Walking with Jesus: Second Sunday of Advent

Isaiah  40:1-5, 9-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

Get on the internet and read your newspaper's World, Nation and Local sections ... and see our world beset with problems. The coronavirus has brought about isolation from loved ones and curtailed our experiencing happy times with family and friends. This pandemic has radically altered our lifestyles and we go from caution to fear in our relationships. We are vulnerable to an unseen and scary adversary, and we don’t like it. We have felt alienation in our homes, neighborhoods, social gatherings and faith communities. Our recent elections have exposed serious differences among us. So many are without jobs or even hope of finding work. We seem to be prisoners living in our land of freedom and plenty. Every facet of our society is experiencing hardship and exile.

Are we hopeful? Where are we searching to find peace? The people in our Scripture selections are experiencing troubled times too.

Isaiah announces to the people the need to bring comfort to each other. Their long years of exile in Babylon is coming to a close. They will be returning to their homeland. They imagine: What will it be like? Will our homes still be there? Is the land still fertile for the crops? Will we be safe from marauding invaders? Will we be able to worship God in the Temple and our local synagogues? God tells Isaiah that he has to address the people tenderly. They have endured much … they need tender … loving … care. Isaiah is told to tell them that the Lord is leading them back to their homeland; their road is made easy for them. Can they see the Lord is caring for them, that there is nothing to fear? It’s a cry for us to reflect on: God is present to us … always has been. Am I able to put my trust in God? Today’s opening prayer sets the scene: “Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet Your Son. …” So what things in my life are hindering me from receiving Christ with joy? Can I remove these things, or should I wait to let God have them removed? What could possibly motivate me to such self-discipline? The answer has to be love. This is not something that is an emotion, but rather something that is decisional. So what is love in this case? In The Road Less Traveled, Psychologist M. Scott Peck defines love as “the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” God is willing to do the nurturing.  Isaiah tells us today, “Here comes with power the Lord God.” [Isaiah 40:10]

St. Peter tells us, “The Lord does not delay His promise … but He is patient with you.” [2 Peter 3:9] Peter is asking his readers if they are ready for the Lord. Am I ready for the Lord? Am I allowing God’s plan to progress as God wants, or do I want it to happen at a convenient time for me? God is continually gracing me to live in the moment I am in right now. Am I taking advantage of God’s gracious mercy and patience? Am I grateful? Am I living a life of a person gifted and loved by God? What is hindering me? Peter comforts us as “… we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwell.” [2 Peter 3:13] With the coming of the Messiah, God's plan is to lead us all to Him.

So we are called to welcome God more deeply in our life, in our times. Mark does it in a unique way. We would expect his gospel to start with Jesus’ birth, but none of the traditional elements of the Christmas story come from Mark. There are no angels, shepherds or kings. There is no mention of a star in the sky, Mary, Joseph, or even the baby Jesus. If Mark knew these events he obviously didn’t consider them as part of the real issue … which was the breakthrough of the Messiah to the world: “The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” [Mark 1:1]  His work is a Gospel about Jesus, who is both the Christ and the Son of God. The word Gospel means Good News. Christ means the Anointed one, a title the Jews used for the messiah. Saying that Jesus is both the Christ and the Son of God indicates that his gospel is not an unbiased account of the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. Mark is a person of faith who is declaring his faith to us. He sets the scene by quoting Isaiah’s prophesy about the Messiah.  Then Mark tells of John the Baptist proclaiming a baptism of repentance. For many Jews, baptism was a sign of sorrow for one’s sins and an indication the person would try harder not to offend God. This was not a requirement for being a member of the Jewish faith. His Gospel is not one of “it’s Christmas time! Let us do presents … let me be a giving person … a caring person … let's see the baby and enjoy the beginnings of our religion.” NO, this is not the beginnings of God’s plan at all. It began with creation and Moses showing that all is from God. It continued with God selecting a people to be His own: “And you will be My people, and I will be your God.” [Jeremiah 30:22] This was their belief; their faith. Am I on the same wavelength? Do I believe that this is God’s plan and that I am included, totally?

So I reflect on:

• Isaiah, Peter and Mark are asking me to make a decision for God: God has called me to be His disciple of love, caring, forgiveness. How am I doing?
• I’m called to be a witness in this world of COVID-19, exacerbated by political and global unrest. Am I waiting? Do I feel it's too much for me? Do I know how to be a witness?
• Why me? Because I am a big part of God’s plan … that’s why He has gifted and loved me. Advent is the time to say and live Levi’s direction to Samuel: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” [1 Samuel 3:10]
  

Sacred Space 2021 states:

“Mark paints a picture of a man, Jesus, who spends His public life doing good but is then betrayed, abandoned, captured, and crucified. How can this be the Good News of Jesus Christ? I ask to be shown how Jesus’ love transforms the pain and brings about the salvation of our world.

“I mingle with the crowds listening to John the baptizer. I know that he too suffered a violent death. Where is the good news in that? The good news is that he plays his part in the plan of salvation and bears steady witness to the light. In the wilderness of my life, I ask that I may always witness to light and truth and love.”