Second Sunday- Advent Dec 10, 2006

Baruch 5:1‑-9 Psalm: 126 Philippians 1:4‑-6, 8‑-11 Luke 3:1‑-6

1. John the Baptist takes centre stage on the second and third Sunday of Advent. He has a supporting cast of St. Paul and usually one of the prophets. His message is the same. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” As in the case of Andrea Bocelli as he sings, “con te partiro”, we find it re-assuring to hear the same message. We enjoy it the same way as we put up the Christmas Tree and Lights. Christmas is the beginning of our Salvation Story.

According to St. Luke, the History of Salvation is in two parts. The first part is pre-Salvation with the Old Testament prophets. These are all summarized or brought to a climax in John.

In John, we can hear the echoes of Jonah as he tells the people of Nineveh to repent.

In John, we hear Isaiah telling us that the Messiah is near at hand.

In John, we hear the message of social injustice of Amos and Hosea.

But now the Messiah is at the door, so Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

2. At this stage, as in the case of the Christmas decorations, we have brought the tree, the lights, the ornaments and we take a breather. Then we have our doubts: All this energy and to what purpose? We find the same in our preparations for the Lord. We have been working hard to better our lives, but the sins, the faults, the lack of forgiveness, the envy and jealousy are still there. All this energy and to what purpose?

This is when the supporting cast: St. Paul takes over. Paul reminds us in that letter to the Philippians, that all this was started in Jesus. And it will be Jesus who brings all these good works to completion. When we run out of steam, when we are discouraged, when we just do not seem to go forward in improving our lifestyle - at this stage, Paul calls for two things.

2a The first is knowledge. It is a knowledge that there are some things that we can change in this life. It means work and constancy just like keeping our cholesterol and weight under control. This knowledge also reminds us that there are certain things we will be struggling with right until the end. For some it will be alcohol, for others it will be gambling, for still others it might be pornography. An Irish friend of mine who has a temper to match the colour of his hair, tells me that six months after he is buried, he will still try to keep his temper in check. As the serenity prayer states: God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

2b For Paul, the second quality is discernment. It is working with the Holy Spirit as we Christians mature. It is a knowledge of God’s will and purpose in our every day life situations. The animals have instinct to know what is safe and what is dangerous, to know what food is good and where to find it. For men and women, in Paul’s letter this means a developing of a Christian Instinct, a fine tuning of the Christian radar system to search for what is peaceful, what is just, what will lead to unity and harmony. Paul calls this harmony a harvest of righteousness.

3. As we hear the refrains of “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” - we hear a discordant note. It is the voice of the other supporting cast : the Prophet Baruch. His message is for the People in Exile. It is a message of courage and hope. Put off your clothes of misery. But on the robes of gladness and righteousness. God is giving you a new name: you will be called: The City of Peace and the Glory of God.

As we welcome and look forward to the Second Coming of Jesus, we remember that Jesus said He is the Way and the Truth. It is hardly fitting that we “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” - with false assumptions and titles. The state of Israel was hardly peaceful then, and it is definitely not peaceful now. AS for God’s Glory - hatred, vengeance, retaliation, injustice seem to be the order of the day. Are we living in a world of reality, or are we like Ostriches burying our heads in the sands, and hoping it will all go away ?

Reginald Fuller, the renowned Anglican Scripture scholar tells us that the prophecy of Baruch is modelled on a Poem of Isaiah. It is a fictitious situation that awaits Israel when it comes back from exile. The City of Peace, the City of the Glory of God is all there just waiting for us to uncover it.

4. When I was a little boy, I remember going for a birthday party with the usual present. However this time I did not want to go. Every child’s present was wrapped in white tissue paper with a nice ribbon. All I had was a present wrapped in common brown paper and with a piece of string. When I reached the house, I was too embarrassed. I shoved the present my the hands of my friend’s mother and walked away. Wait a minute said the mother, as she ripped off the brown paper. There underneath was the whitest of white tissue paper with a beautiful ribbon neatly tied in a bow. My mother knew I would probably get the present all dirty on the way. (Parents did not give us a ride in a car as they do today). In Advent, God wants us to rip of the common brown paper - and discover the new name God has given us: “Righteous Peace, Glory of God.” We need to discover the name given to this Community, this Parish, our family.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord.