Prophets disturb us. They are often described as agitators and rabble rouses. In past years environmentalist were often given this tag, although in recent years with the threat of climate change, whether human made or not, they have become in some places the heroes of our time. Increasingly we find that prophets have become more mainstream as we say, with farmers, scientists, even corporation challenging governments on matters such as climate change and a range of other ethical and social issues.
Mary is a prophet. We see and hear her in today’s Song of Mary sung in place of the Psalm.
“The Magnificat, or Mary’s Protest Song is the longest recorded words of a woman spoken in the New Testament and is Mary’s announcement about the subservice nature of Jesus Kingdom and ministry to come. It is inspired by God and comes out of the mouth of a pregnant unwed teenage mother to be, uncertain about her own future on the edge of the powerful Roman Empire.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer the German Theologian killed 10 days before the end of the Nazi regime, spoke these words in a sermon on the 17th December 1933.
“The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn. It is at once the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary whom we sometimes see in paintings…This song has none of the sweet, nostalgic, or even playful tones of some of our Christmas carols”.
Prophets challenge our priorities and prejudice when they question the status quo, or those in authority, or raise issues that we would rather not think about or confront. Last weeks Gospel from Mark portrays John the Baptist in such a light. He is present as an advocate, stranger, outsider and dresses in unconventional clothing. Both Luke and Mark source their presentation of John from the prophet Isaiah. John as I said is not presented as an angelic voice from heaven, announcing the coming of the Lord, but rather as a hermit, Wildman, an asectic, dressed in camel’s hair with a loincloth around his waist proclaiming, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Perhaps those old enough to remember, see him as a swinging hippy of the 60s.
Some commentators suggest that John was a member of one of the many radical groups of his time, expressing frustration, anger and rebellion against the ruling elites of their time. Both Luke and Mark’s narrative has John engaging with the religious establishments who have their ideas about the coming messiah, as a mighty warrior out to conquer the Roman authorities. John rejects their understanding that he is that person.
In today’s Gospel, the story continues from last week although from John’s Gospel. John the Baptist speaks to the impatient crowd who are looking for a messiah. John declares himself to be the voice that Isaiah speaks about, a voice crying in the wilderness. John refuses to accept anything that the leaders of Israel wish to make of him. He is not Elijah, nor the prophet of the day but only a voice crying. The power brokers of the day, both the religious and political leaders are bewildered and afraid of the increasing agitation growing around them, and with John’s encouragement of the crowd, raising their hopes and expectations as one coming out of the wilderness, proclaiming the coming of the Lord, seems odd and confusing. Who is this man one can hear they ask each other? Who is he referring to? John is saying that the enemies that have made Israel’s life a misery is coming to an end. The lame and the outcast will find themselves healed in the coming of Jesus. The current political and religious elites will find their time at an end. Here it is clear that God’s Kingdom challenges the Kingdom of the world.
Herod ruler at the time was a sham, an adulterer in John’s eye one who failed to inspire and lead the people in righteousness before God.
We are moving fast through the season of Advent. Christmas, or at least the commercial Christmas is rushing in upon us with frenzy. For the profiteers and the commercial gurus of the day Christmas is already here, and be quick because it will be over and then the Boxing Day test, the beach holiday, and the sales.
For Christians as I wrote in the pew bulletin starts on the 25th December and conclude with the feast of the Epiphany the arrival of the three wise men. In Europe the season of Christmas survives while here at home the weather and holiday season have reduced it too often to just one day.
Advent in the church’s liturgical calendar is a time for reflection and preparation for the celebration for the birth of Christ. In the early life of the Church it was also much more closely aligned with the second coming of Christ. As I have said on more than one occasion Advent is more than shopping or even family gatherings, although both certainly have their place in our celebrations. Christian Faith is much more than this. Faith is the grounding of our humanity, care for the other and an intimate relationship and knowledge of God. Faith is more than a deity we shape in our own image, which is precisely what the religious leaders were hoping for at the time of John the Baptist.
Today’s Gospel reminds us that the one to come will come not in our image but of God. He is the one as Luke reminds us who will bring good news to the poor, the broken and the down trodden. He will set the captive free and give sight to the blind. His message continues to challenge the power brokers and the subverters of the Common Good.
The life story of Jesus is one who stands with the different, the difficult and the dissident. At first when he stands in the synagogue and reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah people are astounded. Some surprised, others even skeptical and cynical that such words could come from the son of an unmarried mother and from Nazareth. All goes well till he reminds the gathered assembly of those in their own midst, the widows and the lepers who need help, and declares himself as the fulfillment of the promise of Isaiah. They are threatened and challenged by his words. It is not what they wanted to hear.
As I reflected on today’s readings, as we move closer to Christmas, I recalled words of the playwright David Williamson when commenting on the state of the global community of which we are part. He says,
“do unto others as you would have them do unto you, was without doubt the most threatening moral maxim, the powerful, the messianic, the corrupt and the indifferent had ever been confronted with.”
The Powerful always work on the rule: Do unto others what your military might allows you to do.”
“The fanatics and haters of the world; Do unto others the things that would cause most grief and devastation, irrespective of the devastation done to oneself.”
The corrupt; “Do unto others everything you can possibly get away with.
The self satisfied and indifferent: Do unto others absolutely nothing’.
To live as one called to live in the footsteps of Jesus will mean we will struggle as he did to bring in the new order for our times. We will be misunderstood and chastised, ridiculed and abused for entering the world from our safe temples into the wilderness of life as did Jesus and John.
The hope of Advent is not only about the future but also equally about the present. It is the realization, as did the gathered congregation in the synagogue that Luke recalls, that the future is the present, and as we wait, we are called to show the unconditional love and hospitality of God with others.
Today we need a church renewed in prayer and engagement with the needs of the world. We need a clergy working with and alongside the Laos of all. Hope is central to the meaning of Advent. It is a time to celebrate the God given potential of each of us and to be the light that shines in the darkness.
In the midst of all the craziness of our times I still take great comfort in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. The future is ultimately in God’s hands and God’s alone. This is not a time for despair but hope. May this be yours also?
May we continue to embrace the challenge confident that God is with us and not despair or give up?
Amen