Advent 2 A - December 4, 2022

Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY

Br. Luc Thuku, OHC

Advent 2 A - December 4, 2022

Isaiah 11:1-10

Romans 15:4-13

Matthew 3:1-12

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We gather again with joy this morning to celebrate the second Sunday of Advent. Advent as we know is a season in the church calendar dedicated to the hopeful anticipation of the arrival or ‘coming’ of Jesus. This advent can be a commemoration of his coming as a baby, 2000 plus years ago, which culminates with Christmas; or the second coming in glory that we hope and wait for, our salvation. During this period, as a young Christian, we were encouraged to engage in meditation, prayer, and scripture study that emphasizes hope, peace, love and joy.

From the first story in the Bible to the last, we see narratives, poetry, prophecy, biographies and personal letters that inform our understanding of the Advent of Jesus in unique ways.

One such passage is what we heard from in the first reading today. The prophet Isaiah speaks of a Messianic King who will manifest the characteristics of the great people of Israel up to David. It claims that life will spring forth from the injured stump of Jesee and a branch shall grow out of his roots. This reference is very important to Israel’s history because of the many exiles they had experienced, although the text specifically speaks of or imagines a new beginning for the monarchy of Judah. 

In this hopeful future, the Spirit of God will descend upon the ruler resulting in Justice for the poor and lowly of the land as we hear in verse 4 of the text. The text also speaks of the re-ordering of creation’s priorities in verses 6-9, where life emerges from death and a return to the original harmony of Paradise.

The concrete expression of this new future is a person, a ruler on whom the Spirit will rest; a human being who embodies what is best in the traditions of Israel. This ruler will be wise and understanding, powerful and effective in war, able to judge for the benefit of the poor, and obedient to God. So glorious is the reign of this king that he is literally clothed in righteousness and faithfullness.

As Christians, it is not hard to see ourselves as the nation ruled by this monarch, Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish descendant of Jesee through David. A close comparison though, between the expectations of the king described in our passage and the ministry of Jesus reveals some strong differences. Jesus had a strong ministry and continues to minister graciously in the present through Word, Sacrament and through works of mercy carried on by his faithful disciples. However, evil still flourishes in the world, the poor and meek remain afflicted, predators continue to kill their prey and violence is still done on God’s Holy mountain. The earth is still very far from being full of the knowledge of the Lord. Christ’s victory therefore falls short in human terms; it remains a hidden victory or an unacomplished victory which is disappointing at times.

Bruce Springsteen in his song “Reason To Believe”  expresses this disappointment in song….

Seen a man standing over a dead dog

By a highway in a ditch

He’s looking kinda puzzled

Poking that dog with a stick

Got his car door flung open

He’s standing out on highway 31

Like if he stood there long enough

That dog’d get up and run

Struck me kinda funny

Seemed kinda  funny, sir, to me

Still at the end of every hard day

People find some reason to believe

Now, Mary Lou loved Johnny

With a love mean and true

She said, “Baby, I’ll work for you every day”

And bring my money home to you

One day, he up and left her

And ever since that

She waits at the end of the dirt road

For young Johnny to come back

Struck me kinda funny

Funny, yeah, indeed

How at the end of every hard-earned day

People find some reason to believe

Take a baby to the river

“Kyle William” they called him

Wash the baby in the water

Take away little Kyle’s sin

In a whitewashed shotgun shack

An old man passes away

Take the body to the graveyard

Over him they pray

Lord won’t you tell us

Tell us-what does it mean?

At the end of every hard-earned day

People find some reason to believe.

Congregation gathers

Down by the riverside

Preacher stands with a Bible

Groom stands waiting for his bride

Congregation gone and the sun sets

Behind a willow weeping tree

Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on

So effortlessly

Wondering 

Where can his baby be

Still, at the end of every hard-earned day

People find some reason to believe 

Can we therefore conclude that Jesus was a failed Messiah? I would say No…but we need to agree that his ministry is still fundamentally incomplete. It is fundamently incomplete mainly because we misunderstood the message and failed to see our role in it. We took it literally that when he comes things will change and decided that we are passive observers rather than active participants. The mess in the world is mostly of our own making either by omission or by commission, through blatant disobedience, ignorance or misinterpretation of scripture.

This passage from today therefore reminds us Christians that we should still long for the Messianic completion of creation, the so called second coming or parousia. We therefore should not judge the Jews who have historically struggled to see Jesus and his ministry as Messianic because we too are looking forward to it’s completion. Our waiting for the second coming, however, should be an active waiting. Since it will be a kingdom of Justice, we must right now work for justice…it will be a Kingdom of equality, so we must now work for the equality of all…A kingdom of harmony, then we should right now strive to live in harmony with one another…a Kingdom of friendship, then right now we must try to become each other’s true friend in the Lord…a Kingdom of brothers and sisters, then we must right now start coming closer and closer to our neighbors. This in other words means that we must reform our lives for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

We are invited by this text to celebrate the ministry of Jesus in the past, and especially in the present, but also keep in mind the important place of intercession and work so that creation may arrive at its promised destiny as a place where peace, Justice and grace have the final word. 

Advent is about hopes and longings. We all yearn to be with people dear to us and especially with Jesus, whose second coming we so look forward to. This is because the world we live in is fractured and needs healing and peace, a healing and peace that only he can give. 

The delay of something much longed for can result in angst and pain but when the desire is fulfilled, it is like we have accessed the tree of life, an oasis in the desert, something that allows us to feel refreshed and renewed.

During the waiting and longing times, praying and pondering the wisdom of the Bible has at times helped me greatly as a person. Paul reminds us in the second reading that we heard from Romans 15:4-13 that whatever was written in the scriptures is for our instruction so that by their steadfasteness and encouragement we may find hope. That is why I recommend the wisdom of our religious educators that I mentioned at the  beginning, that we read scripture texts that emphasize hope, peace, love and joy.

Some of our hope and desires might not be fulfilled right away. Some, in fact, might only be met through God when we die. Whatever our longing, we can trust in Him knowing He loves us unceasingly, and that one day we will be reunited with Him, behold Him as He truly is, and praise Him with Thanksgiving. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”[Romans 15:13]

Let us pray:

God our creator, you fulfil our deepest longings. We give you our hopes and our desires, asking you to grant them according to your wisdom and love

Though Jesus who comes.

Amen.