The second Sunday of Advent always brings John the Baptist on stage. Center stage. Those who have already brought out their manger scenes and started singing the songs of Christmas consider him out of place. In the minds of those who are trying to hurry up Christmas, it is time for Jesus to show up in the manger. No one has time for John the Baptist. He just seems like a displaced person in the world going festive and bright.
But, it is not just the Christmas revelers who have no place for John. In so many of the holy places where people gather in these days, he is the person who is never mentioned. As the days of December start gathering steam, the church hurries to get on with the story of shepherds and angels and the extraordinary birth in Bethlehem. While the contemporary church has surely come to a place of thinking that it knows best and centuries of tradition have no bearing on what is happening in the present, it is also true that such thinking leaves off an important part of what is involved in this holy season.
The real preparation and getting ready is not found in the stuff of secular culture. It is not found in the meaningless gift giving and the bright decorations. It is really found in the place where quietness and silence should prevail. What needs to be prepared is not outside, but inside. What needs to be prepared is the heart, the inner part of us that provides the dwelling place for the Holy One. The message of John the Baptist is one that announces that there is something fundamentally wrong about the way we live. It is a message that declares the necessity of radical movement away from where we are to where God is leading us. John's message is the message of repentance which is exactly what no one wants to hear today.
But, it is not just the Christmas revelers who have no place for John. In so many of the holy places where people gather in these days, he is the person who is never mentioned. As the days of December start gathering steam, the church hurries to get on with the story of shepherds and angels and the extraordinary birth in Bethlehem. While the contemporary church has surely come to a place of thinking that it knows best and centuries of tradition have no bearing on what is happening in the present, it is also true that such thinking leaves off an important part of what is involved in this holy season.
The real preparation and getting ready is not found in the stuff of secular culture. It is not found in the meaningless gift giving and the bright decorations. It is really found in the place where quietness and silence should prevail. What needs to be prepared is not outside, but inside. What needs to be prepared is the heart, the inner part of us that provides the dwelling place for the Holy One. The message of John the Baptist is one that announces that there is something fundamentally wrong about the way we live. It is a message that declares the necessity of radical movement away from where we are to where God is leading us. John's message is the message of repentance which is exactly what no one wants to hear today.
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