Second Sunday of Advent
A few years back, I read an article in the New York Times titled “Want to Get into the Christmas Spirit? Face the Darkness.” It was written an Anglican priest, Tish Harrison. I would like to begin my homily with a quote from her article. Contrasting the mood outside versus the Church’s more subdued Advent sentiments, she says, “I think Advent offers wisdom to the wider world. It reminds us that joy is trivialized if we do not first intentionally acknowledge the pain and wreckage of the world.” She continues, “… inside many church buildings, this time of year looks different. There, we find a countercultural sparseness. The altar is covered in purple, the color of both royalty and repentance. There’s a slowing down, a silent stillness. The music turns to minor keys and becomes contemplative, even mournful. The Scripture readings are apocalyptic and trippy, strikingly short on sweet tales of babies, little lambs and Christmas stars. In this small space, Christmas season has not yet begun. The church waits in Advent.”
I, for one, am very sensitive to the dissonance of the pre-Christmas days. These days we are busy putting up Christmas trees, spending time shopping in glittery shopping malls, feeling excited about the gifts we have purchased, and the deals we got on them. We attend work Christmas parties, family Christmas gathering, and then, we come to Church and hear the gospel reading about John the Baptist crying out in the desert, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" Here precisely is the dissonance. Outside the liturgy, this season is associated with frivolity, with playfulness, with glitter, and with glamor. The last thing the mood outside prepares us for, is for repentance. Yet, this is exactly where Tish Harrison makes sense. "Joy is trivialized," she says, "if we do not first intentionally face the pain, the wreckage, and the darkness."
In my three points today, I would us to hear John the Baptist's call to repentance even as we also encounter the more festive mood outside.
“Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”
As difficult as it is for us to get to it, the fact is that the Christ-event demanded conversion. Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries with the same words, “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). In fact, repentance and conversion were conditions to embrace the Kingdom. This demand for conversion is not for its own sake. The demand for conversion comes from the realization that there is a great dissonance between God’s vision for humanity and humanity’s vision for humanity. If indeed we acknowledge that Jesus came us to lead us to the Kingdom of God, then we must leave our kingdoms behind.
John’s call to “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” in today’s gospel (Mt 3:1), is to face the pain, the wreckage, and the darkness within us and in the world. And “face the darkness” we must. What shall we do with this darkness of hate that is sweeping our nation and the world? What shall we do about the darkness of antisemitism, racism, and division that is rampant? What shall we do about the culture of death, the social inequalities, the crippling poverty, and the villainization of immigrants and refugees? What does Christmas joy mean if we do not overcome the pain, the wreckage, and the darkness? “Joy is trivialized if we do not first intentionally acknowledge the pain and wreckage of the world.” This Advent are we prepared to “face the darkness” so we might know the joy of the One who is the light?
“Produce Good Fruit as Evidence of Your Repentance”
Facing the darkness is a two-fold reality. Repentance is only the first part of the invitation to face the darkness. We face the pain to embrace the joy. We face the wreckage to embrace the healing. We face the darkness to embrace the light! We renounce sin to accept grace. As John the Baptist would say, “Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance" (Mt 3:8). That is the second half of the invitation to repentance and conversion. True repentance is not only the invitation to turn away from our wreckage and darkness but also producing the fruit of the kingdom of God.
Because God has been good to us – we must be good to others; because God has shown mercy, we must show mercy to others; because God has loved us unconditionally, we must show great love; because God is kind, we must kind to others; because God gives us another chance, we must give people a chance. This is how we know that “the kingdom of God is at hand” – that we produce good fruit as evidence of our repentance; that, through us, the kingdom of God is evident in the world.
“Even Now, the Axe Lies at the Root of the Trees”
I am not sure how you might hear John’s words, “Even now, the axe lies at the root of the trees” (Mt 3:10). Surely, we can take it for what it sounds like – a caution, a warning, a threat! However, it can also be heard as an opportunity. Each day is another opportunity for conversion. Each day is an opportunity to the face the pain, the wreckage, and the darkness. Each day offers us another chance to change. Each day offers us another possibility to produce good fruit as evidence of our repentance.
In the church there is name for the opportunity, the possibility, the chance, and the choice that lies before us. It’s called “Advent.” This Advent, either we can hear the call of the gospel, or we can squander the opportunity! For indeed, “axe lies at the root of the trees.”
So, we come before this altar and face Him whom we await. Let us not be afraid to “face the darkness,” because He turns our darkness into light, our repentance into joy!
- Satish Joseph