Advent in Two Minutes
“As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See I am sending my messenger ahead of
you, who will prepare your way; the voice crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
It’s Advent, the second Sunday of the four Sunday’s of Advent. Advent, a time of hope. This IS a time of hope and of joyful waiting, a time of preparing for the birth of Jesus.
There is a wonderful video going around on YouTube titled “Advent in 2 Minutes”. It’s by a company called Busted Halo. The video tells us that Advent is not, NOT,
about stressing over shopping, parties, presents, dinner parties, etc.
Rather it says – Advent prepares us for Christmas, for Christ entering the world! Advent is the “expectant waiting”, the hopeful anticipation, and the cheerful preparation” for God entering our world in all moments, at all places, in all times.” As Marilyn said last week, it is seeing the face of God, present in the world, in the faces of all we meet.
The video goes on to say … this is important … that Advent shows us that there is joy in waiting. There is hope and joy in this time of waiting. I love it. The video says that Advent is not a time of repentance, like Lent, rather it is a time of preparation, a hopeful time of getting our “homes ready to welcome a special guest.” Jesus. What a wonderful image. Preparing to welcome the one we have been waiting for. “Preparing the way.” as Isaiah said.
today’s gospel the messenger foretold in Isaiah breaks forth in the wilderness.
John the Baptist. John, who was Jesus’ cousin – Elizabeth’s son. I have often
wondered if they knew each other as they grew up. One commentary I read thought it not likely as Jesus lived in Galilee and John in Judea … and also that in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist says “he knew him not” – but that could just be a figure of speech. They were cousins after all. Perhaps they saw each other occasionally – played together?
But this aside, John was, it is written, a wild, very wild, sort of man that appeared in the wilderness, a man wearing camel’s hair and a leather belt who ate locust and wild honey. John baptized people in the river Jordan, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John was, it is said, a fiery preacher and as a result of his powerful, charismatic, personality he amassed a crowd of disciples of his own.
The people had long awaited a messiah, the anointed one – “the promised deliverer of Israel who would establish God’s rule.” And so many thought that John was this messiah and so he this following his of disciples.
The Gospels tell us that Herod, after beheading John the Baptist, when told of the ministry of Jesus, thinks that John the Baptist has come back to life as Jesus!
And so … John the Baptist makes it quite clear in the reading today that he is the one calling all to prepare the way, the messenger, the forerunner … he is not the messiah … “he proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Jesus, the messiah, is to come.
John came to prepare the way … prepare the people in hope.
But, many even after Jesus began his ministry, still confused John with the messiah … followed him, followed John.
And so it is even today … we can appreciate how sometimes it is indeed difficult to know who it is that is THE person that should lead our lives, or be an example to us.
Who is it we should be seeking to lead us in our lives, in for instance government, the right person, the person truly called to a given job/position. We have just entered the time before a national election and unless you are already lucky enough to know the candidate you will vote for it is a time of great confusion – so many candidates, so many
allegations, so much claiming of this and that, and claiming of the wonderful things that will be done if elected. We hope for so much.
It is a time for great hope just like Advent, but as well a time for careful discernment, a time to look beyond and within (deeper) into the faces we see. To see, as Marilyn pointed out last week, the real person beneath the exterior. To look for the qualities that live within.
Television makes this even more difficult – it so easily becomes a beauty contest, becomes hard to hear the words, read the person beneath the makeup. As with John the Baptist, fiery rhetoric is not all there is. Remember … Jesus was not met by all with enthusiasm – he was not the fiery, militant messiah that many expected. They had to look beyond exteriors and look within and see the love, joy and hope in his message.
Hope – hope is the key word for me during this season of Advent: hope and joyful waiting. We must always remember to look for signs of hope. I recall talking with one of the brothers at the monastery in Taize, France. He spoke of how, even when they do mission work in the most desperate places in the world, they always, always, looked for signs of hope. Signs of hope – signs of God breaking through into our lives, every day!
Advent is indeed a time of hopeful anticipation and preparation. It is a time to take a few minutes each day to reflect on the wonder of the season, to prepare, to appreciate the beauty around us, to listen to the silence of the still night – see the wonder and joy in a child’s face.
Advent is not just stressed out shopping and getting the perfect gift. It is a time for looking beyond the externals, time to look within for the presence of God. It is a time of anticipation, joy, hope and wonder.
AMEN
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