Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6 In this season of Advent, we meet John the Baptist. John is preaching in the wilderness, calling people to purify themselves as a preparation for being involved in the new kind of society he believed was coming. To get his message across, John echoed the prophet Isaiah, who had spoken to Israel centuries before, when a wholly new future awaited their return from exile – to Jerusalem.
John believed that a great change was coming again to Israel. God was bringing about that change. So John called men and women to offer themselves to God’s service in bringing about this new age.
Does any of this sound familiar to us today? It should, because there are many signs that we are a generation who is asked by God to move through much change and danger and discovery – to a new kind of society and a new chapter in history. If that is true, what is there that we can learn from this passage in Luke? The great lesson we Christians can learn from the genius of Judaism, and it is important that we do, is that throughout their history, no matter what was happening: whether is was good or bad, joyous or terrible, successful or failing, the Jewish people always saw God at the heart of events.
We can attempt to apply this vision to our time, and to our lives. We are faced with immense change, in society and in the church. In that change is not only immense threat and danger, but also tremendous possibility. The question haunting us all is “How are we human beings going to respond to this time?” fearful as it sometimes is. As followers of Christ, we have every motivation to respond with confidence and a sense of “call,” of vocation. If God is at the heart of all that is happening, then we are called to nothing less than the formation of a new future with God. What an incredible calling for us, both individually, and communally, in this parish family!
Peace,
Fr. Bob+
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