Sunday, December 04, 2005
The Time for Change Is Now, Advent 2-B
Fr. Bryan Timby
December 4, 2005
Things really haven’t changed much from the time John came out of the desert calling for repentance. The people then had little hope for a brighter future with the Romans in control of their homeland. Taxes were skyrocketing. Unemployment was high. The poor were growing poorer and the wealthy were getting richer. There was corruption at all levels of government. Leadership at the Temple and in local synagogues was suspect and in need of correction. Frivolity and sensuality had gone amuck.
But John came out of the wilderness and invited the people to change their point of focus. The desert or wilderness was not the place from which they expected to discover anything good, anything beautiful, or anything of value. It was a barren wasteland and stood in dire contrast to the lush fields and bounty that surrounded them, even if they did not get to drink of the wealth of the day.
But isn’t it from the most unexpected places that the call for change most often comes? Just fifty years ago an insignificant Black woman named Rosa Parks took her place on the bus, refusing to give it up, and look at the change that has happened.
It was no accident that John came out of the wilderness, Eching the wordds of the prophet Isaiah: Make ready the way of the Lord; clear him a straight path. He came out of the desert to confront another wasteland – the hearts of the people. He spoke to hearts which went through the motion of religiosity but did not enter into the truths of the faith they practiced. They said their Sabbath prayers but tried every way they could think to practice minimalism of faith. They were very creative in lowering the standard by which they said God expected them to live. They were good at convincing themselves that God wouldn’t mind if they committed a particular indiscretion or failed to do what they were supposed to do because “they were good.” It was to this wasteland of their hearts that John spoke, calling them to a baptism of repentance which leads to forgiveness.
In the musical Godspell (performed by our middle school classes several a few ago), John is the first to appear on stage. He is dressed like one who is directing a three-ring circus. All this activity is going on in the world, and he sings out: Prepare Ye the way of the Lord. Over and over he sang out: Prepare Ye the way of the Lord! The message is timeless. It speaks to every generation from the time of Isaiah right up to us who stand in the dawn of the Third Millennium.
It is we who need to be straightened! We are the way of the Lord!
Like the people of John’s day, we look around and too often feel there is little hope. We hear preachers from various religious traditions telling us the end of the world is near and that hurricanes, tsunamis, and tornadoes are God’s wrath being called down on people who, if they have not abandoned their faith completely, have certainly compromised it in the way they live their daily lives. We see one politician after another being accused and convicted of fraud and other illegal activity. Unemployment is high. Wars drag on with no end in sight. Terrorism has conquered the spirits of nations. Frivolity and sensuality run amuck. Even the Church is caught in the downward spiral with the scandals of recent years.
With little left in this world to give us hope, we are confronted by John the Baptizer who reminds us that we are in need of repentance because repentance is the key to embracing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the source of hope. But, conversion cannot come without repentance. As much as we like to convince ourselves that we are “good people,” we must come to the realization that we are sinners and that the notions “anything goes” and “if it feels good do it” erode the very foundation of a faith that is founded on the principle of conformity not individuality. That is, we are to be conformed to the mind and will of God and clothe ourselves in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Straightening the way of the Lord requires effort. It takes work. We start with the boulders and tree trunks that have fallen in our way. You say you don’t have any big obstacles in your relationship with God? Look again! St. Francis of Assisi reminded his band of brothers that once the big sins are put behind us the little sins become boulders and tree trunks and are as much hindrances to God as the major sins already conquered because our goal must always be perfection in discipleship, not mediocrity. Sometimes, removing the little sins from our lives is much more difficult that putting aside adultery, murder and apostasy because the little sins become habitual; we commit them so often we don’t even think about them or may even dismiss the notion that they are sins at all. We've grown accustom to them. But God still calls us to perfection, and that requires change, which demands effort from us. It just isn't going to happen all by itself. God never promised us that it would be easy to be formed by the Gospel or conformed to His will. What Jesus did promise was that his burden would be light, meaning we can easily accomplish anything God asks of us if we truly love the Lord and shoulder that love in faith.
How seriously do we take the Baptizer’s cry? Are we open to making real, concrete changes in our lives in this holy season of Advent as we prepare to welcome the newborn King at Christmas?
Repentance requires that we name our sins, confess them, and then enter into the passion and death of Christ through acts of penance. Only when we enter into the sacrifice of Christ in our daily lives will we rise with him in glory and peace. Only then will be able to see clearly the meaning of Christmas and understand the true hope that Jesus offers to all people of good will.
