Transcript
The Gospel this weekend begins in a peculiar way. We hear a list of dates, names and places that seem pretty irrelevant to us. Some 2000 years after the birth of Jesus, we are interested in Jesus, not who the governors and the tetrarchs were; and even less so, some ancient geography. But these details reveal something crucial to us about Jesus, He is not an abstract God. Jesus weaves His action and His presence into the very fabric of our lives. He is not a myth. His birth was an event that actually took place in history. He is present in the personal history of you and me. Our God is a God who wants to be involved in our lives. Our God is one who enjoys a personal relationship with us and not a mere distant deity. The season of Advent is a season of hope. In the midst of a world suffering from the ravages of war, hunger, violence, persecution and indifference; in the midst of the struggles of daily life when all seems to be falling apart.
We once again hear the consoling message of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness of our own time, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” We prepare Christ’s coming by allowing Him to be born daily in our lives. In the words of an 18th century poet Alexander Pope, “What does it profit me if Jesus is born in thousands of Christmas Cribs all over the world but not in my own heart?” Indeed, Jesus wants to enter into our heart, He wants to enter into our story, to bring us love, to bring us mercy and peace. Not just for us to keep as private treasures, but so that we can in turn give to others as well. “Prepare the way of the Lord.” The life of John the Baptist 2000 years ago can be summed up in the image of a finger pointing towards the One who is coming, Jesus Christ. This Advent, let us also be that pointing finger in today’s world. In a world where fingers are often pointed to condemn and to hate; let ours be a finger pointing towards a beautiful story of God entering our world to share in our journey. A finger pointing towards Jesus Christ, who is our waiting and our hope.