Actively Anticipating Peace (Advent 2)

Isaiah 11:1-10 & Matthew 3:1-12

Roger Lynn

December 8, 2019

2nd Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

The musical “Godspell” is a modern re-telling of the story of Jesus Christ. In the opening scene, John the Baptist comes walking across the Brooklyn Bridge pushing a cart filled with his belongings. He is dressed in marked contrast to all those who are caught up in the hustle and hurry of the city. And he calls folks to slow down and discover another way of life. The sound of a ram’s horn can be heard echoing through the steel and concrete canyon walls which form the streets and alleys of that place. And then he begins to sing. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord...” And the people respond. Not a lot of people. And the one’s who do are not entirely sure what they are responding to. But they come. They stop what they are doing and they come.

That same call is still echoing down the canyons of our lives. We are still invited to prepare the way of the Lord – both in our lives and in the world. God is always and forever present in our world in amazing and remarkable ways, but we cannot simply sit back and wait for that presence to come to us. The season of Advent reminds us that faith is about waiting and watching for God’s activity in our world. It is about anticipating the coming of Christ into our lives in ever new and ever fresh ways. But as we were reminded last week, we must stay awake or we will miss it. Our anticipation must be active or we will not be prepared to receive the gift which God is offering.

And the gift which God is offering really is exciting news. Isaiah announces the coming of a peace so radically different from any which has been know before that we cannot even begin to imagine it. It will be so all-encompassing that our very understanding of the ways in which the world works will have to change. It will be a peace which is shaped by justice and equity for all people. It will be more than merely the absence of fighting. It will be the presence of the peace of God which reshapes the very fabric of reality. And then John the Baptist comes along, announcing that this new age of God is, in fact, now dawning. He cries, “...the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2) and “...one who is more powerful than I is coming after me...He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) As people of faith we have much to be excited about, but we have to do more than merely talk about it. We have to do more than sit and wait for it. We have to prepare for it. John makes it very clear that it isn’t about going through the motions. When the religious leaders come to him to be baptized, he calls them blood sucking snakes, because what they were trying to do outwardly did not match what was going on in their hearts. And he makes it just as clear that it isn’t about belonging to the right group. Their Jewish heritage alone just won’t get them anywhere. What it is about is living a life which bears fruit. That means being open to the presence and the movement of God. It means being prepared to notice what God is doing in our midst and being willing to participate in that work.

The mistake which the Pharisees and Sadducees made was in being more concerned about outward appearances than about genuine openness to God’s leading. They were so convinced they had everything under control that they forgot to watch for what God might be trying to do in them and through them. We fall into that same trap when we become comfortable with what is and refuse to follow God’s leading towards what might be. We are open to the same criticism which John levels at the religious leaders of his day when we become so concerned about maintaining the status quo that we forget to notice those in our world who are most in need of our attention and our care. On the other hand, we answer John’s call to prepare the way of the Lord when we strive to maintain an active anticipation for what God is doing in the world. That means fighting against complacency. It means responding to new challenges which present themselves. It means being willing to at least entertain the notion that God might be at work in new ways right before our eyes, if we will just pay attention. 

“Godspell” begins with the call to prepare the way of the Lord. It ends with the prayer song “Day by Day.” “Day by day, day by day, O dear Lord, three things I pray: to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day.” Finally, if we were to do those three things, we would be responding to John’s call to prepare the way of the Lord. As we actively anticipate God’s presence and action and God’s peace in our lives and in our world, may we strive to see God more clearly, love God more dearly, and follow God more nearly in each new day. Then, perhaps, we will be prepared to discover God’s presence and God’s peace in every moment of our lives.