Word to the Wise
Sunday, December 10, 2017 - 2nd Sunday of Advent - B
[Isa 40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Pet 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8]Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated; indeed, she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God! [Isaiah]
The gospel scripture for today, from the earliest of the four gospels - the Gospel According to Mark, makes it clear that the voice foretold by Isaiah is John the Baptist. However, John the Baptist is not portrayed as a "tender speaker" or one who gives a lot of comfort! To paraphrase the great Southern Catholic writer, Flannery O'Connor, he shouts to the deaf and draws large and startling figures for the blind. Yet, his importance is such that all four gospels clearly believe that he is part of telling the story of Jesus Christ. John's loud and dramatic ways were important to his message. His appearance and unusual diet (maybe nutritionists might disagree) were hard to forget. But he is a model for us in this season and other seasons as well.
The story of God keeping a promise that is proclaimed by the manger scene requires many different approaches - some gentle, some dramatic. What IS required is that we be intentional about our faith in this event we call Christmas, and we show our faith at this time of year as one of hope and expectation, not of the arrival of Santa Claus, but of Jesus Christ. The greatest gift we could possibly give is hope to so many who suffer in this season. Perhaps we must do what one famous columnist said, "Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted." If John the Baptist was essential to the evangelists for telling the full story of Jesus Christ, we can continue his ministry and make straight the way of the Lord. AMEN