Hope-Bringers, Advent 2 (C) – 2000

A person quoting from the tradition of Isaiah delivers the majestic passages in today’s Gospel. The message breaks into history, quoted by a preacher, John the Baptist, who is himself “one crying in the wilderness.”

How does it sound to you? Is it a message of hope? Does the phrase, Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill made low…and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, make your heart beat faster? Do you feel a sense of hope welling up inside you?

For many, this message is the focus of Advent. John is calling us to get ready for something so great that it fills our emptiness with expectation. There are few passages that stir our hearts and minds as this one does.

John the Baptist is the focus of two Sundays in Advent. His message and his ministry are stirring, and they provoke reactions. Herod was so troubled by him, particularly when John suggested Herod’s moral life needed reforming, that he had him put to death on the whim of his sister-in-law, to whom he was married. So much for majestic messengers of hope!

But isn’t that how it often is with hope-bringers? They demand something of us, as did John the Baptist. They ask us to repent of our wrongs, smooth the rough places, and fill in the holes in our sinful lives. So, what might sound hopeful to some is threatening to others. Martin Luther King’s whole ministry was preaching hope to people who were in darkness and despair–both the victims and those who were the cause of that darkness of segregation. Dr. King was martyred because some could not stand to hear the message.

There is a sobering side to this season of getting ready. In just two weeks we will turn our hearts and minds to the babe of Nazareth born to be our redeemer. If you think John the Baptist’s demands are tough, wait until you hear what Jesus asks!

That is why John’s work is important for us. It helps us prepare, like training for a race or a contest. John is helping us to get ready for Jesus, so we can hear what he asks of us and what he promises for us, nothing less than an entrance into the land of light and joy.

So, consider this your first Sunday in training. John the Baptist is our spiritual coach; he shows us how to place ourselves in the winning lane where we triumph over the sin and darkness that bind us. He gets us ready to embrace the Divine intervention that has come and is to come again. He strengthens us to work for and expect righteousness. He shows us what it means to be a voice crying in the wilderness.

In our daily living, in our work, on the news, and even as part of our entertainment we are surrounded with acts of selfishness, power grabbing, and manipulation. We are part of a culture that says, “Go ahead, you’ve earned it!” We know in our hearts this is not what we were made for. But if we start to question, refuse or challenge these things we find out what it means to be a voice crying in the wilderness.

John offers us courage, and stirs our hearts to hope and commitment, so that our lives really do change. What a Gospel, what a gift! Is it worth the risk of ridicule and derision to move away from the things that will destroy us? John only invites us to take the plunge, and wait with expectation for the coming light that will never be overcome by the darkness.

Darkness? What darkness? Over half the world goes to bed hungry every night, largely because the wealthier nations of the world consume most of its resources and want more.

What darkness? A 25-year recovering addict who has just been awarded custody of his two children commits suicide and leaves them abandoned.

What darkness? In the Arctic there were no salmon to be caught in the Yukon this season, and no one knows exactly why. People are frightened, faced with the prospect of culling their sled dog herds and finding other sources of food for the long winter.

What darkness? The Middle East continues to be a place of civil strife and bloodshed, threatening the security of the entire region and perhaps the world, despite our best efforts to find a way to a just and lasting peace.

John’s promise that all flesh shall see the salvation of God cannot come too soon. Our heeding of his message and submitting our hearts and minds to an expectant Advent are the beginning of what God desires for us all, a peace and justice that await the day of God’s coming. Come, Lord Jesus. AMEN.