Just a word before we go...Second Sunday of Advent...December 8, 2024

Who doesn’t love to receive an invitation to a holiday party? 

John the Baptist, in today’s Gospel, issues just such an invitation, not to a wine and cheese, or to a cookie swap, but to the eternal joy of the kingdom of God. 

But we in the twenty-first century might have difficulty understanding John’s invitation.

His rough and tough persona, his diet, and the harshness of his speech could deter us from accepting what it is he has to offer; and yet it seems the people of his day remembered Isaiah’s prophecy: “a voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord...make straight his paths.”  They, who had waited for so long for the Messiah, were ever on the lookout for signs that his coming was imminent. 

But what about us?  Are we to imitate John’s doom and gloom as we await the season of light?  After all, we, the people of this age, have an advantage over those of John’s.  We know the Messiah has come, has died and has risen, and in so doing, has changed our circumstances forever.  We have caught glimpses of the kingdom ...wherever mercy, compassion, reconciliation and peace are found, there is the kingdom of God.  We know that it is our work to help the unfolding of God’s reign until Christ comes again.

 So how are we to respond to John’s call to repent?  Perhaps one way is to consider the source of the word repent; it is the Greek word “metanoia,” meaning to turn around, to face a new direction, to turn toward the light.  Certainly, facing a new direction involves soul-searching and sorrow about choices made; however, our focus, as the people of this age, enlightened by our glimpses of the kingdom, is to turn more fully toward the light that awaits us, in a few weeks, and in the future.  How can we do this?  Perhaps by asking ourselves a few questions, such as:  Do we pass on the peace of Christ to others?  Do we redeem others from ways in which they might be enslaved?  Does anyone see in us “the one who is to come?”

Asking these questions can help us to realize how much we need Advent as a time to repent, to reflect, to break our hearts open to be able to receive the Good News that awaits us.  An excellent way to begin or to continue our Advent journey would be to attend our parish Advent Evening, (tomorrow/this) at 6:00 pm here in the church, where, surrounded by candlelight and the inspiring icons of Katherine Carrington, the beautiful music of Gregory Nobert and Dan Schutte, our choir and instrumentalists will engage our hearts and imaginations with prayer, music and an anointing that just might help us, with John, to prepare the Way of the Lord. 

Are we ready to accept this invitation?