"Jesus is coming again, look busy!" says a bumper sticker.
Well, this is Advent, and it is a time of waiting. But we're not waiting for Santa Claus, who checks off if we're naughty or nice; we're waiting for Jesus. Instead of fear, the leitmotif for Advent is joy.
Paul especially stresses this theme in the second reading, which, for once, fits in perfectly with the first and third readings. "Rejoice always!" says Paul; "again I say rejoice. Let your modesty (patience) be known to all. The Lord is near!" (Philippians 4: 4-7).
In the first reading Zephaniah, an Old Testament prophet who is usually scolding the Israelites for their unbelief, in this one shining passage speaks of the joy and exultation that should be Israel's, for the Lord has put aside judgment and sings joyfully in their feasts - in fact, he is right now in your midst, says the prophet. This passage of joy is so unlike Zephaniah's general tone that some think it was added by another writer.
The psalm is set aside today for a passage from Isaiah in which the same theme of joy is repeated: "Cry out with joy and gladness; for among you is the great and holy one of Israel . for great in your midst is the holy one of Israel" (Isaiah 12: 2-3, 4, 5-6).
The motive for joy in all these readings is that the Lord is already among the people. We're not waiting for him, as we do for Santa Claus. But then again, we are waiting for him: that's the theme of Advent. So how reconcile these two facts?
We are waiting for Jesus in the liturgical sense that we are once again in a season we set aside to commemorate his birth; we are waiting for him, as St. Paul and the early Christians were, when he will come the second time. But he is already in our midst as our Father who created us; he is in our midst as the Son, Jesus, who suffered and died for us and left himself to us in the sacraments, the word, and the community; and he is in our midst through the Spirit that inspires the Church and each Christian. Jesus is our power pack giving us power in the Spirit. But sometimes our connections with him are loose, and so we must have patience as we work at re-establishing our unity with him.
- David McCasland tells of a woman whose car was stalled in a busy
intersection. The car's hood was raised and McCasland stopped to assist the
woman. "I can't get it started," she said. "But if you jiggle the wire on
the battery while I turn the key in the ignition, it will work."
McCasland grabbed the battery cable. It was so loose that it came out in his hand. "This terminal needs to be tightened up. I can fix it if you'll give me a few minutes."
"I'm in a hurry," she responded. "My husband says it will work if you just jiggle the wires. It always works. Will you please jiggle the wires while I try to start it so I can be on my way."
"Ma'am," he said, "if I jiggle the wire, you're going to need someone else to do it every time you turn the engine off. If you'll give me a few minutes, we can solve the problem and you can forget about it." Reluctantly, she submitted to the longer wait. The job was completed. [i]
Advent is a time to either be completely reconnected with Jesus, our power pack, or at least be recharged so that we can experience the full joy of living in Jesus and being open to his Spirit. The one who powers us, Jesus, is already in us; but during Advent we remember the time when the whole world was waiting for a Messiah. He came as a child. Many did not recognize him; many still do not. We witness to him with joy at this season of Advent.
In our prayer group I have been stressing the idea of living in praise of God at all times. Merlin Carrothers, an ex-military man and minister, has built up a ministry of praising God with his books, especially Prison to Praise. It's interesting the reception this idea has found among my prayer group. Some find it a most rewarding and joy-filled attitude; others see it as an unrealistic response to the sometimes-tragic things that can happen in our lives.
Admittedly, it is not easy to praise God in the face of the death of a relative or friend, or some remarkable loss, such as money or health. But as I explain, God has our providence all worked out. He is with us always - as the readings today say: "The Lord is in your midst."
God wants us to be happy, even in times that the world would sees as times of sorrow or tragedy. If God has our best welfare worked out, and wills it - and we believe he does will it - then we can rejoice, even in times of misfortune. For God can and will draw something out of our misfortune that will be a greater good than we can imagine.
Of course, it requires faith to believe and live this. But in our clearer and more peaceful moments, we know it is true. And so to praise God for everything is to already cash in, already to share in that joy God has for us. We will assuredly have to wait for the full completion of it in heaven. But by faith we can experience it here and now by praising God for all that happens to us.
