God – without being in his kingdom, we are indeed lost.
John proclaimed: Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.
And the people came to him – wealthy and poor, high and low – to hear his message, and to respond in either of two ways.
For most, they took the message seriously – responding to the invitation and heeding the warning, they repented and were baptized, washing away the dirt of this world, this kingdom, to enter God’s kingdom. Their lives re-oriented from the things of this world to the things of God.
The other group, noted as the Pharisees and the Sadducees, were there for other purposes, not evidently to repent.
They evidentially saw no need to repent, they were self confident in their place in society, secure in their religious belief, and could probably justify every action in their lives as being if not good, at least not really bad – they didn’t break any of the big commandments as they saw it, and the little ones, well there was a greater good that just happened to benefit me. They were caught in the world, by the things of the world and they needed no savior, no messiah; at least not one that would cost them anything.
We can and do likewise get immersed in the things of the world, being pulled in different directions by our jobs, careers, relationships, hobbies, responsibilities. We get distracted by our ambitions, our passions, our successes, our failures, our perceived needs. We indulge ourselves, justify all our actions be they good or bad that gratify our own needs, believing that God understands – they are not big sins. And besides, we need this or deserve that. We take our religion as a series of outward actions, good deeds; we go to church, we tithe, we help out when we can. But it’s not really who we are. We become so self focused, our need for God blurs into blind denial. And when we hear the call to repent, our response is an incredulous: “Who, me?”
As we prepare to celebrate again the nativity of Jesus this year do we hear this call of the prophet afresh? Do we take seriously the warning and how magnanimous the invitation?
Ironic as it seems we can lose sight of Jesus in the chaos of Christmas, to say nothing of the chaos of life.
John’s words are as significant to us this Advent as they were in the first Advent season. His call is a call: Change, re-orient our lives from the things of this world, to the things of God’s kingdom…….
How will we respond? Do we ignore his words, confident in what we have, in what we have achieved, that we are baptized, we do good works, are active in our church?
Or do we acknowledge that we constantly and continually have a need to repent, to change our thinking and behavior to be consistent with God’s will and who he has ordained us to be in our baptism.
The questions for us in Advent: Are we prepared to meet Jesus if he were to come this very day? Do we live our lives in touch with our most important need – for a savior? And are we living life with that hopeful expectation that he will come to save us, bring his kingdom into our lives, daily, hourly, eternally?