Advent 2C (Luke 3:1-6) – 12/06/2009

The season of Advent marks the start of a new Church year and a fresh start for us to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. We celebrate the coming of Jesus by remembering his birth in Bethlehem on Christmas morning, but we are also called to remember the coming of Christ as he is present to us in the every day living of our lives. This morning we hear in our Gospel lesson that we must prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming: prepare ourselves through reflection and repentance and through lives lived faithful to our baptismal covenant. During these busy days of December, we are reminded that we are called to set aside time today in order that we are prepared when Christ returns to us. Our preparation must be rooted in the here and now if we are to discern God’s word and make ready for Christmas day.

The difficulties of staying present in the here and now can be challenging for many of us. The challenges I experienced throughout my teenage years remain a vivid memory to me, even today, so far removed from those days of long ago. My personal experiences have been re-lived in many ways as Carol and I navigate the parental side of teenage enthusiasm and the excitement that goes along with the major events in one’s life. Many of us have likely said or heard the long list of wishful ideas: “I can’t wait to get my driver’s license” and “if I could only get a job, then I would have money” and “once I am in college, then I can stay up as late as I want.” These insights often prompted my mother to say, “stop wishing your life away and enjoy what you have today.” I often find myself repeating my mother’s words of wisdom and I also have occasion to still hear these words today.

The process of becoming ordained to the priesthood is neither for the faint of heart nor for those in a hurry. I am happy and blessed to say that in less than 2 weeks in this very church I will be ordained to the priesthood. However, the process to arrive at this day started 6 years ago. After meeting with a parish discernment group for nearly one year and attending various Diocesan meetings and conferences, I was approved to attend a 3 year full-time program at seminary. Shortly after moving to Virginia, the first days of classes began and I must admit that I hoped that my days at seminary would pass quickly so I could move on to become actively engaged in parish ministry. During the first week of the fall term, one of my professors said she would like to offer one bit of advice that was not on the course syllabus. She looked at each of us intently and cautioned us to not think of seminary merely as a pit stop along the road to ordained ministry. Instead, she said, the 3 years of seminary should be considered a time of preparation and learning; a time that we have been asked by God to set aside for reflection and growth so that we might become more able ministers of Christ. In other words, “stop wishing your life away and be attentive to what God is saying to you today.”

This morning, our Gospel lesson speaks of the time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. We are, once again, in the midst of the time of Advent: a time for wonderful decorations and Christmas festivals (as many of us experienced yesterday), but also a time of reflection for the coming of Christ. The Gospel account written by Luke begins by stating, “I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you…” (Lk 1:3) Our lesson today is most orderly, stating that the preparation for the coming of the Messiah has taken place in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Luke then continues to state the various Jewish rulers and high priests of that time. Luke has given us an exact time for the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry and I must admit, as I read this lesson, I kept wondering why Luke needed to be so exact and what significance might this hold for us today.

In his Bible commentary, Fred Craddock notes that the specific dating of this story holds significance for the event that is the ministry of John the Baptist: “John’s ministry is a continuation of salvation history, the tradition of God’s dealing with the covenant people.”[i] In other words, the event of John’s prophetic ministry of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ is not an isolated event but is the intentional and continuing action of God in our world. John the Baptist is not simply any prophet living at some unspecified time in history, but is a very specific person, called by God for a very particular ministry. God has called John and the time for preparation has arrived. The time that “every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,” has arrived. The time that the “crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth” has arrived. Our time of preparation, in Advent, has arrived…and we are called to prepare for Christ’s coming through prayer and reflection, today, and throughout this very specific season of Advent. The season of Advent will come again next year, but this particular Advent will not. Today, we are God’s people in a very special and particular way and we are called to spend time with God so we might prepare for the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ.

I was very fortunate that when I started seminary one of my professors told me to stop and listen to what God was teaching me each day, throughout my journey of seminary. Although her advice was not always easy to remember or to put into practice, the lesson and its importance remained with me. In our busy world, in our busy lives, in the busy season of Advent, we can easily become lost in the details of the holiday season. But we must remember that we are living in a particular place, at a particular time and that we each have gifts given to us by God. We are called to reflect and prepare so that we may come to know our gifts and come to hear how Christ is calling us to bring about the reign of God. I pray that we may find the time to discover the gifts and lessons of this particular season of Advent, so that we may hear what God is saying to us today. Amen.

---

[i] Craddock, Luke, “Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching,” (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990), 47.