Second Sunday of Advent A  December 5, 2010

Isaiah 11:1-10  Psalm: 72      Romans 15:4-9  Matthew 3:1-12 

1. A popular entrance hymn for the second Sunday  of Advent is from the musical “Godspell”. John the Baptist sings “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” We are preparing for Christmas, how could a 6-month baby John sing that? Our preparation for the coming of Christ is not only  a preparation for the birth in Bethlehem but also the whole Christ-Story.

2. Our readings today a different flavour from the last few Sundays. Those reading referred to the Day of the Lord as the Day of Judgment. They referred to eschatological things, the last things. Now the tone of the readings is one of anticipation and excitement and it will reach its height next Sunday in Gaudete or Rejoicing Sunday.

3. The reading from Isaiah is the glorious description of the expected Messiah. It is built up in three stages: qualities of a Messiah, a vision of Paradise, Paradise regained.

a. First we are given the qualities of the Messiah. He was to be of the same calibre as the Davidic King. He has intellect, talent and holiness.

• His intellectual power will be understanding and wisdom. His understanding would help him to evaluate situation and face crises. His wisdom would enable him to make the correct judgment.
• After this his gifts of counsel and might would allow him to put his decision into action.
• He would be guided by holiness, which was based on an intimacy with and fear of the Lord.

b. In the second place: A result of these gifts would be a promise of peace. This peace would be the same as in Paradise. The hunted and hunter would live in harmony: the lion, the wolf, the leopard and the bear would cause no harm to the lamb, the kid and the cow.

c. In the third place, we would receive an invitation to go to the Holy Mountain. This is Paradise re-visited. Here were will be no more destruction or harm that we could cause to one another.

4. Paul tells us in the letter to the Romans that the Scriptures give us hope. When Paul speaks about Scriptures, he is referring to the Old Testament. As such, the New Testament was not yet written. Each Act of God in the Scriptures gave rise to a new spring, a new fountain of hope.

We have the promise of the Messiah. The hope is that this promise will be kept.

The coming of Christ is a fulfilment of this hope. This gives rise to another hope.

With Christ, we have the hope of salvation. This is fulfilled by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

This in turn gives rise to the hope of the Second Coming of Jesus, who will take us to the Holy Mountain where there will be no more war, destruction and harm.

5. John tells us in the Gospel we have to prepare the way of the Lord. In Handel’s Messiah based on the sayings of John, the soloist sings “Every valley shall be exalted and every hill will be laid low.” In the Gospel, John speaks to the Pharisees, and today he speaks to us. He tells us that we can neither the arrogant nor presumptuous.

• We cannot be arrogant like the Pharisees in thinking that we have an inside track on salvation  because we are children of Abraham.
• We cannot be presumptuous in thinking that since Christ has done all the work, we can eat drink and e merry. Rather we are called to “Be awake”, Stay alive, Be ready.

This Advent is not only a preparation for a baby in the manager, but also for a whole commitment, a whole way of life where we say YES to the Lord.

When we say “Marana-tha” Come Lord Jesus,  we are inviting Jesus to come into our hearts to touch us and heal us.

We desire to have peace of mind,

we desire to have freedom from sin and temptation, from stress and disorder, from depression and darkness.  No matter what the issue, the name of Jesus remains the same: Emmanuel – God is with us.

We find this Jesus

• in the Word of Scripture,
• where two or three are gathered in his name,
• in the sacred space I create to encounter him,
• in our sacrifices and sufferings, which we join to the sacrifice of the Cross.

Of course, there is a price to be paid for meeting Jesus.  John is calling on us to pay the price. WE can be like the wise men in the Gospel who followed the Star. They braved the unknown, they lived with sand-flies and sand in their clothes. But eventually they found Jesus. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. What is it going to cost you to be open to Christ?