Lectionary Reflections
Second Sunday in Advent
Mark 1:1-8; Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-20; John 1:19-28

Can anybody help John the Baptist find another job this Advent? Because we know what will happen to him if he doesn't stop his in-your-face preaching and start acting like the rest of us. His parents, instead of naming him after his father Zechariah, did what God said and named him John, which means "God is gracious" (Luke 1:13). But he's hardly acting that way, out in the wilderness like Amos, demanding that people turn toward God in preparation for meeting the Judge who is to come.

If he keeps this up, we fear for his life. If we could just keep him occupied for the next several weeks. Maybe we could find him another job. Maybe he could be our personal shopper. We could sit him down at our kitchen table and let him flip through the ad supplements. First he could make his own Christmas list, listing gifts for Cousin Jesus, parents Elizabeth and Zechariah, Aunt Mary and Uncle Joseph. Then he could make your list and shop for you. Maybe we could take him along with us to some brunches and open houses. Maybe lend him a stack of magazines and get him interested in some articles on the latest makeup, clothing, and holiday parties, and what to eat/not eat to keep his slender figure. Maybe we could pull some strings in the Borough office and get him the job of the fire engine Santa. Take him to the costume shop and help him rent a red suit and a white beard and then he can ride into town on a fire engine throwing candy canes to us. Or maybe we could get him a job as a Mall Santa. He could sit on the Santa throne in the middle of the mall listening to our children and grandchildren tell him what they want for Christmas. Can anybody help John the Baptist find another job this Advent?

Even if we could, he would never cooperate. You'd think his motto was, "So many potential enemies, so little time!" He is going to offend almost everybody in his world before long. He will offend the religious leaders—the priestly Sadducees who make their living from the money people pay to make their sacrifices for sins in the Temple. His baptism for repentance is a competitor with the Temple rites—his rite is free. He is going to insult Sadducees and Pharisees by telling them, the religious professionals, that they are not favored by God just because of their profession or their descent.

He's also going to infuriate Herod the Roman. Because Herod has recently put aside his first wife to marry the wife of his half-brother, and John the Baptist will condemn him for this. "But wait, there's more," as the infomercials say. John the Baptist is attracting big crowds, pouring out into the desert—and there are predictions galore that when big crowds pour into the desert, that means the judge from God was coming to overthrow the powers that be.

So our young and fearless prophet, if he doesn't make a radical turnaround from his present course, if he doesn't stop offending everyone under the hot desert sun, is going to be led in chains to the prison at Machaerus and beheaded.