Year C

Matthew 3:1-12

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Wisdom of Advent

The world and the church, in my opinion, seem to be getting further and further apart and nothing emphasizes this more than the Advent season. Out in the “highways and byways” it’s all tinsel and lights and in the stores, they are decorated to the extreme for the purpose of getting pocketbooks and wallets open. It’s impossible not to get caught up in the frenzy of it all and it can be difficult to understand why the liturgical churches are not decorated and not singing Christmas carols until December 24 when many in our world approach Christmas with a different pace, and “atmosphere.” The world believes that they have to have all that out there to get ready for the birth of Jesus.

Yet, the wisdom of Advent tells us, we don’t have to have all that to get ourselves ready for Christmas because Advent helps us get ready not by some “jolly old elf” but by helping us to get our hearts swept clean of the chaff that has accumulated there. It is the hope of Advent that we will renew our commitment to the Christ Child and when the day arrives for his birth, the babe in the manger will find a home within each of us. A place, where the God of love will grow in us, enabling us to sprout and blossom as disciples who will bear fruit “a hundred fold.” A place, where we can live in a peace that passes understanding because love has found us, and we come to know the love and joy for which we are being prepared.

This is the wisdom of Advent which shows us the way of peace, of understanding Jesus and of being prepared not only for his birth but for the unknown hour when The Son of Man will return. During Advent, the scripture readings seem out of place with the Christmas season. Yet, we have to trust in the wisdom of the church that we will not lose our Christmas spirit, but see it transformed. Last week, Matthew gave us a guide to ending the time of famine in our personal and social lives. This week is when we choose to risk a new beginning. We risk a new beginning by calling it out to ourselves and to others, and we mark it by the changing of behavior and by making a difference in life.

Robert Coles a child psychiatrist and professor at Harvard University who likes to try to figure out why people do the things they do. In his book The Call of Service, wonders about people who try to make a difference in life. People, who not only seek to reform themselves, but also attempt to better society in spite of the fact that it’s a daunting task. Cole asks, “Why do they do it?” The stories are all so different he says that it’s hard to figure out a way to summarize them neatly. In fact, the people themselves often have a hard time defining what it is that makes them do what they do.

But what he can say is: that for each of the people interviewed sometime in their early lives they each ran into a crisis situation and in that crisis situation, each of them encountered someone who put their life on the line and taught them the meaning of service. Someone, who gave of themselves in a way that bucks the trend of selfishness and of self-preservation. The influence of that someone made it possible for each of them to be greater than they had previously considered. I know who did that for me, my mother. Who did that for you? Because of that someone, we brushed against the holiness of God and entered the Peaceable Kingdom, where Jesus becomes our savior and example for making a difference that brings new life.

New life is what Isaiah today promises from what seems to be a dead stump. He is foolish enough to believe that out of a burned-out remnant of a once mighty tree a shoot will emerge. It was a turbulent time in which the prophet Isaiah lived in eighth century BC Judah. The ten northern tribes of Israel fell victim to the Assyrian Empire in 721 BC and disappeared from history. Only Judah was left, and both of its Davidic kings, Ahaz and Hezekiah, finally bowed to Assyria’s might. The line of David is in trouble and with it the nation. Now, there seemed to be only a dead stump left but Isaiah knew the promises of the Lord. He knew that God had promised King David that there would never be lacking a Davidic heir to sit upon the throne of Israel.

The people of ancient Israel did not know who their promised ruler would be, but they at least knew his family tree. “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse.” From this stump, Isaiah saw into God’s future the true Davidic heir, the anointed one, the Messiah, whom God would raise up to govern not only Israel but all the peoples. This message uttered in Isaiah 40 had echoed through the life of the Jewish people for hundreds of years. It was part of the great message of hope, of forgiveness, of healing for the nation after the horror of exile. God would at last come back, bringing comfort, rescue and new life. After centuries of prophetic pictures and promises, John say’s it’s happening now. It’s time to get ready for God’s kingdom! The King, God himself, is coming back! Make a good and straight road for him.

 John’s message made everyone sit up and take notice because they weren’t ready, not by a long shot. The prophets had said that God would come back when the people repented, turning to God with all their hearts. Repentance is what John summoned them to do and they came in droves. They came for baptism. To be plunged into the river Jordan as they confessed their sins. This was more than just a symbolic cleansing; it was a sign of the new thing that God was doing in history for all people. But John’s message wasn’t all comfort. He spoke of the fire that would blaze and an axe that would chop down the tree that does not bear good fruit.  He scoffed at the religious leaders when he saw them coming for baptism because he knew they were only going through the motions of baptism.

Real repentance meant a complete and lasting change of heart and life. This is the only way to get the road ready for the coming king. This change of heart and life was what the early Christians wrestled with asking; “How should we live between now and the time of Christ’s coming again? Paul’s answer is as relevant for them then as it is for us today. “Live in harmony,” “welcome one another,” “glorify God for his mercy,” “sing praises to God’s name,” “rejoice,” “praise the Lord,” “abound in hope.” Anchored in his first coming—the past, confident of his second coming—in the future, we are set free to live for God and for others now. “The root of Jesse shall come…in him the Gentiles shall hope.” Paul looks forward to the reality to which the gospel of Jesus Christ bears witness- the Good News.

The God who came to his people in Jesus will one day unveil his kingdom in all its glory, bringing justice, joy, and peace to the whole world. In the meantime, Advent asks us to ponder the hard questions: How can we get ready for that day? Where do the roads need straightening out in our lives? Which dead trees need to be cut down? Where can we bring new life? No wonder in Advent the moods are different in the “world” and in the church! The world is trying to collect that which it cannot take with it when its time runs out. The church is being called to remember the promises God made to God’s people and to remember what their responses to their Lord involves.

This calls for a change of heart and lives not just in Advent but every day of our lives. Every day we can risk a new beginning and open ourselves to be baptized by the fire and Spirit of Jesus Christ to bear good fruit! This is the wisdom of Advent! May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.