Advent

December 7, 2019

Scripture Reading: Matthew 3:1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight.” ’

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. –Matthew 3:1-8

Why did John the Baptist preach in the wilderness? A wilderness is an uncultivated, useless place. Why would anyone go there in the first place? For John such a place provided solitude, a place to think. Surely, John’s reputation preceded him, if people were seeking him in such a desolate place. Perhaps the world was too much with those who sought him as it was for him. I know that feeling.

Advent is a time identified by the church set aside to step out of our regular routine and enter the darkness of the time of waiting for the coming Messiah. We often do not appreciate what we have until it is gone. Advent is an artificially created means of reminding us of what we gained when Christ came to dwell among us, share his love with us teaching and showing us how-to live-in God’s kingdom.

Last spring the man who has done my yard work since 1985 was supposed to trim my trees and bushes and otherwise prepare my backyard for summer. And then the rains came. Unusual for Oklahoma, wind and rain made it impossible for him to do the work when it needed to be done and thus, we agreed he would do it as a fall cleanup. He had to use a dump truck to carry away the branches, said he had never seen it grow so much so fast. On top of that the standing and rushing water during the rains has eroded my yard and ruined parts of the grass. It was a wilderness most likely created by global warming and the climate change that results. A lot of restorative work is now needed to return it to the yard/garden it once was.

I think this is a metaphor for our world today. The damage of greed and lust for power is awash in our land. Most of us just want to get on about our lives and put the terrors of the world out of the picture. We can no longer do that. We never should have started ignoring it, but the world is now our back yard and we must accept our responsibility in restoring it to the world God intended when he created it, whether that is related to addressing climate change or poverty or human rights of all kinds.

Prayer: Lord, during this time of advent help us to seek and to save that which we have lost through our ennui and help us work to work toward building a world ruled by your love for the world and all that is within it. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.