Voices in the Wilderness

Lectionary Reflections for the Second Sunday of Advent (A)

By Susan Russell

Readings for Advent 2, Year A, Dec. 5, 2004

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

When my boys were little, the arrival of the Advent wreath with its four candles – three purple and one pink – in the center of the dining room table was greeted with great excitement. I'd like to think it was because they had grasped the significance of the holiness of this Advent season as a time of spiritual preparation for the coming of our Lord. However, I'm sure it was because if the Advent wreath was there, the Christmas tree couldn't be far behind! Whatever the reason, it iss one of those traditions that “stuck” – and today, at ages 22 and 19, the boys still make sure the wreath is on the table . . . and woe to the one who lights the pink candle out of order!

I remember a neighbor stopping by our house one year during the pre-Christmas rush and checking out the wreath on the dining table. “So what's with the pink candle, anyway?” she asked. “It's not very ‘Christmassy.'” “That's because it's not a Christmas wreath,” said Brian – who was about 6 at the time – who went on to explain, “It's an ADVENT wreath!” (That was delivered in the condescending tone of voice we find charming only in small children, and through which he clear he couldn't imagine that she didn't know the difference!)

We seek a little “Advent voice” in the wilderness of the pre-Christmas frenzy. But those voices are few and far between, aren't they? Instead, by the Second Sunday of Advent, the voices we hear are commercials for yet another one-day sale at the department stores. . .

We seek a little “Advent voice” in the wilderness of the pre-Christmas frenzy. But those voices are few and far between, aren't they? Instead, by the Second Sunday of Advent, the voices we hear are commercials for yet another one-day sale at the department stores, reporters interviewing frantic shoppers-at-the-mall – and of course, the Christmas Carols that seem to be everywhere: on the radio, in the stores and offices, on the television and – of course – in the elevators. Eventually, even those of us working hard to observe the holy season of Advent find ourselves fast-forwarding a bit and starting to hum along to “Joy to the World” while we stand in line at Starbuck's waiting for our “Venti Christmas Blend.” After all, it's not as though we don't know what happens next: the baby in the manager, the shepherds and wise men gathered in wonder: the star, the angel, and the great news, “Peace on Earth, Good Will to All.” It's what we're preparing for. It's what we're waiting for.

A friend of mine once described how “waiting” during Advent is different than some of the other kinds of “waiting” we do – waiting for a bus, for example. Waiting for a bus is both boring and anxiety-producing. Will it be on time? Will I make my connection? Am I waiting at the right bus stop . . . what if I looked at the schedule wrong? Where IS that bus, anyway? That's waiting in anxiety.

Waiting in expectancy is more like being seated in the concert hall, waiting for the curtain to rise. We know something wonderful is about to happen: and everyone else is waiting with the same expectation. We may know what to expect – we've bought the tickets, looked over the program, checked out the performers – but the experience is yet to happen. And so we wait – we wait expectantly; we wait in the tension of both knowing and NOT knowing – open to the experience about to unfold: expectant rather than anxious.

[T]he righteousness Jesus offered – the love he proclaimed – was too radical, too inclusive, too dangerous to survive without creating chaos for the status quo – then or now. It is an amazing irony that the very Jesus who gave his life to show us how to love each other has had that message of reconciliation hijacked and transformed instead into a means of polarization.

I believe that is the kind of “Advent Attitude” God calls us to aim for: to live in both trust and tension as we prepare, once again, for the coming of the One whose birth turned the world upside down as certainly as the preparations for his birthday turn our schedules upside down every year at this time. For the righteousness Jesus offered – the love he proclaimed – was too radical, too inclusive, too dangerous to survive without creating chaos for the status quo – then or now. It is an amazing irony that the very Jesus who gave his life to show us how to love each other has had that message of reconciliation hijacked and transformed instead into a means of polarization.

He has been co-opted by those who understand the Reign of Christ to be not about the Lordship of Love but about obedience to orthodoxy. The king whose throne was a cross and whose dying words were “My God, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” has been replaced with a judge whose message is “My God will not forgive you unless you are doing it my way.”

It this Advent-tide may we be given grace to find our voices in this 21st century wilderness and reclaim the historic faith we have inherited: pro -claim the Good News of the Gospel of Grace whenever and wherever we can. Let us challenge those who preach the Jesus of Judgment by serving instead the King of Love: the One who is strong and mighty in battle, all right – but the battle in which he is engaged is a battle over fear and the weapons he employs are weapons of mass reconciliation: truth and justice; peace and love.

Prepare the way, O Zion. Your Christ is drawing near!

Let every hill and valley, a level way appear.

Greet one who comes in glory, foretold in sacred story.

Oh, blest is Christ that came, in God's most holy name.

The Rev. Susan Russell is executive director of the Claiming the Blessing coalition, and president of Integrity . She also serves as the online community manager of EveryVoice.net , and may be reached by email at revsusanrussell@earthlink.net .