"You brood of vipers: who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
Not exactly what you expect to hear when you come to the church looking for holiday cheer.
John, the Baptist. Here he is, again, for a second time in this season of Advent, bringing sparkle and joy to all. John both doesn't fit, and does -- because this is how some people actually feel at this time of the year, right?! If you see me at the mall at any point in the next two weeks, I'll be looking and sounding a lot like John the Baptist.
But truly, let's look first at the church's reasons for John the Baptist being included here in Advent, two weeks before Christmas, and then I'll share my own thoughts on what he might teach us today.
I pointed out last week that it may simply be an accident of liturgical history that we have both this theme of repentance (with the adult John) at the end of the calendar year, and the birth of Christ. The early Christians didn't celebrate Christmas. It was an adaptation of winter festivals from the cultures they had moved into--Saturnalia is the one most of us are familiar with, and that certainly wasn't a celebration of the very earliest Christians who were of course Jewish or inclined to Judaism.
When Christianity did become more decidedly Gentile and blended with the cultures surrounding it, these Nativity stories that it had from Luke's version of the Gospel--and these are only in Luke’s version; that in itself tells you that that this wasn’t among the most important periods of Jesus’ life to the early Church--[as Christianity moved into a more Gentile world those Nativity stories from Luke] got woven into the fabric of Christian culture and late December around the darkest time of the year, the winter solstice, became a good time to celebrate birth and new life and the promise of the dawn. Of course we have no idea when Jesus was born. And not to crush anyone's spirits, but it probably wasn't December 25.
It’s also true, however, that many major (and joyous) feasts in the church are preceded by a time of preparation, repentance and reflection, and this is no different. The adult John at this time of the year reminds us that in order to experience the significance of Christmas, of God’s coming quietly into the world … we need to clear our hearts and souls of the clutter that builds up effortlessly and without our knowing: the excess of commitments, the countless distractions that crowd in and keep us from the simple, observant life that helps us to see all the ways God comes into our world not just this time of year, but every day.
Advent without John would be to forfeit those few voices that pull us back to what matters in this season. That John does it loudly just shows what he’s up against.
We need this now more than ever.
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But now to what I think John also brings to this season, and this is born out in the readings today.
To me, John this season, every Advent but this third Sunday of Advent especially, holds up a mirror to ourselves. He speaks to our grumpy, impatient lives. I don’t know anyone above a certain age who doesn’t feel a little like him this time of year. If we’ve taken on too much this season, as many of us have, we’re setting ourselves up for some John-level churlishness.
Maybe there are better reasons for feeling this way right now: you’ve lost someone this year. You feel disconnected from the holiday merriment. You’re going through a major life change. You don’t yet know how the holidays are going to work out for you. To those who need to hear this, I’m saying, It’s OK to feel a little removed some years.
But did you happen to notice that all the other readings around John are full of enthusiasm and exhortations to joy? Today is Rose Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent when we light the rose colored candle and we (up here) wear our rose vestments. In Latin it’s called “Gaudete Sunday,” from “gaudete,” meaning “rejoice” because of all of the times that word appears in our Scripture readings this morning. All of our other readings outside of the Gospel instruct us to rejoice. From Zephaniah: “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has taken away your enemies.”
From the writer of the letter to the Philippians, who adds extra emphasis in case you didn’t get it the first time: “Rejoice in the Lord, always. Again, I will say, rejoice!”
It almost sounds like John is being told to get with the program. There’s a time for seriousness, but there’s also a time for rejoicing. Joy isn’t always spontaneous; often it isn’t. Sometimes it’s a duty -- the “Duty of Delight,” one of my favorite sayings from the saint Dorothy Day. Delight is sometimes a duty, just as repentance and seriousness are.
So this, this Rose Sunday, our duty (however you feel inside--and I hope it’s naturally delight) should turn towards that.
“Rejoice in the Lord, always. Again, I’ll say, Rejoice.” Amen.