December 4, 2005
Things really haven’t changed much from the time John came out of the desert calling for repentance. The people then had little hope for a brighter future with the Romans in control of their homeland. Taxes were skyrocketing. Unemployment was high. The poor were growing poorer and the wealthy were getting richer. There was corruption at all levels of government. Leadership at the Temple and in local synagogues was suspect and in need of correction. Frivolity and sensuality had gone amuck.
But John came out of the wilderness and invited the people to change their point of focus. The desert or wilderness was not the place from which they expected to discover anything good, anything beautiful, or anything of value. It was a barren wasteland and stood in dire contrast to the lush fields and bounty that surrounded them, even if they did not get to drink of the wealth of the day.
But isn’t it from the most unexpected places that the call for change most often comes? Just fifty years ago an insignificant Black woman named Rosa Parks took her place on the bus, refusing to give it up, and look at the change that has happened.
It was no accident that John came out of the wilderness, Eching the wordds of the prophet Isaiah: Make ready the way of the Lord; clear him a straight path. He came out of the desert to confront another wasteland – the hearts of the people. He spoke to hearts which went through the motion of religiosity but did not enter into the truths of the faith they practiced. They said their Sabbath prayers but tried every way they could think to practice minimalism of faith. They were very creative in lowering the standard by which they said God expected them to live. They were good at convincing themselves that God wouldn’t mind if they committed a particular indiscretion or failed to do what they were supposed to do because “they were good.” It was to this wasteland of their hearts that John spoke, calling them to a baptism of repentance which leads to forgiveness.
In the musical Godspell (performed by our middle school classes several a few ago), John is the first to appear on stage. He is dressed like one who is directing a three-ring circus. All this activity is going on in the world, and he sings out: Prepare Ye the way of the Lord. Over and over he sang out: Prepare Ye the way of the Lord! The message is timeless. It speaks to every generation from the time of Isaiah right up to us who stand in the dawn of the Third Millennium.
It is we who need to be straightened! We are the way of the Lord!
Like the people of John’s day, we look around and too often feel there is little hope. We hear preachers from various religious traditions telling us the end of the world is near and that hurricanes, tsunamis, and tornadoes are God’s wrath being called down on people who, if they have not abandoned their faith completely, have certainly compromised it in the way they live their daily lives. We see one politician after another being accused and convicted of fraud and other illegal activity. Unemployment is high. Wars drag on with no end in sight. Terrorism has conquered the spirits of nations. Frivolity and sensuality run amuck. Even the Church is caught in the downward spiral with the scandals of recent years.
With little left in this world to give us hope, we are confronted by John the Baptizer who reminds us that we are in need of repentance because repentance is the key to embracing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is the source of hope. But, conversion cannot come without repentance. As much as we like to convince ourselves that we are “good people,” we must come to the realization that we are sinners and that the notions “anything goes” and “if it feels good do it” erode the very foundation of a faith that is founded on the principle of conformity not individuality. That is, we are to be conformed to the mind and will of God and clothe ourselves in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Straightening the way of the Lord requires effort. It takes work. We start with the boulders and tree trunks that have fallen in our way. You say you don’t have any big obstacles in your relationship with God? Look again! St. Francis of Assisi reminded his band of brothers that once the big sins are put behind us the little sins become boulders and tree trunks and are as much hindrances to God as the major sins already conquered because our goal must always be perfection in discipleship, not mediocrity. Sometimes, removing the little sins from our lives is much more difficult that putting aside adultery, murder and apostasy because the little sins become habitual; we commit them so often we don’t even think about them or may even dismiss the notion that they are sins at all. We've grown accustom to them. But God still calls us to perfection, and that requires change, which demands effort from us. It just isn't going to happen all by itself. God never promised us that it would be easy to be formed by the Gospel or conformed to His will. What Jesus did promise was that his burden would be light, meaning we can easily accomplish anything God asks of us if we truly love the Lord and shoulder that love in faith.
How seriously do we take the Baptizer’s cry? Are we open to making real, concrete changes in our lives in this holy season of Advent as we prepare to welcome the newborn King at Christmas?
Repentance requires that we name our sins, confess them, and then enter into the passion and death of Christ through acts of penance. Only when we enter into the sacrifice of Christ in our daily lives will we rise with him in glory and peace. Only then will be able to see clearly the meaning of Christmas and understand the true hope that Jesus offers to all people of good will.
