Word to the Wise
Sunday, December 8, 2024 - 2nd Sunday of Advent - C
[Bar 5:1-9; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6]I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. [Philippians] [A]s it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert; "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." [Luke]
The figure of John the Baptist appears today in this season of anticipation! John was a complicated character in early Christian preaching because there were those who thought HE was the messiah. The Gospel According to Luke takes pains to say John was great, but Jesus was great-ER. His ministry, however, is a challenge to us today! We can be voices in the desert of holiday celebration that has little to do with the original "reason for the season!"
St. Paul's affectionate and comforting words to the Philippian community strike a chord in a preacher's heart. Having served in a number of campus ministries, I have maintained contact with quite a few of my former parishioners and can rejoice in their faith and their everyday preaching of the gospel by the way they live their faith. These are voices in the desert, bringing the comfort of hope. The words from Isaiah, quoted by St. Paul, are from a section called "the book of comfort." They are beautifully rendered, in the King James version, at the beginning of Handel's THE MESSIAH. Two dear former student parishioners and close friends of mine will be singing in that glorious composition soon, giving their "voices in the wilderness" to bring comfort to the audience. How can each of us be a "voice of comfort" in the Advent season? AMEN