2nd sunday of adventC

The Lord Of History

We dare not give up on our God, who never gives up on us

"... and He went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance"

Luke 3:3

A farmer owned a very beautiful horse of which he was very proud. One day he drove him into town and carefully tied the animal to the hitching post in front of the general store. Two thieves, passing through the town, spied the handsome horse and decided to steal it. They also decided on a clever strategy to carry out their plan. One of them untied the horse and rode swiftly away. The other remained by the post. When the farmer emerged from the store and saw that his horse was gone, he was about to shout for help when the conspirator walked up to him. In a sad, low tone he said, "Sir, I am your horse. Years ago I sinned and for my sins I was punished. I was changed into a horse. Today my sentence is over, and I can be released if you will be so kind." The farmer was dumbfounded, yet touched by the story. So he sent the man away wishing him luck in his new life. Several weeks later the farmer went to a fair in a neighboring town. Great was his surprise to see his own horse for sale there. After gazing long at the animal to make sure that his eyes did not deceive him, he walked over and whispered in the horse's ear, "So -- you've sinned again!"

When we sin again, even though we don't turn into a horse, our humanity is diminished. And we are called to repentance, which means to restore our lost humanity, to transform ourselves into the fully human person God wants us to be.

In today's Gospel, John the Baptist heralds the coming of the Messiah, "preaching a baptism of repentance." Jesus began His public ministry with words that echoed John's. "From that time on," Matthew tells us, "Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand'" (Mt. 4:17).

Jesus' message, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," is an emphatically historical message. It says that history is moving with a purpose; history is moving toward a meeting with the coming Kingdom when the whole of creation will be renewed. The works Jesus commanded -- cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the lepers, expel demons -- were real acts, to be performed within the everyday world plagued with disease and evil. Jesus offered no alternative to history. Rather, he called men and women to confront history; to advance history to its Kingdom destiny.

Unfortunately for our world, we sometimes want to escape from history. History -- the everyday world where things happen -- is filled with uncertainty, troublesome change, shattered hopes. Sometimes we try to use religion as an escape from history -- a safe haven from the real world. Some otherwise devout Christians tend to belittle the everyday world, as though it were somehow unreal ,as though the only reality that matters lies beyond the boundaries of history, securely insulated from time and change. But this is not the message we receive from Jesus.

"Why did God choose to make such a world as this?" someone complained to a friend. "I could make a better world than this myself." "That" the friend replied, "is the very reason God put you into this world to make it a better world. Now go ahead and do your part."

An anxious mother was complaining to a friend about her children. "They don't seem to appreciate all their father and I have given them." "Maybe," said the friend, "you have tried to give them too much to live with and not enough to live for."

When John went into all the regions about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance, he was telling his followers that the Messiah they had been waiting for was near at hand and, therefore, it was time to change. John did not simply proclaim the coming of Christ, he called for a response. He called for a whole new attitude and approach to life. And when they asked him to elaborate on the kind of change that was needed, he said to them, "He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise" (Lk. 3:11).

A college football coach was faced with the possibility that his star player might be declared academically ineligible, so he pleaded with the math professor not to flunk the athlete. "Tell you what, coach," said the professor, "I'll ask him a question in your presence. If he gets it right, I'll pass him." The athlete was called in, and the prof asked, "What's two and two?" "Four," replied the player. Frantically the coach cried out, "Give him another chance! Give him another chance!"

We dare not succumb to the temptations to escape. We dare not succumb to the immediate satisfactions of a consumer-society's golden calves. We succumb only to Him who walked step-by-tedious-step to the Cross, where He offered himself totally to His Father. The faithful God who raised Him from the dead is today keeping the Covenant still. We dare not give up on our God who never gives up on us -- who always gives us another chance!