Because I'm introducing my prayer group to this concept, I am also trying to live it. It's not easy, but it does introduce a peace and joy that cannot be denied. I used to think I did live this concept in my spiritual life; but I' m afraid I too often used to respond according to the old man than the Spirit.
When you think of the alternative - living in negativity and cursing your fate - there's no contest. Jesus has prepared a kingdom for us right here - the Lord is in our midst - and all we have to do is believe it and act upon his word. But I do sympathize with those who are undergoing the severe blow of a death or physical illness. I can only counsel them to wait - the leitmotiv of Advent - wait upon the Lord, who is walking with us and will rejoice us in his good time.
- There's a movie out now called Pay It Forward in which a teacher asks her
class to think of an idea that will change our world and then put it into
action. One student, Trevor, took her seriously and explains his idea. He
says, "'I do something for three people that they can't do for themselves.
They don't pay me back but they pay it FORWARD, helping three other people.
And so on.'
Every person Trevor tries to help ends up back where they were before, or worse. Then, just as Trevor is about to give up, his plan begins to take root and blossom. As Trevor discovers, Pay It Forward does work if you want "to change something bad enough that needs fixing. If it's hard to do - and if it's not planned - you have to be watching for the right person and the right moment."
There's a side to rejoicing that we haven't touched upon. It's called suffering.
- On the night before he was killed, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the Mason Temple, rallying support for the garbage workers of Memphis: [He said] It's alright to talk about 'long white robes over yonder,' in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It's alright to talk about streets flowing with milk and honey,' but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can't eat three square meals a day. It's alright to talk about the New Jerusalem, but one day, God's preacher must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee." [iii]
Others like him went to their death in the joy of doing right.
If you think the coming of Christ doesn't have political implications, consider Herod's response to John. While John is bellowing out his sermon, Herod's henchmen are en route to shackle and imprison him (Luke 3: 19-20). The fiction is that public serenity requires the silencing of this trouble; this is the reason Josephus gives for his arrest (Antiquities xviii.5). The truth is that Herod had dispensed with his wife, the daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabatea, so he could marry Herodias, his half-brother's wife. John publicly denounced this maneuver, and was imprisoned and then beheaded, a fate remarkably similar to that of Thomas More in England for his refusal to condone Henry VIII's divorce of Catherine of Aragon and marriage to Anne Boleyn. Contrary to much that is believed in American religion, faithfulness to God does not issue in success, but rather in suffering. In Robert Bolt's famous play, A Man for All Seasons (New York: Vintage, 1960), Thomas More asks Norfolk and Cranmer: "Dare we for shame enter the Kingdom with ease, when our Lord Himself entered with so much pain?" (p. 87).
John's preaching calls us to a radical kind of commitment, one we dare not equivocate upon. Thomas More explained it to his daughter, Meg: When a man takes an oath, Meg, he's holding his own self in his own hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then - he needn't hope to find himself again' (p. 81). [iv]
John the Baptist, Thomas More - these men were prophets who spoke up to evil authority. They died, yes, but they knew the joy of doing God's will. That joy is not always the trivia of snow falling on a Christmas Eve or opening presents - although it can and should be. But that joy is more often felt in the lifelong commitment of giving oneself to a God who is come, but who is with us right now.
And in that we take our joy and sing, Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus, during
this Advent season.
[i] Glen Martin, Beyond the Rat Race (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1995),
page 156. Related by Leonard I. Sweet in Homiletics,, Volume 8, Number 4,
page 39.
[ii] "Pay It Forward, Connections, Third Sunday of Advent, December 17,
2000.
[iii] Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope [San Francisco: Harper &
Row, 1986], p. 282.
[iv] "Proclaming the text," Pulpit Resource, 28, (4): 49-50 (Logos
Productions Inc., 6160 Carmen Ave. East, Inver Grove Heights MN 55076-4422),
Year B & C, October, November, December 2000.
(Comments to Jerry at padre@tri-lakes.net. Jerry's book, Stories For All Seasons, is available at a discount through the Homiletic Resource Center.)