Proper preparation for the incarnation does not include
counting down the remaining shopping days 'til Christmas. The
commercialized materialism that has come to mark the secular
celebration of Advent is in many ways the direct opposite of
the spirit called for as we seek to make ready for God's
insertion into human history.
While Advent is the season of anticipation, it is also one
of the times in the church year most focused on the here and
now. Advent calls us as the people of God not only to reflect
on the Lord's coming as a babe in a manger and his promised
return at the end of time, but more important to open our
hearts and our lives to be changed by the Incarnate Word. The
one who is to come is close at hand. Be ready.
November 2
Sisterhood!
Psalm 146; Ruth 1:1-8; Hebrews 9:11-14; Mark 12:28-34
Ruth is a book meant to be read in its
entirety—Goethe called it the most beautiful
"little whole"in the Old Testament. The whole
story, told over four chapters, ought to be related as a
piece rather than split into two parts as our lectionary
stipulates.
It's remarkable that a narrative that radically overturns
so many cultural mores became part of the canon. The people
of Israel made a clear distinction between those who were
God's people and those who were the "other,"the
foreigner. Yet the hero of this story is Ruth, a Moabite, who
by the conclusion is shown to be the forebear not only of
King David but of Jesus himself. The story certainly
illustrates a theme from today's psalm, "God protects
the stranger"(146:9).
But welcoming the stranger isn't the most significant way
that the story turns tradition on its head. The patriarchal
order is clear: The value of a woman, even her identity,
comes from her connection to a man. Naomi assumes her own
worthlessness because she can provide no husband for her
daughters-in-law (1:11). But Ruth rises above the ethos of
her time. She is determined to stick with Naomi through thick
and thin, abandoning her people, her country, even her god.
Most commentators see this as loving kindness;
"sisterhood"is perhaps a more apt description! Her
pledge of commitment (1:16) echoes that found in the All
Saints reading: "They will be his people, and God will
be...their God"(Revelation 21:3).
God, through Boaz, rewards Ruth's loyalty. The writer, and
subsequent commentators, casts this as a story of God's
loving faithfulness, but as Jesus points out in the Mark
passage, the love of God is intrinsically connected to love
of our neighbors (Mark 12:28-31). Because of Ruth's fidelity,
and because she chose to accept and serve God, she was worth
"more than seven sons"—extraordinary praise,
even if we can't ignore the irony.
November 9
Where is Thy God?
Psalm 42; Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark
12:38-44
Many sermons have been preached on the unselfishness shown
by the poor widow and her two small coins. Through the ages
commentators have lauded this woman and this act as
exemplifying the greatest generosity, and most have assumed
that Jesus' point was that the essence of true giving was
sacrifice. This woman, Jesus told those gathered, has given
much more than the hypocritical (and wealthy) religious
leaders, with all their showy piety.
But this story is as much about the temple itself and the
practices of the religious elite as it is about
"generous"widows. Jesus was not only praising the
widow, he was also condemning the temple cult that demanded
such extortion from the poor. The lesson might well have been
clearer to his listeners than it has been to commentators,
especially when seen in context. A short time before, Jesus
had marched into the temple, overturned tables, and decried
the "den of robbers"it had become. He told the
parable of the wicked tenants—and the authorities
apparently knew who he meant, since they "tried to
arrest him but feared the crowd."
When Jesus warns his followers to beware the religious
leaders, it isn't simply their ostentation and hypocrisy he
condemns. Worse, it is that they "devour the houses of
widows"and cover it up with shows of religiosity. Jesus
is here confronting the temple as an economic and political
system that exploits the poor. For this, he says, they will
receive greater "condemnation"—King James
renders the word "damnation."And if that isn't
strong enough, the next scene has Jesus promising the total
destruction of the temple: "Not one stone will be left
here upon another."
Without the structures of religious observance, we may be
moved to ask with the psalmist, "Where is thy
God?"Our salvation, however, does not come from
sacrifices in the temple, or from any of the externalities of
religion, but from the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 9:26).
Therein lies our freedom.
