Scriptural Maunderings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent

Yet another installment looking at my own reaction to the readings we had in church (Episcopal) today.  The Lectionary is the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, and the translation is the NRSV …

Old Testament – Isaiah 11:1-10

We’re in Advent, which means Much Ado about Prophecy.  In this case, we have one of Isaiah’s foretellings, traditionally applied to Jesus, the attributes of whom are the following:

1. A descendant of Jesse (the father of King David).  The lineages of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are both traced back to David (albeit in conflicting fashion).
2. At his coming, all sorts of antagonistic forces (made metaphors in nature) will coeexist — the lion lying down with the lamb (“and a little child shall lead them”) being the most common paraphrasing of this passage.
3. The person in question will have “the spirit of the LORD” on him, “wisdom and understanding … counsel and might … knowledge … fear of the LORD…”  His judgment will not be based on externals, but

… with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked … for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD.

The person described is certainly a pretty spiffy dude — but the prophecy doesn’t seem to quite line up with someone who is eventually interpreted as “the LORD” Himself, the Son of God, part of the Holy Trinity.  He sounds like a prophet, not the Son of Man.

The whole “Fear of the Lord” thing deserves some comment.  A lot of people buy into the whole Fear thing because, “Hey, Big Kahuna with Lightning Bolt, ready to smite evil!”  A lot of people then turn around and resend the whole Fear thing because, “God, to be worthy of the name, ought to be all about Love.”

Me, I look at it this way.  IF God is all-powerful and all-knowing, THEN even if all-loving, God remains something awesome, incomprehensible, something toward which fear would be practically unavoidable.  God is, in some ways, the Ultimate Parent … and I think every child fears his or her parents in different ways at different times of their lives — for their knowledge, for their power.

I don’t spend time fearing God per se.  I don’t think you can have a personal relationship with someone you fear (and I don’t think you can have a personal relationship with your parents until you are no longer in fear of them).

But I think it’s possible to say “Fear God” and not mean “as the Cosmic Bully who will smite your ass if He thinks you’re less than worthy.”  To me, fearing God is realizing both how very small I am in Creation, and realizing how much responsibility I have both for myself and for those around me.  When my boss gives me a big new assignment, there’s usually fear there because of the challenge of something new, the concern over what might happen if I fail, and the realization of how much I’m being entrusted with.  If that doesn’t cause fear, then I don’t think you’re aware enough of what’s going on … but it should also cause enthusiasm (in the original sense as well), and excitement, and hope, and confidence.

Epistle – Romans 15:4-13

This epistle is generally considered to be genuine (actually written by Paul).  I read this passage before the congregation today.  There are a few themes here:

1. Christians should be united, not bickering.  Oh, were that so. Much of Christianity is too often like spouses shouting at each other at a dinner party over who ruined the canipes, or whether a white wine or read should be served, or whether it was appropriate to invite one person or another, or whether someone is spending too much (or too little) time in the kitchen.  It’s about externalities, when what we’re really called toward is hospitality.
2. Jesus came to save the Gentiles, not just the Jews.  Paul takes the unusual step of making  multiple citations of Scripture to prove his point, rather than simply asserting or arguing it.
3. God is a God of Hope.  Which is an interesting counterpoint to the folks who keep talking about Fearing the Lord.

Gospel  – Matthew 3:1-12

This passage is all about John the Baptist and his ministry, serving as the “adventist” for Jesus.  I always think of John — wild-haired and raving out the wilderness in his camel-hair shirt, eating wild locusts and honey — as he was portrayed by Michael York in the Jesus of Nazareth miniseries.

John in this passage is a well-known prophet, telling folks, ”Repent, for the  Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  He’s hanging out at the Jordan River, baptising folks, and foretelling “one who is more powerful” who is coming soon.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.

Well, that sounds ominous. As is this bit:

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

I read this, and think of a modern-day prophet.  I think of the mighty and powerful coming to meet him — political leaders, denominational leaders, pundits with (gasp) their own TV and radio shows.  And I hear John saying …

“Snakes! Who warned you that the powerful and cruel will soon meet their punishment? Don’t come to me, do good.  And doing good doesn’t mean, “I got high ratings!” or “I won the election!” or “I’m a patriotic American!”  That’s as meaningless as dirt.  God could make that true for anyone.  It’s your last chance: do good, or else.“

John the Baptist is a lot like a revival preacher, in the best sense.  And to my mind, Christianity is like Clarence Darrow’s aphorism:

The most human thing we can do is comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Christianity is not about complacency and power, about upholding the status quo and flag-waving and respecting the rich and those rewarded by this world.  It’s about pointing out how misguided our society (and all human society over time) is, focusing on wealth and power and How Things Are (i.e., how society benefits those who know how to gain power over it).

Christianity is comforting to the individual only insofar as it points toward hope and justice.  It is not at all comforting to those of us who are already comforted by the world and our position in it. That’s the message from John the Baptist … and from Jesus. Those who try to sell you something else are just the types John was railing against.