Advent 3B – George Yandell
“Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us.” This is the beginning of the collect for the third Sunday of Advent in our prayer book. It dates from the late 8th century. John the Baptist is the great stirrer, the great agitator in the gospel reading today.
There were two movements in Galilee in the 3rd decade of the 1st century. Both were intensifications of Jewish belief and practice. First came the baptizing movement of John the Baptist, then came the Kingdom movement of Jesus. Some would say they together make up the hinge point in the history of salvation.
John was possessed. Possessed by God’s wild urging to say it all before time ran out. He knew in his core that God was coming. He felt deep empathy with God and rage at everyone’s insensitivity to God’s prophetic word. As he stood knee-deep in the Jordan, he railed out, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” People came from far and wide, heard and believed John. Some scholars state that it was through John’s ministry that Jesus perceived the nearness of the kingdom of God and Jesus’ own relation to it. For Jesus, John is the beginning of the Good News, the Gospel.
John’s legacy of powerful confrontation is dimmed now by our hearing and re-hearing his call to repent. Every Sunday we acknowledge before God and one another that we are unworthy followers of John and Jesus. Yet we elude the conversion to which John points. In the 3rd century, St. Theognostos spoke these words: ‘We shall not be punished or condemned because we have sinned. But we shall be punished if, after sinning, we did not repent and turn from our evil ways to the Lord; for we have been given power to repent, as well as the time in which to do so.”
I think though, you and I are insulated Christians. We can stay warm and separate from threats like John’s. But we better look closely- our insulation is keeping not only the poor and wretched at arm’s length, but the Messiah as well.
That’s the real message John brought. But I have a hunch- I doubt John really knew who he was preparing for. John answered the authorities when they questioned him, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”
This is the season of imagination and curiosity. It is like a group of people standing on a street corner looking up for an object that is not yet seen or identified, but nevertheless intuited, longer for, somehow expected to arrive. Like the people in the beginning of the old Superman serial on TV- “Look, in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…….” In other words, we are in a season of hope, a season when faith is turned toward the future- God’s future- where finally grace reigns supreme.
John harkened to Isaiah- the Spirit of God was propelling the coming of the Messiah in his own time and place- “Isaiah is talking about heaven come to earth!” It was not just a messenger God sent, it was God who would come to God’s own world. “Good news to the oppressed, binding up the brokenhearted, liberty coming to captives, prisoners set free…” John was on fire, looking for the coming one.
Advent is for the disillusioned, the beat-up ones who look beyond their present way of life. They know there is no health in them, nor is there any hope for a future without more of the same. Their way, their agenda has turned into a ‘house of cards.’ Advent IS for everyone, but only the people who want to change, and who turn to Christ for that change to happen- they’re the ones for whom the promise of newness of life comes true.
When Gandhi was once asked by a reporter what was the secret to his happiness, the holy man replied, “Three words. Renounce and enjoy.” Renounce control and embrace grace. Breathe a little easier. Take yourself less seriously. Soar, and leave the results to God.
For you and me, that’s the difference. Unlike John, we look back and see John through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus. But to stand with John and look forward to a coming One of God’s own qualities, that’s what renews us. Because Jesus didn’t come once for all, and then leave- Christ comes now, again, to seek us and turn us toward God, to turn our hearts from isolated, insulated detachment. The world needs the hope for transformation that Christ’s coming begins.
We are John. We have been commissioned for human transformation. The mission is clear- cooperate with God, stir up the world, starting right here, where we are. Stir things up so kingdom life pulses with attraction. As John so anticipated the Coming One, so must we.
For 17 years, there is one in our midst who has reminded us again and again to minister to the disillusioned, the beat-up ones who look beyond their present way of life. Katharine is retiring today, as you know. She has been a witness beyond peer for Holy Family. We will not only miss her but will need to recall ourselves again and again to the ministries in which Katharine has led us. Katharine, my hope and prayer is that as you enter this new phase of life, you will pray for us, as I bid us pray for you. And Scott, don’t let her sneak back into serving as she has- maybe help her to learn to flyfish, cook new recipes, play more with your grandchildren. And maybe even to sleep in on Sundays. Katharine, I pray for you that like Gandhi you will renounce control and embrace grace. That you’ll breathe a little easier.
Like John, Katharine has kept us focused on the promise that God repeatedly made- redemption happens now, especially for those on the margins, those in distress. Jesus built on John’s channeling of the great prophets before him. In a real sense, Jesus lived his ministry as deacon to the oppressed people of Galilee and Judea. Diakonia is a noun used 32 times in the New Testament and variously translated as “ministry,” “service,” “relief,” or “support.” Following Jesus and living his love is Katharine’s signature method of serving.
At the peace [in the 10:30 service], we’ll have a simple service of recognition and appreciation for Katharine’s ministry among us and for us. It’s going to be hard to let her go.