November 16
Hannah's Song
1 Samuel 2:1-10; 1 Samuel 1:4-20; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark
13:1-8
At the end of the Judges period, Israel was in disarray.
Threatened by the Philistines from without and decay and
corruption from within, the nation was in dire need of
deliverance. The biblical authors saw moral and theological
roots to Israel's troubles, and God's intervention their only
hope for salvation.
Does God intervene through the rich and powerful, through
those that society honors as the best and the brightest? As
we've come to see in story after story, God works in
unexpected ways. Once again, God chooses to intervene in
history through a downcast, marginalized individual: In this
case, through the person of the anguished, childless Hannah.
In response to her prayer, her bargaining with God, she is
rewarded with fertility—not only the birth of Samuel,
but three sons and two daughters (2:21).
We should not ignore the fact that once again, as in the
preceding story of Ruth, God chooses a woman to be the hero
in this pivotal moment in salvation history. In the midst of
a patriarchal culture, at a time when women were treated as
the lowest of the low, it is doubly remarkable that scripture
focuses on a woman as the one who carries forth the unfolding
story of God's salvific action. It must be acknowledged that
Hannah's contribution is through childbearing, but the focus
of the story is on her perseverance and trust in God.
Hannah's redemption is a metaphor and a vehicle for
Israel's—and ours; through her faithfulness came Samuel,
David, and ultimately Jesus. Hannah's song of exultation,
praise, and thanksgiving celebrates much more than her
personal triumph. This hymn—the prototype of Mary's
Magnificat (Luke 1:46f)—praises God as the helper of the
weak and the poor, who casts down the mighty and raises up
the lowly. Her own world-turned-upside-down story helps us to
understand God's broader workings, if only we have the eyes
to see.
November 23
What is Truth?
Psalm 132:1-12; 2 Samuel 23:1-7; John 18:33-37;
Revelation 1:4-8
The week before Advent, the season that celebrates the
beginning of Jesus' story, here we are reading about its
culmination. It is almost as if the cycles of the liturgical
season reflect the words from Revelation: "I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to
come"(Revelation 1:8). Jesus is at once the babe soon to
arrive in the manger and the crucified redeemer of the world.
Today's gospel passage invites us to grapple, along with
Pilate, with the nature of Jesus' kingship. When Pilate asks,
"Are you the King of the Jews?"Jesus does not deny
it. Instead, he explains that his realm does not "belong
to this world."Pilate is apparently mollified by this
answer and seeks Jesus' release. But the Roman ruler is
mistaken if he believes that Jesus' kingship is no threat to
political authority. Jesus is not a mere king, but the King
of Kings. His sovereignty is above that of all worldly
kings—and allegiance to Jesus supersedes loyalty to
earthly authorities, secular or religious.
The passage ends with the enigmatic, "Everyone who
belongs to the truth listens to my voice"—or as the
Jerusalem Bible renders it, "all who are on the side of
truth."What does it mean to "belong to the
truth"? Is Jesus saying that all who are on the side of
truth, who live a life of righteousness, do so because they
are listening to his voice—whether they know it or not?
Pilate, too, seems puzzled by Jesus' words (or perhaps he is
just cynical), as he responds, "What is truth?"A
life spent in pursuit of the answer to that question would
not be in vain.
November 30 Cycle C
Those Who Wait
Psalm 25:1-10; Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians
3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36
Advent is the season not just of waiting for the coming
Christ child, but of anticipationùwhich is waiting combined
with hope. The biblical writers, while conscious of the past,
are looking toward the future. The apocalyptic texts in Luke
at first glance seem out of place: What does heaven and earth
passing away have to do with the unfolding Christmas story?
It is clear that Advent is about much more than the coming of
a poor baby in a manger. Advent is of such significance that
the entire cosmos reverberates with signs. It is a time both
to remember JesusÆ first coming and to anticipate his
second.
How do we prepare for his coming? Today's readings are
filled with guidelines. In the gospel Jesus warns that there
is no automatic exemption from the coming distress; we are
called to prayerful watchfulness and told to avoid
"debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of
life"(21:34). The first two instructions are
clear—a call to personal righteousness and to shun the
"intoxicating attractions of the sinful world,"as
one commentator put it.
