Second Sunday in Advent (Dec 8, 2024)
Notes
Transcript
Malachi 3:1–7 (NIV84)
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5 “So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. 6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’ ”
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The closer we get to Christmas, the greater the pressure. There is so much work to be done! We want our houses to look good for out-of-town guests. We want to impress people with the thoughtfulness of our gifts. What a welcome relief, therefore, to hear what is required to really be ready for Christmas: only repentance. You see, repentance is the opposite of work. It is the candid and honest admission of our sin combined with the joyful trust that everything needed to bring us close to God has already been done by Christ.
At this frenetic time of year, the call to repent is not another demand to do something more. It is gracious invitation to set down our work to make way for Christ’s work. Rooted in that repentant rest, we can fully enjoy a real Christmas.
The person and activities of John the Baptist are part and parcel of the “gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). He is the Advent figure par excellence, serving as an example of the Church’s responsibility at the start of a new church year; namely, to concentrate on preparing the hearts and minds of its members for the coming of their Lord. We shall, therefore, celebrate this season of Advent with our ears attuned to Luke’s account of the public appearance of John as marking a signal moment in God’s dealings with us who are His people. For you see,
A Real Christmas is Rooted in Repentance
THE SETTING
A Real Christmas is Rooted in Repentance
THE SETTING
Political institutions are decaying.
In 9 B.C. the political leaders of Asia Minor had issued a decree expressing their conviction that the great Caesar Augustus (cf. Luke 2:1) had inaugurated a new era of hope for all humanity. But Augustus was followed by Tiberius (Luke 3:1), who ascend the throne. Some have even suggested that he turned into a madman, but there is not a lot of evidence to support the claim. All five political personages named by Luke 3 not only pinpoint the moment of John’s prophetic activity but also remind us of the disintegration of Roman power.
This new Church year has also begun amid the debris of many familiar political structures, on some of which we had come to depend for a measure of stability and integrity. We don’t need to look very far to see that the world we had become accustomed to is coming apart at the seams.
Religious corruption is rampant.
Luke speaks of one high-priestly office but lists two names: Annas and Caiaphas. This is the evangelist’s way of indicating to what depths that office had fallen. (By political intrigue Annas was able to get five of his sons and Caiaphas, his son-in-law, into an office established by God to be occupied by the successors of Aaron for the lifetime of each one.)
Today we live in a day of brash blasphemy. Many folks have fallen prey to the occult, to various cults, to the worship of Satan, and to Eastern religions of all kinds. Some even play around with
games and other things related to the occult, and they may as well be playing around with a loaded gun. Doctrinal disarray prevails almost every-where in mainline Christian churches.
Yet it is into such conditions of decay and darkness that God sends His prophetic Word. The Lord of the Church asks us to take on the world as it is to prepare people for the coming of Jesus Christ. We are asked to serve as a light to the world.
In the days of John there was a yearning for liberation the people. Luke 3:15
Many sheep today, in the words of the poet John Milton, “look up but are not fed.” They need to hear the prophetic Word.
IT’S SIGNIFICANCE
IT’S SIGNIFICANCE
It is a summary of what is taking place.
As the old Israel was turned into God’s special people by water (Red Sea), in the desert, and by the Voice from Mount Sinai, so John was called into the desert as a prophetic voice to baptize with water.
Advent serves to remind us that the church (as the new Israel) lives, as it were, in a desert, sustained by water and the voice of prophet and apostle (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-6).
It’s significant because it is a call to repentance.
John called on Jews to repent even though by descent they were children of Abraham.
“Repentance” was a familiar term in that day, but Judaism put it like this: “Repent; then the kingdom of God will come.”
John turned the formula around. Said he: “Repent; for the kingdom of God is upon you or at hand” (cf. Matt. 3:2).
We who are God's children are to repent because God, in Baptism, has applied to us the forgiveness of sins.
It is also significant as it is a call to administer the Sacrament of Baptism.
John baptized for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3).
Christian Baptism has even greater significance; it takes us back into the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord (Rom. 6:3-5). Because in it we are united into Jesus’ death and resurrection and become members of Christ’s body, which is the church (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13).
ITS SEQUEL
ITS SEQUEL
“Fruits” worthy of repentance are called for (Luke 3:8).
John spoke in harsh words of judgment over the Israel of his day (cf. especially Matt. 3:5-12) and uttered words promising salvation (Luke 3:6).
In the same way Advent invites us to examine our-selves in light of God's Law so that we may fully understand the measure of His grace.
By the Spirit's power, changes take place in people's lives.
John's proclamation changed the life-style of many persons so radically that his work could be likened to leveling the mountains (of pride) and filling in the valleys (of humility). The words of Is. 40:3-5 were fulfilled in John as the voice in the desert.
The church's Advent message aims to move us to bring forth more bountifully than ever what Paul calls “the fruit of the Spirit' (Gal. 5:22).
What today's Gospel tells us of God's signal moment in history, the season of Advent addresses to us in terms of our personal life with God. Before our baptisms we belonged to the realm of darkness. Now we belong to the kingdom of light. Amid the growing darkness of the moment in which we live, let us, like John, testify to the true Light that came into this world to “enlighten every man” (John 1:9).