Second Sunday in Advent
John went into the area around the Jordan calling people to prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Picking up the theme of Isaiah he spoke of reconstruction and repair. "Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth."
This illustration shows the struggles of those who pay the consequences of those who let things lie - who live crooked lives, with crooked smiles and leave potholes, ruts, landmines etc etc. The victims of such crookedness and carelessness are usually the most vulnerable and poor of our communities.
John the Baptist is crying out on this victim's behalf.
Filling in the cracks and making the road smooth is part of the reconstruction work following the tsunami. | Readings this week:
William Loader helps identify the pattern of Luke's gospel. He refers to the freedom songs of mary and Zechariah, and the march past of the dignitaries - and then the word of God comes to John in the place from which peolpe expected divine change.
He preaches a baptism of REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins. He uses the Jordan and earns his nickname of John the Dipper, or John the Baptiser. Those who submitted to baptism in the Jordan were expressing their willingness to change. This wasn't simply personal change but change in readiness for the change of the world. Change of the world means transformation, liberation, freedom and salvation. It is personal and political.
Loader writes: We are taken to the waters of hope to be immersed in renewal and revolution with the trampling feet of the dignitaries and the foot soldiers in our ears.
We say ADVENT is a time of waiting and preparation for Christmas. Isn't that missing the point though? Isn't it better to think of Advent as a time of waiting for the coming of God's Kingdom. Christmas is celebrating that God is truly with us and makes the wrong TENSE. Advent focusses on the future and reminds us that all our days we are waiting - as we pray "your kingdom come - on earth - as it is in heaven". Although we do not expect a literal return of Jesus on the clouds of heaven or the actual birth of a messiah in our time, it is essential to Christian faith that we do expect continual encounters with God in our personal, social, and political lives. The function of Advent is to focus on this aspect of life, the always-to-be-expected coming of Christ into our experience, and the specific contribution of repentance-texts is encourage reflection upon all the ways in which our lives do not in fact manifest the love and devotion that are appropriate to relationships with God and our neighbors. Repentance does not, however, stand alone; its connection with God's mercy and forgiveness is essential. And neither should it be understood as an act of human accomplishment, since in our texts it clearly appears as a response to the grace of God. The preaching of John, Jesus, and the apostles call it forth. In Acts 5:31, moreover, Peter states that God gives repentance to Israel; and in the parable of Prodigal Son the father runs out to meet the errant son before he even has a chance to speak. from Russell Pregeant http://www.processandfaith.org/lectionary/YearC/2006-2007/2006-12-10.shtml |
St John the Baptist by Rodin
Today, poverty prevails as the gravest human rights challenge in the world. Combating poverty, deprivation and exclusion is not a matter of charity, and it does not depend on how rich a country is. Louise Arbour UN High Commissioner for Human Rights |
