Word to the Wise
Friday, December 10, 2010 - Friday in the Second Week of Advent
[Isaiah 48:17-19 and Matthew 11:16-19]For John came neither eating nor drinking and they said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
Many of us are familiar with the skeptical words of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens' famous story, "A Christmas Carol:" "Bah! Humbug!" For those who are possessed of a skeptical spirit about all things religious, nothing will suffice to convince them of the facts or spirit of faith. Some are, like Scrooge, sour and embittered to all celebration. Jesus points out the skepticism that greeted John the Baptist with one criticism and himself with the opposite. Skepticism can be a terrible blindness when it takes over the human spirit because it blocks out HOPE!
If Advent and Christmas offer nothing but hope for what is wrapped under the decorated tree, people cannot be blamed for skepticism about any religious meaning at all. The birth of Christ is a feast of hope. Advent reminds us not only of the longing of the people before and during the time of Jesus' life on earth, but speaks to the need for hope in all of us. I have spoken about the various things that beset us personally or globally - hunger, war, joblessness, family feuds, illness, etc. - and can rob us of any desire to live on or celebrate. We can speak words of encouragement to one another in this season and light the Advent candles in the darkness of skepticism. AMEN