2ND SUNDAY OF ADVENT B
Christmas has become a time for feasting and family, parties and friends, gift-giving and child-like magic, Santa Claus and Rudolf, angels and wise men, decorated trees and caroling choirs. Like most of human life, it’s a wonderful mix of the Holy and the Secular, the timeless, and often times the tacky; where Jesus, lying in the manger, meets shepherds and Frosty the Snowman.
A non-believer might very well ask what the meaning of all this frantic, excitable anticipation is and the answer can be found in this Sunday’s gospel reading.
John the Baptist proclaimed that someone was coming; someone so spectacular that it was not enough simply sit back and just wait for him to arrive – there had to be some preparation.
John called on people to be honest with themselves, to step back from their daily routines and to prepare their hearts to receive the one whom God was sending; the one who would redeem them from their sin and offer them new life. John challenged them to repent and embrace the Son of God himself!
One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worth to stoop and loosen the ties of his sandals. I have baptized you with water. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
So, how does John the Baptist’s message challenge us today? What are we being called to on this Second Sunday of Advent?
We have all been baptized. We have all received the Holy Spirit. Like John the Baptist, most of us have wandered in the wilderness.
We sometimes wander in the wilderness when we lose sight of what should be right and good in the world. But the violent culture that we live in causes many of us to dwell on what is wrong with it instead.
We often get mired in the darkness when we refuse to notice and care for the least of our brethren; the one in ten children who will go to bed hungry tonight, the homeless, and the mentally ill. We wander in the darkness as we destroy our planet in the name of money and wealth. We live in a dark world when we stand idly by in a culture of abortions, executions, and war.
But today’s readings challenge us to be the ones: The ones crying in the wilderness; the ones who stand against evil and injustice; the ones preparing the way of the Lord.
Like John the Baptist, we are not messiahs – we’re not even called to be messiahs. We can’t save the world. But, what we can do is be like John the Baptist. We can bear witness to Jesus, the one who can save the world.
We can bear witness to the teachings of Jesus, which if followed, will give joy, peace, faith and assurance that the wilderness all around us is not all there is.
We can bear witness that there is one greater than we, who can make the sick well, the wounded whole, the blind to see. One who can bring us through the wilderness to the Jordan River and beyond.
So, as we wrap our gifts and bake our cookies let us also bear witness, especially to those who have lost hope. Let us bear witness to the one who calls us out of the wilderness to a life of love and forgiveness, to a life of joy and peace.