Sunday, December 14, 2008

3rd Sunday of Advent, cycle B

JOHN 1: 6-8, 19-28
YOU FIND JOY IN ODD PLACES. I’VE SEEN IT IN A LADY WHO IS A PATIENT OF MINE, WHO IS ALWAYS IN PAIN, AND WHO HAS TO GET AROUND ON CRUTCHES. SHE HAS NO MONEY AND LIVES ALONE AND KNOWS SHE WON’T BE AROUND FOR NEXT CHRISTMAS. BUT SHE SAVORS EVERY MOMENT, AND HER CHEERFULNESS IS CONTAGIOUS. OF COURSE IF YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE JOY, HANG AROUND WITH LITTLE KIDS. THEY CAN’T NOT BE JOYFUL FOR TOO LONG – ALL THEY REQUIRE IS THE CERTAIN KNOWLEDGE THAT SOMEONE LOVES THEM FOR WHO THEY ARE.
THIS IS THE SUNDAY WE LABEL “GUADATE”, WHICH MEANS “JOYFUL”. THE FIRST AND SECOND READINGS AND THE PSALM SPEAK ABOUT REJOICING. HOWEVER, I THINK THE GOSPEL GIVES US A FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHT INTO WHAT JOY REALLY MEANS.
BECAUSE JOY IS NOT HAPPINESS, IT’S NOT THE SAME THING AS BEING PROSPEROUS OR RICH OR IN GOOD HEALTH.
THEY CAME TO JOHN AND ASKED HIM IF HE WERE THE MESSIAH, OR ELIJAH, OR THE PROPHET. AND HE SAID, “I AM NOT.” THE FIRST PART OF BEING JOYFUL IS TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE NOT, TO KNOW THAT FOR WHICH YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE.
IF YOU LIVE IN ANY KIND OF RELATIONSHIP, YOU PROBABLY KNOW WHAT A GUILT TRIP IS. THAT IS WHEN SOMEONE FOR WHOM YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF RESPECT OR AFFECTION TRIES TO MAKE YOU FEEL RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMETHING WHICH UP TILL THEN YOU HAVEN’T. IT MAY BE THAT YOU SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE, BUT THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT. THE SUGGESTION THAT YOU ARE NOT LIVING UP TO YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES DISTURBS YOUR JOY; THE IDEA THAT YOU SHOULD BE DIFFERENT THAN YOU ARE UPSETS YOUR INNER TRANQUILITY. JOHN KNEW HE WAS NOT THE MESSIAH, NOT ELIJAH, NOT EVEN “THE PROPHET”. EARLIER THIS WEEK JESUS REFERS TO JOHN AS “THE GREATEST BORN OF A WOMAN” AND REFERS TO HIM AS “ELIJAH, IF YOU CAN ACCEPT IT”. OUR LORD, OF COURSE, SAW IN JOHN THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY THAT ELIJAH WOULD COME TO ANNOUNCE THE MESSIAH. JOHN KNEW THAT REGARDLESS OF THIS COMPLEMENT, HE WAS NOT ELIJAH. HE WOULD NOT ACCEPT WHATEVER THAT RESPONSIBILITY MEANT.
THE SECOND PART OF BEING JOYFUL IS TO KNOW EXACTLY WHO YOU ARE, AND FOR WHAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE. JOHN KNEW HIS ROLE, JOHN KNEW HIS WHOLE PURPOSE WAS TO BE A POINTER, TO POINT TO THE COMING LORD, TO WARN THE PEOPLE AND DO ALL HE COULD TO GET THEM TO FREELY REPENT AND CHANGE THEIR WAYS, AND TO BECOME READY TO RECEIVE THE MESSIAH. “I AM THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,” HE SAID. HE DID NOT SAY, “I AM JOHN, THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS.” HE KNEW THAT HIS PERSON WAS NOT IMPORTANT, BUT HIS PURPOSE WAS, AND HE DID NOT SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM HIS PURPOSE. KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GIVES GREAT CLARITY, AND CLARITY IS A PART OF JOY.
THE THIRD PART OF BEING JOYFUL IS KNOWING THAT YOU ARE DOING THAT FOR WHICH YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE. JOHN KNEW HE WAS TO BAPTIZE WITH WATER, AND LEAVE THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT UP TO THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME. WHEN JOHN BECAME CERTAIN THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH, HE SENT HIS DISCIPLES TO FOLLOW JESUS, AND SAID, “HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE.” WITH THE MESSIAH PRESENT, THERE WAS NO MORE NEED FOR ONE TO PREPARE THE WAY, TO BE THE POINTER.
THE GREAT THING ABOUT JOY IS THAT IT CAN’T BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU. EVEN IF YOU ARE THROWN IN PRISON AND EXECUTED, AS JOHN WAS, JOY TRANSCENDS EVEN DEATH. AND THERE IS A REASON FOR THAT. BY NOW YOU HAVE PROBABLY GUESSED THAT JOY HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH KNOWING YOURSELF, KNOWING YOUR LIMITATIONS, KNOWING WHY YOU WERE PUT ON THIS EARTH AND ACTING ACCORDINGLY. JOY HAS TO DO WITH LIVING IN THE PRESENT, AND MAKING THE VERY MOST OF EACH MOMENT THAT WE HAVE. AND WHEN WE DO THAT, WE COME INTO CONTACT WITH GOD, WHO DEALS WITH US ONLY IN THE PRESENT, NOT THE FUTURE, NOT THE PAST. IF WE ARE FULLY IN THE PRESENT, WE ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER GOD THAN IF OUR MINDS DWELL IN WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, OR IN SOME WISHFUL FUTURE.
SO ON THIS GUADATE SUNDAY, ON THIS THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT, LET REFLECT ON WHETHER WE ARE JOYFUL, AND IF NOT, WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO BECOME JOYFUL. LET US RECALL, LIKE JOHN MUST HAVE, THAT WE ARE NOT JESUS, AND EVEN IF WE HAVE GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES, WE CAN TAKE COMFORT IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT GOD’S PLAN IS ALREADY ONGOING, AND WILL SUCCEED, THANKS TO JESUS. JOHN THE BAPTIST KNEW WHO HE WAS NOT, KNEW WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO, AND DID IT. AND JESUS SAID OF HIM, “AMONG THOSE BORN OF WOMEN THERE HAS NOT RISEN ANYONE GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST,” – WHO LEFT NO BOOK, WHO FOUNDED NO RELIGION, WHO SIMPLY CRIED OUT IN THE DESERT, “PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD.”