2nd Sunday of Advent
We seem to get some mixed messages in
the readings for this 2nd Sunday of Advent. On the one hand, we hear a message of peace
and comfort, as the Prophet Isaiah prays: “Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her service is at an end.” On the other hand, in just the next couple of
verses, there seems to be a stern challenge issued: “A voice cries out: In the
desert prepare the way of the Lord! Make
straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!” This is then reinforced in the preaching of
repentance by John the Baptist, the great forerunner of our Lord, at the
beginning of Mark’s Gospel. In fact, the
passage from Isaiah is even referenced here: “A voice of one crying out in the
desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’” It’s as if we are being told simultaneously, “Be
at peace. Everything’s going to be fine,” and “Everybody panic! Get your act together! The Lord is coming, and soon!”
So, which is it? Are we to be comforted in this time or
challenged? The answer is: yes.
It is not an “either/or” proposition, but a “both/and.” The fact is, we need both of these messages,
of comfort and challenge, at
different times and in different situations of our lives. I’m not sure who first put it this way
exactly, but I have always liked the saying that “God comforts us in our
affliction and afflicts us in our comfort.” Let’s start with that message of comfort.
As
we look at the world around us, we don’t have to look very long or hard before
becoming easily overwhelmed by anxiety.
Between renewed unrest in the Middle East, to the almost daily
saber-rattling of North Korea, to any number of “little” wars and “hotspots” on
the globe, to climate change, poverty, famine, racism, hate, to seemingly
systemic predatory sexual behavior, to the political climate of our country,
there is more than enough about which we can and should be worried.
Without
being “Pollyannaish” about it, I think it is in such times that we need to hear
from God that voice of comfort. We need
to be reminded that God is still God, and that He will not abandon us. We need to be consoled by the fact that God
has delivered us in the past, and will ultimately deliver us all from every
evil. More than this, we know that God
doesn’t simply love us or console from afar, but that God entered into our
reality, into all that it means for us to be human; He entered into to the
“messy-ness” of a fallen world, in the mystery of the Incarnation. Jesus, the Word, the second-person of the
Most Holy Trinity, became flesh, and dwelt among us. He died and rose and ascended, and in so
doing, restored our hope. This is a season of hope. Perhaps there is no greater symbol of this
than Mary, pregnant with the Christ child.
We know what hope, what promise, what life, dwells in that womb. And so, perhaps when are feeling overwhelmed
by all that is happening in the world, we would simply turn to this image of
Mary, patiently and joyfully awaiting the birth of her Son.
Of
course, we not only need this sense of comfort and peace on the “macro” level
as we think of the world around us, but also on the “micro” level as we look to
the events of our own particular lives.
I would be willing to bet, for example, that our students are feeling just
a little anxiety about the end of the semester with semester papers and
projects due, and finals now just around the corner. For those who are graduating next Sunday,
perhaps there is the added anxiety of wondering “What’s next?” Student or not, we all have our fears,
anxieties and struggles. And much like
those larger worldly concerns, if we dwell too much on these things, we can
quickly be overwhelmed. It is precisely
in times like this that we need to step back, regain perspective, breathe, and
listen for that voice of God that speaks of peace in the depths of our hearts.
I
remember being a student in Father Dawson’s Philosophy
of Peace and Non-Violence class here at St. Ambrose. At the beginning of almost every class, he
would have us quiet ourselves, then simply tell us to take a few deep breaths,
and then he would just smile and say the word, “Peace.” I know that at the time I probably thought it
was a little silly, a little hokey, but obviously it stuck with me. Even something as simple as this can really
bring comfort and begin to cultivate peace in our lives, and, by extension, in
the world. To our students in
particular, I would encourage you in this hectic and stressful time, to make
sure to take time for prayer. This
should not be a time of diminished prayer because of all that is going on in
your lives, but in fact a time of more deliberate and intense prayer.
So,
what about the “challenge” piece? What
about this idea of being “afflicted in our comfort?” Where does this come in? Again, on that “macro” level, as we look at
the larger world around us and its many challenges and threats to peace, we
cannot just “tune it all out” and go to our “happy place.” We cannot ignore these realities in our world. At the same time, given the scope of these
things, we might easily feel powerless.
So, what are we to do? While it
is true that we cannot let ourselves become overwhelmed by these things and
that we should listen for that voice of “comfort,” at the same time, we cannot
become complacent either, or pretend that these things will simply fix
themselves. Here at St. Ambrose we have
a long and hallowed tradition of activism, social concern and service, of
calling attention to issues, and acting when and however we can to try to
alleviate human suffering. We can’t do
everything, it’s true. But we can do something; we can do what we can to make
straight a path for the Lord in our community and in our world, and to truly prepare
the way of the Lord, so that when He comes again, He will find justice on the
earth.
On
the “micro” level too, we need to constantly challenge ourselves. Again, I think here of our students. While we certainly want all of you to feel
comfortable, safe and happy, so that you can grow and thrive in all your pursuits,
we also don’t want to coddle or baby you, when it comes to your education. To do so, would not only be an insult to you
and the many gifts that you bring, but would be to rob you of the education you
deserve, the education you came here to get.
So, maybe as you’re stressing out about that final, you might actually thank
God for this challenge, as through it you
may grow and become more the person God has created you to be.
And
for all of us, I think we need to challenge ourselves in those areas of our
lives where maybe we have become just a little too comfortable. The last
couple of weeks of this season of Advent give us ample opportunity to do a
little “examination of conscience” in this regard, to see what “valleys” need
to be filled in, and what “rugged places” need to be made plain. And so, let’s not be afraid to challenge
ourselves where we need to be challenged between now and Christmas and in the
New Year to come.
“Comfort,
give comfort to my people…Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our
God!” It’s not an “either/or,” but a
“both/and.” As we go forward in this
season of hope, let us pray for, encourage and challenge each other until the
day of the Lord’s coming.