But what's this about avoiding the "cares of
life"? Other translations provide an insight: Be on
guard that your heart not be weighed down with worries of
this life, with anxiety or preoccupation about things. In
other words, don't be caught up in materialism or worrying
about "earthly treasures"—Jesus spells it out
plainly in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 6:19-33).
While Luke omits the phrase found in Mark's version,
"Nobody can know the day or time of the end,"he
uses a similar formulation in Acts 1:7. The point of the
passage is that we not be preoccupied with signs and wonders,
but that we instead act with righteousness in the here and
now.
The passage from Thessalonians gets even more specific. To
prepare for Jesus' coming requires both personal and social
acts; we are to strengthen our hearts in holiness (3:13) and
abound in love for one another (3:12). Jeremiah promises that
the Messiah will come to execute both righteousness (personal
holiness) and justice (fair and equitable relationships,
protection of the weak from the strong). We join the psalmist
in praying, "Do not let those who wait for you be put to
shame"(25:3).
December 7
Where is the God of Justice?
Luke 1:68-79; Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11;
Luke 3:1-6
Our gospel passage marks a pivotal moment in salvation
history. Everything before was preparation. As Jesus put it,
"Up until John it was the Law and the prophets, from
that time on the kingdom of God has been preached"(Luke
16:16). Jesus makes clear which of these epochs is
pre-eminent: "Of all the children born of women, a
greater than John the Baptist has never been seen; yet the
least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he
is"(Matthew 11:11)—greater simply by being heir to
God's reign.
The gospel begins with a long list of the political and
religious luminaries of the day. Some claim this is simply to
date the story, but we can't escape the irony. In the midst
of all this power and prestige, in the midst of all these
important titles and positions, the Word of God comes, not to
the mighty rulers or high priests, but to...John, in the
desert. John's task of preparing the way of the Lord has been
long promised: In Zechariah's prophesy (Luke 1:76) and
Gabriel's earlier vow to Zechariah (Luke 1:17), and in
today's reading from Malachi: I am sending a messenger to
prepare the way, the Lord will come to his temple. Who knew
that temple would turn out to be a river in the wilderness!
The selection from Malachi responds to the age-old
quandary, Why do "the good receive the treatment the
wicked deserve, the wicked the treatment the good
deserve"? (Ecclesiastes 8:14)—and in light of this,
Where is the God of justice? (2:17). Malachi promises that
God's judgment will be visited upon those who practice
injustice: against the adulterer and liar, and especially
against "those who oppress the wage-earner [grist for a
Labor Day sermon?], the widow and the orphan, and who rob the
settler of their rights"(3:5). The good news of justice
for the weak entails judgment on the strong. Where is the God
of justice? John the Baptist's message is that the reign of
God has begun, and God's justice is at hand.
December 14
Rejoice in the Lord!
Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians
4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18
All of John's talk about broods of vipers and laying axes
to roots seems out of place with the rest of today's
readings. The theme for the day is joy! The epistle calls us
to "Rejoice in the Lord always."Zephaniah invites
us to "Rejoice and exult with all your heart,"and
Isaiah urges us to "Shout aloud and sing for
joy."These are all very fitting for the Third Sunday of
Advent, traditionally known as "Gaudete"Sunday,
from the Latin term for "rejoice."
But what's John the Baptist doing here? His preaching is
brutally honest and a little unsettling: You brood of snakes.
You want to be baptized just to try to escape judgment
without truly turning to God. First go and prove by the way
you live that you really have repented. Your church
membership or social class won't save you. Then what shall we
do?, the crowd asks. If you have two coats, John responds,
give one to the poor. If you have extra food, give it away to
those who are hungry. A challenge to his listeners, and to
us.
Repentance is not just saying you're sorry, nor is it
merely a change in your head or even your heart. Gospel
repentance involves a change in your behavior, in the way you
live your life. Most people likely see John's call to a
transformed life as an indictment, and his mandate for
treating the poor justly as, at best, an unpleasant chore.
