Drew Downs

Make a New Normal

Advent 3B

  • John the Baptist wrestles with the expectations others have. He isn’t the one they are waiting for. But he is helping them to see.

  • While figuring out what more to say about John the Baptist in Advent, we may first want to address the elephant in the living room.

  • As we hear again from John the Baptist, we’re invited to explore his purpose (and ours) in light of the one who is to come again.

  • In Advent, we aren’t just preparing for the Incarnation by decorating, we are preparing ourselves by changing course.

  • John the Baptist returns for Advent 3B (John 1:6-8,19-28). But do we handicap the truth by expecting honesty in response to a dishonest question? Advent 3B  |  John 1:6-8,19-28 Who are you? This is the question the priests and Levites were sent to ask. Sent. By whom? The Pharisees. So why are the Pharisees sending the…

  • Advent 3B  |  John 1:6-8,19-28 Two weeks in a row, the preacher gets to deal with John the Baptizer. And some of the elements sound repetitive. The quote from Isaiah, the preaching and preparing of the way, for instance. It is a subtle switch from Mark to John. And yet, while we might have the…