For Sunday
Advent 2C
Collect
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
The evangelist we call Luke has grounded this moment of John the Baptist coming out of the wilderness in a moment, laying out the time and political landscape of the known world. It brings specificity and historicity to this moment. But it does something else, too. It brings to mind the very powers of the world and set all of that up against the one who comes to straighten the roads for God and bring salvation to the people. So, if we don’t read this as a bold political statement, we are missing the boat!
There are other bits in here that could hold our attention. That the Roman emperor rules the region and his officer rules Jerusalem. We remember that the person sitting on the throne of Galilee was put there by those very people and that his brother rules another region. So we shouldn’t confuse this for self-determination or even the failed “divine right of kings”. These are an occupied people living under the boot of empire and John is promising them freedom.
This is an essential message this time of year, as we prepare for the happiest time of the year, when the world sings together and miracles happen. This isn’t always true for everyone, but everyone has witnessed its truth. And yet, so little of that joy gets connected to liberation and salvation—the very promises of the incarnation!
As we continue through this season of Advent, calling one another into a time of joy and hope, let us keep in mind the things that lead to more permanent conditions of joy and hope that last well beyond the season or the next one and the year ahead, but last our lifetimes. Starting with our faith in Christ and continuing out into our neighborhood and region and nation. Ensuring we all have food, shelter, clothes to wear, and opportunities for fellowship and utility. Treating each other with dignity and respect, offering hope and faith to one another. God needs some path-straightening and we’ve all been recruited to work on it.