But John's call to repentance should be seen for what it is:
an invitation to salvation, the fruit of relationship with
the Holy One coming into our midst. When we respond to this
invitation in a joyful spirit, we may help to contribute not
only to a transformed world but to our own liberation. That,
indeed, is call for exuberant rejoicing.
December 21
Blessed are You
Luke 1:47-55; Micah 5:2-5; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke
1:39-45
Mary. By many of her devotees, she is seen as a
soft-spoken, loving, universal mother, relating to each
person on Earth as her child. Others find such imagery almost
idolatrous and Mary largely irrelevant; her place in the
gospel is solely and simply as the mother of Jesus.
But today's reading, the Magnificat, the great liberation
song of the New Testament, paints a very different portrait
of Mary. This is Mary, the prophet of the poor, the champion
of the downtrodden, proclaiming the overthrow of the social,
economic, and political order of things. This Mary doesn't
sound quite so soft-spoken, praising God for "routing
the proud"and "putting down the mighty"and
sending the rich empty away. God shows his power, Mary
proclaims, by filling the hungry with good things and
exalting the lowly—she sounds more like Mother Jones
than Mother Teresa!
Mary's song, which echoes that of Hannah (1 Samuel 2),
could just as easily come from the mouth of her cousin,
Elizabeth (and some commentators say it may have). Elizabeth,
like Hannah, was "blessed"late in life after long
awaiting a child. But in Mary's case, it isn't merely
fertility that has made her blessed, but her faithfulness:
"Blessed is she who believed that the promise made her
by the Lord would be fulfilled"(1:45).
Mary's strength of character and clarity of vision
evidenced here makes the reader long for more. We receive in
the gospels only brief impressions of the real, human
woman—in the birth narratives; in the wedding feast at
Cana (John 2:1f); at the foot of the cross (John 19:25f).
We're given only enigmatic glimpses of her feelings as Jesus'
life and ministry unfolds. We know she "treasured all
these things in her heart"(Luke 2:51); we can see her
confidence in her son: "Do whatever he tells
you"(John 2:5); she obviously suffered greatly, as
promised by Simeon: "A sword will pierce your own soul
too"(Luke 2:35).
But today's story is focused on hope and vindication and
triumph. "Of all women you are the most
blessed.""Blessed is the fruit of your
womb.""My soul magnifies the Lord!"The victory
is complete; the promise fulfilled. Unto us a child is born.
December 28
Divine and Human Favor
Psalm 148; 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Colossians
3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52
The story of the boy Jesus "lost"in the temple
serves as a bridge between the birth narratives and the
beginning of his public ministry. This is the only account
from his hidden years, and it speaks to Jesus' dual nature as
divine ("I must be in my Father's house") and human
(he went to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents). The
story is framed by references to Jesus' blessedness before
God. "The favor of God was upon him"(2:40) precedes
our reading, and his increase in "divine and human
favor"(2:52) ends it.
The story centers around the wordplay between Jesus and
Mary when his parents discover him in the temple. Mary says,
How could you do this to your father (pater) and me?
Jesus responds, Don't you know I must be in my father's (pater)
house? Jesus is making clear that his heavenly bonds
transcend even the most intimate earthly relations. The
phrase "in my father's house"is variously rendered
"about my father's business"or "busy with my
father's affairs."The text does not use one of the Greek
words usually translated "house,"but in many
English translations the word is used because of the
implication of place. A more accurate read might be,
"Don't you know I must be in the presence of my
Father?"That rendering has very different implications
than the common interpretation, that Jesus is referring to
the temple.
At its heart, though, this isn't so much a theological
treatise as a very human, and very emotional, story. Can you
imagine what Mary and Joseph must have felt, missing their
12-year-old for three days? Their relief on finding him? Can
you imagine their conversation on the way home? Their life
together as a family during Jesus' teen-age years? We're left
to imagine, since the next we hear from Jesus is almost two
decades later as he launches his public ministry.
Reflections on the complete, three-year lectionary cycle
can be found in Living the Word, available from Sojourners
Resource Center (1-800-714-7474).
Read other articles by:
Rice, Jim
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