The Adventurous Lectionary – The Third Sunday of Advent – December 14, 2014
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126
I Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28
Good news is coming! The world is being transformed. God’s way is emerging in a troubled world. God’s Spirit is upon all people and the vulnerable, outcast, and lost will experience healing and hospitality. Such are the words of the prophet Isaiah and our Advent hope. Slightly different from Jesus’ own inaugural speech in Luke 4, Isaiah’s original version suggests that God may have to exercise force to achieve God’s realm of Shalom, “God’s day of vengeance.” This begs the question: Can the securing of justice come solely through pacifistic action that avoids the messiness of power politics? Does God’s justice mean letting people get off scot-free? Or, must certain sacrifices be enforced, against the will of others, to achieve God’s goals?
Transformation may mean the death of one order and the birth of a new age. Death of the familiar, including familiar practices of injustice built into the social order, may be painful. The birth pangs accompanying the birth of a new age may also be painful. Recently, many persons were upset by the injustice they perceived in the Grand Jury decision regarding Michael Brown. I sympathize with their viewpoint. They anticipated a type of justice which in practical terms would inflict pain on Darren Wilson, the police officer whose actions led to his death. Justice may require punitive action, the limiting of freedoms, to achieve a greater good in the social order. At the very least, Isaiah’s words remind us that justice-seeking can be messy and involve pain for some to uplift others. Perhaps, Reinhold Niebuhr’s insight that implicit violence is always present in the quest for social transformation is helpful in our own quests for social change. Can we love those we perceive to be the perpetrators of injustice while, at the same time, letting justice take its course?
The words of Psalm 126 celebrate the restoration of the nation. The dream of a new era in the national life is becoming a reality. May it be so for us, too.
The words of I Thessalonians provide good counsel for those awaiting Christ’s return. They also provide good counsel for those who assume that the historical process will continue for years to come. Rejoice, give thanks, and pray always. These attitudes transform our lives, opening us to the joyous present. There is no need for a divine rescue operation if we are already living heavenly lives right here. These practices of grace make each moment holy and wholly present to God. The omnipresent God is experienced as our companion in the here and now and this is heavenly. The counsels of I Thessalonians awaken us to the wonder of each present moment as divine revelation incarnate in our midst.
John the Baptist testifies to the light. He is, to quote the Buddhist saying, the finger pointing to the moon, not the moon itself. He is the one who prepares the way for the fullness of revelation in Jesus of Nazareth. Like John, our vocation is to be witnesses to the light. But, our witness is not directed to an alien reality. The context of today’s reading, John 1:1-5, 9, speaks of God’s creative wisdom bringing forth all things and God’s light enlightening all humanity. Our witness is to that deeper reality that is both beyond us and within us. Like John, we are on the road, but the road itself is holy and revelatory of divine wisdom. Making the path straight enables us to reach our destination, but each step shares in the goal. Right now, on the path, but not yet to the goal, we are guided and permeated by divine creative wisdom.
Our lives are intended to be spirit-centered, and animated by God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit moves freely and is unrestrained by humanity’s religious systems. Still, as I Thessalonians asserts, we can sail with the winds of the Spirit through by practices of prayer, gratitude, and joy.
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