The Second Sunday of Advent
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Luke 3:1-6
3In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
So what did you make of that list of the political leaders included in this morning’s Gospel? Those men, and they are all men, constituted the power brokers of first century Israel, the people in charge of the political and religious realms at the time of Jesus. For those of us who know the rest of the story, these men have a sinister character for most of them will play a part in the executions of both John the Baptist and Jesus. They are not the best of company. To none of these men is spoken the Word of God.
“The word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” John the Baptist, compared to the notables of his day, is a genuine nobody compared to any of them. Yet John is God’s Somebody. Notice the Word of God was spoken not in the palace of the Emperor, or the audience hall of the governors and not even in the Temple. The Word of God was spoken in the wilderness.
I am not sure about your homes, but in the rectory we are not decorating our home to look like a wilderness. We present little groups of deer in a woodland setting. Perhaps some of you have a light up village which represents a Victorian hamlet with a church, town hall, village shops and beautifully decorated houses. None of us takes out a sandbox and sets up an Advent scene with some palm trees, plastic scorpions and side winding snakes. Why does God choose not only the least likely person but also the least likely place to speak the Word of God?
If you searched the bible for the word “Wilderness” you will notice how regularly God meets people in that forsaken spot. When Abraham throws out Hagar and Ishmael an angel rescues them in the wilderness. When God appears to Moses in the burning bush, Moses is watching sheep in the wilderness. After the people of Israel cross the Reed Sea, God sends them to Mount Sinai, that place of divine encounter, and where is that? In the wilderness.
In Luke’s Gospel, we first heard of the wilderness as the place where John was living, then as the place of Jesus’ temptation. Geographically, the wilderness is relegated to those places abandoned by civilization, places where life finds its challenges, and where human survival requires exceptional skill. In the wilderness, human survival requires a radical shift to the most essential needs. When the people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years, they survived on water, manna and quail. But you do not go into the wilderness for Michelin Star dining.
God brought people into the wilderness to focus them exclusively on God and the longing of the heart for God. Whenever God leads us into the wilderness, God has a plan. God wants to draw us closer to the heart of God.
By now you may have surmised that we live close to another wilderness – the wilderness of our hearts. In spite of all the festive tone of this season, many of us experience depression, loneliness and isolation. The gift buying, wrapping and hiding, the parties, the dinners to prepare and to attend, all create stress. The lack of light as well as lack of warmth contributes to SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder,. Many of us find ourselves in that emotional wilderness where we feel as if our heart is out of synch with the emotional pace of the world around us. Therapists recommend light therapy, using a bright light to enhance and prolong the light of the sun. Talking with others helps.
But this emotional wilderness can also open our hearts to God. Prayer transforms the wilderness from a place of isolation to a place of encounter. How can you transform your wilderness into a place where God comes to you?
In today’s reading, we heard that the Word of God came to John in the wilderness. That Word of God continues to be spoken and we can hear God speaking that Word to us. Reading the bible begins the process of hearing the Word of God. After reading we should sit in silence and let the Word enter into our hearts, allow the Word to echo in its demands, its invitations and its challenges. Mostly we should let the Word speak to our hearts, to allow the Word to dwell in our hearts and so for us to discover Christ alive within us.
Advent involves more than remembering the journey of a young man and a pregnant woman to Bethlehem. Advent involves more than anticipating Jesus coming on the clouds of heaven. Advent invites us to discover that daily coming of Christ, that daily visitation, that discovery of the lingering grace after receiving Christ in this Holy Sacrament, that energy to share that Jesus with the world.