Second Sunday of Advent - Year C
December 9, 2018
Malachi
3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6
Psalmody: Luke 1:68-79 (Canticle 16 – The Song of
Zechariah)
Think – for just a moment - about
all the messages you receive in a single day.
Phone calls and voice mail messages, email and text messages, television
and radio, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and a lot of junk “snail mail” and, if
we’re lucky, an occasional hand written note from a “real” person! And there are personal interactions – face-to-face
messages. We get messages from family
and friends, doctors’/dentists’ offices, co-workers, wrong numbers, strangers
of all kinds: solicitors, vendors,
advertisers – many of them robo callers or email spammers – to mention only a
few. Often it seems like we are on message/ messenger
overload.
Consider how these messages affect our
day, our week – sometimes even our lives? Certainly we welcome some of these messages but
others - not so much. Deciding which ones are important is a challenge. Which ones do we welcome and which can we
disregard – at least for the moment? Plenty
of the messages or the messengers themselves are annoying - often messages we
don’t want, carried by messengers we prefer not to deal with.
That may be our response to the
messages and the messengers in today’s OT and gospel readings. In the OT lesson we hear that the messenger
“is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap” (a quick Google check tells
me that fuller’s soap is a harsh process used to clean wool before it’s made into a
garment). Such a messenger doesn’t sound
like one we’d welcome eagerly.
The messenger and message in today’s gospel are not all that appealing
either: John the Baptist is a unique and
intriguing figure, but not one we’d probably welcome into our home or even on
the street. As we know from other gospel
passages, John was a solitary figure (“a voice of one crying out in the wilderness”),
known for his unusual clothing and diet with a message focused on sin and
repentance – not usually popular topics because they challenge us to change – that
might require some of the refiner’s fire or that fuller’s soap! Most of us prefer - especially at this time
of year - the popular but often glib messages such as “Merry Christmas” or” Happy
Holidays.”
While I was reflecting on today’s
scriptures and thinking about messages and messengers, I did so with Fr.
Jamie’s sermon last Sunday as a backdrop.
He reminded us then that Advent is a time to be watching and waiting, a
time to be alert to the Kingdom of God breaking in upon us. One way to be alert to that possibility, I
realized, would be to pay attention to messengers and their messages with a
watchful eye to which ones might be signs that the Kingdom of God is near. That means some careful and discerning
attention because God’s Kingdom breaking in upon us may not come through messages
we want to hear or be delivered by
messengers we welcome--or even ones we recognize.
Our challenge in Advent then is to try to discern which ones are God’s Kingdom breaking through the rest of the “message noise” and messenger overload? As I noted earlier, today’s OT and gospel lessons underscore the truth that we can’t assume annoying, challenging or unpleasant messages are ones we can just ignore or dismiss with confidence as clearly not God’s Kingdom breaking in upon us.
Our lessons today also remind us that
the messengers and their messages may be more than unpleasant; they may be harsh
(like that fullers’ soap or the refiner’s fire) and so, the messages may be hard
to “hear” especially if we harbor
specific expectations – perhaps gentle or peaceful ones - about what God’s Kingdom
breaking into our world will look like.
At times when we are most certain that a particular message or messenger
could not possibility be a sign of
God’s Kingdom coming near, it’s probably wise to pause and reconsider. Even when they push us into uncomfortable
realizations about our human failings and shortcomings, we need to be alert to
their possibility.
So Advent calls us to be alert, to pay
attention to the messengers
and messages in our lives, to be open to the ways in which the Kingdom of God
may be breaking in upon us through the messages and messengers we encounter –
especially the unexpected and seemingly irrelevant ones. And sometimes it may take some reflection to
recognize these experiences for what they are.
Early this past week I decided, a
bit to my own surprise, that I wanted to watch the state funeral for #41–
President George H.W. Bush. Part of the
draw for me was its location at Washington’s National Cathedral, a place I have
visited a time or two and which is – after all – an Episcopal Church but
claimed in certain ways by our country as the National Cathedral. But something else – not so easily defined –
drew me to watch as well. I confess I remember almost nothing about
#41’s single term as our country’s president (that time is distant in my
rearview mirror) and my political party leanings don’t align with those of
#41. Nevertheless, I felt drawn to watch
-- and watch, I did, fixated through the 2 – 2/1/2 hour service. And I was deeply touched by it all – so much
so that I listened and watched parts of it online later and that surprised me,
too. I’m rarely a “rerun” person.
Beyond the initial experience I found
myself reflecting on the service often over the next couple of days – and it is
still with me at particular moments. I
think I was most touched by hearing the qualities of President Bush that so
many have acknowledged especially in the aftermath of his death – honesty, decency,
courage, kindness, loyalty, concern for our country and its people, humor,
devotion to family and friends. In some
strange but profound way I was refreshed by the reminders about his 1000 points
of light and his hope for a kinder, gentler nation. But only in retrospect did I realize that
those couple of hours were, in fact although perhaps only for me, an experience of God’s Kingdom coming close,
breaking through the acrimony, ugliness, self-interest and lack of compassion that
are so pervasive in our world these days.
That message was a significant
reminder for me that meaningful but unlikely messages and messengers often come
into our lives unexpectedly. But it’s easy to miss experiencing them as
God’s Kingdom breaking through to us. I
know at least from news commentators that many people found the funeral service
touching and impressive, but probably not many would describe it as the Kingdom
of God breaking in on us. But for me it was and being able to describe
the experience that way encourages me to be more alert and watchful for other
messages and other messengers that may bring God’s Kingdom close. In the words of poet Mary Oliver:
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
Advent offers us a chance to
practice the work of paying attention. So
as we move through this Advent season, be watchful, take note of your messages
and messengers, pay attention even when you are tempted to avoid or overlook
them. Be alert to the possibility that they are signs
of God’s Kingdom breaking into the common places of our daily lives. May
each of us be reassured that God’s Kingdom is near at hand and may we know its
reality breaking in upon us in new and meaningful ways.
AMEN
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