“We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your first evangelist John the Baptist of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our God to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”[1]
A Blessed Advent to all.
“Last Sunday we lit the first candle – the candle of hope. Today we light the second candle, the candle of peace. We light it knowing full well that peace is elusive, and in some parts of the world, it is almost completely absent. Yet in this season of Advent, we trust that God is never absent from us. God is always preparing something new. And even where there is war and discord, whether between countries, within families, or within our own hearts, God is present, gently leading us to new possibilities.”
The Advent Season is a time of preparation, waiting, renewal, repentance, evaluation, modification, anticipation and hope. The word “"Advent" means "arrival or coming." It's a season of waiting, of preparing the way for God's arrival in Jesus, which happened, is still happening and is yet to happen. As early as the year 480 it became common for Christians to spend an extended period of time waiting for the twelve-day feast of Christmas. It is intended to remind us that, like our ancestors before the time of Jesus, we are still waiting for the arrival of God's universal community of peace and justice.”[2] And just as in ancient days – WE NEED THIS TIME TO PREPARE!
We are in the Covid Wilderness and God is present with us. We have much goodness to celebrate. Today let us to focus on “new possibilities.” Because wherever God is present, we can be led to new possibilities. Dates and people are very important in the Third Gospel. After establishing the date and the place, and the players, the author of the Gospel of Luke is setting up the scene for the newly called. “….the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” This one who is called is John the Baptist. There is a mistaken notion that only those who go into ordained ministry are the ones who are called. That is not the case. God calls all of us to be who God created us to be. And that call continues to be reinvented as we grow in faith and hope. You may have heard the expression, “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.”[3] Maybe your calling is right where you are. Maybe your calling is to deepen your relationship with God. Maybe your calling is to share in the divine life or all of these. A calling is simply a tug on our hearts by God toward a specific thing. It could be for a specific situation, for a season of life, or for a lifetime. Where is God tugging at you?
The tug does not have to be humongous or audacious. In the Bible there are many “call” stories. Moses’ call granted, was a larger one, but remember Samuel’s call? His mom made a promised to God, and Eli an old priest was raising him. Samuel hears God calling him three times as he is sleeping and thinks it is Eli before he figures it out and he answers the call, “I hear you Lord and I am your servant.”
In the book of Esther, God is never mentioned — the only book in the Bible where God is not named. Esther was the Queen. She was Jewish, and it was a secret — even the King did not know. One day her uncle Mordecai came to her. He had been her coach, and helped groom her and arrange for her to become Queen. He says to her, “the King has signed a decree. We know Haman put him up to it, but the King signed the decree that in the very near future, on a certain day, all the Jews are going to be rounded up and put to death. You have to go to the King and stop this.” And Queen Esther says, “I can’t do that. If you break the King’s rules, you face death. The last Queen crossed the King, and we know what happened to her.” And Mordecai says to her, “ You think you are going to escape this? You will be found out, and you will be put to death.” And then I imagine Mordecai pausing a moment before he says, “Perhaps it was for just this moment that you were chosen to be the Queen.” This call never mentions God.[4]
After experiencing wilderness-like trauma of a global pandemic over the last two years, I find it very refreshing that the author of Luke here uses the word “see” “…and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” He is applying this to our senses – in this case -- our sense of sight – we shall see. It is different than “all flesh shall feel or shall touch or even shall hear the salvation of God.” Seeing seems more believable than the other senses. Our Seeing shapes our believing. In this case, John the Baptist is probably the best and loudest spokesperson for Jesus. There is simply no other human being who is more influential on the life and career of Jesus than John. He does not come to us as being timid and shy but rather with a demanding, urgent screaming in his voice. “"Why are you not getting ready?" he yelled to the Hebrews. Why are you just standing there. Don't you see that your time is running out on you. You need to be preparing the way. Making the path straight. Go and get ready.”[5]
Are you ready? What’s missing? Maybe we need to spend more time with God. “Find a place in your heart,” implores Theophan the Recluse, “and speak there with the Lord. It is the Lord’s reception room.”[6] Where do you listen to God?
God loves everyone of us, beckoning us into a relationship that is personal, intimate, and faithful. God calls out to us, inviting us to share in the divine life. How can we hear that call? John the Baptist answered the call. He is also a pedigree, his dad was a priest in the Jerusalem temple, and his mom, Elizabeth, descended from a line of priests originating with Aaron – a prophet, the first high priest and older brother of Moses. He might have gone on to serve in the Temple, the holiest of holies, where God is said to dwell.[7] However, he did not do that. You can probably image how his life was changed forever. He was called to reflect God’s presence and love in a new way and he did! Once we answer God’s call we are never the same. Whenever a King would travel in the East out to inspect his kingdom, he would send a courier ahead to tell the people to prepare the roads. So John is seen as the courier of the King. But the preparation that John is suggesting for us is of heart and life. “The King is coming,” he said, “mend, not your roads, but your lives.”
We all have the calling --- to make life fit --- for the King to see.[8]
Let us pray.
God of everlasting glory and eternal love, from west and east you gather the humble, leading them with joy to the glorious light of your kingdom. Make straight your path in our hearts; bring low the heights of our pride; and prepare us to celebrate with ardent faith the coming of our savior. We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.[9] References
[1] Yieh, John Y.H. The Gospel of Matthew. New York: Morehouse Publishing, 2012. Adopted. [2] Facebook Post, The Rev. Charles Allen, https://www.facebook.com/,
accessed 11-05-15. [3] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1233969-god-does-not-call-the-qualified-he-qualifies-the-called (accessed 12-04-21) [4] https://www.saint-marys.org/sermons/call-stories-in-scripture-not-always-dramatic-and-unmistakable (Accessed December 4, 2021). [5] Christian Globe Illustrations by Brett Blair. [6] Listening Hearts, page 1 [7] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-of-advent-3/commentary-on-luke-31-6-5 (Accessed 12-04-21) [8] William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, p 32. [9] From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year C, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
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