Third Sunday in Advent, cycle C

LUKE 3:10-18
SOME STORIES IN THE BIBLE MIGHT BE TERMED “MYTHS”. I DON'T MEAN THEY NEVER HAPPENED. BUT WE DON'T KNOW QUITE WHEN IT HAPPENED, IN SOME CASES WE DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENED, AND IN SOME CASES WE KNOW THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, LIKE THE STORY OF JONAH. MANY OF THE STORIES IN THE BIBLE STARTED OUT AS LEGENDS WHOSE ROOTS WERE IN THE REMEMBERED HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE, AND ONLY LATER WERE WRITTEN DOWN AFTER MUCH TELLING AND RETELLING WITH A DETAIL ADDED HERE, AND ANOTHER SUBTRACTED THERE. AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. WE CATHOLICS KNOW THAT THE BIBLE TELLS US THEOLOGICAL TRUTH, AND WHILE THERE ARE SOME FACTUAL THINGS WE BELIEVE AS CATHOLICS – THAT THE HUMAN RACE DESCENDED FROM A FIRST COUPLE; THAT THERE REALLY WAS AN ABRAHAM AND A MOSES; THAT MARY REALLY WAS A VIRGIN AT THE TIME OF JESUS' CONCEPTION, THESE FACTS HAVE TO BE TRUE, BECAUSE THEY ARE ORGANIC PARTS OF WHAT WE BELIEVE AND TOUCH UPON THE VALIDITY OF OUR WHOLE RELIGION. FACTS MATTER SOMETIMES. AND LUKE WANTS US TO BE SURE TO KNOW THAT HIS STORY IS FACTUAL.
THERE WAS A PARTICULAR TIME AND PLACE, PINPOINTED BY RELATING IT TO WHEN CERTAIN KINGS AND HIGH PRIESTS WERE ALIVE, WHEN A STRANGE MAN CAME OUT OF THE DESERT. HE CALLED THE PEOPLE A BROOD OF VIPERS; HE PREDICTED THAT THE FUTURE FOR THEM WOULD BE A CATASTROPHE, UNLESS THEY CHANGED. THE WORD HE USED WAS REPENT, BUT THE WORD IN GREEK MEANT CHANGE, OR TURN AROUND, OR TURN BACK. WE PROBABLY DON'T QUITE KNOW WHAT THE ARAMAIC WORD MEANT TO THOSE WHO HEARD HIM, AND TO HIM. BUT I THINK AN INTERESTING TRANSLATION OF THAT WORD MIGHT BE SOMETHING MY MOTHER USED TO SAY TO ME WHEN SHE WAS UPSET WITH MY BEHAVIOR: PULL UP YOUR SOCKS! OR “SHAPE UP”.
AND HE ATTRACTED CROWDS, AND THEY DID NOT SEEM TO GET UPSET WITH WHAT HE CALLED THEM, WHAT HE THREATENED THEM WITH, OR TELLING THEM THAT BEING DESCENDENTS OF GOD'S FRIEND ABRAHAM REALLY DIDN'T MATTER. WHY THEY DIDN'T TURN AROUND AND GO HOME, OR PERHAPS PICK UP ROCKS AND STONE HIM, WE'LL NEVER KNOW. MAYBE THEY SAW THAT HE WAS ON TO SOMETHING.
SO THEY ASKED HIM, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?”
AND HIS ANSWERS WERE SIMPLE: “IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED, SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS LESS THAN THEY NEED. AND IF YOU COLLECT TAXES FOR THE ROMANS, DON'T OVERCHARGE, DON'T CHEAT. AND IF YOU ARE A SOLDIER, DON'T USE YOUR POWER TO STEAL FROM PEOPLE.” NOTICE, HE DID NOT SAY TO THE PEOPLE, GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST. HE DID NOT SAY, QUIT BEING A TAX COLLECTOR; YOU ARE COLLABORATING WITH THE ENEMY OF THE JEWS; HE DID NOT SAY TO THE SOLDIERS, QUIT WORKING FOR ROMANS, QUIT MAKING YOUR LIVING BY FIGHTING ON BEHALF OF THE ROMANS.
SOME HEARD HIM, I'M SURE, WITH A SENSE OF RELIEF; SOME WITH DISAPPOINTMENT – “IS THAT ALL? AND YOU CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR GOD?” AND MANY HEARD HIM AND THOUGHT, WOW, THOSE ARE GOOD POINTS. AND THEN WENT BACK TO THE LIVES THEY HAD LED, AND MADE NO CHANGES AT ALL.
JOHN'S CHARGE TO US IS THE SAME. REPENTANCE, TURNING BACK, PULLING UP OUR SOCKS, DOESN'T REQUIRE A TOTAL LIFE MAKE OVER. IT DOES REQUIRE SELF AWARENESS, IT DOES REQUIRE LOOKING AT OUR ORDINARY LIVES AND ASKING, WHAT SHOULD I DO?
IF YOU GO TO A ZOO, YOU MAY SEE LIONS. THEY DON'T MOVE AROUND MUCH, AND WHEN THEY DO, IT IS IN CIRCLES. THEY DON'T HAVE A REASON TO CHANGE, TO IMPROVE, TO LOOK BEYOND THEMSELVES. EVERY NEED IS TAKEN CARE OF, AND EVERY NEED OF THEIR MATE AND THEIR OFFSPRING AS WELL. WE HUMANS ARE LIKE THAT. WHEN WE LIVE FOR OURSELVES, WHEN WE ARE THE CENTER OF OUR UNIVERSE, THEN THE GOAL OF LIFE IS TO REACH A POINT WHERE WE CAN BE LIKE A LION IN A ZOO. UNTIL WE GET THERE EVERY MOMENT IS TAKEN UP WITH GETTING THERE, AND THEN WE CAN REST AND COUNT OUR MONEY AND OUR THINGS.
BUT JOHN IS SAYING THAT THIS IS NO WAY FOR A HUMAN BEING TO LIVE. IF WE LIVE THIS WAY, WE WILL NEVER ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL, WE WILL NEVER BECOME HOLY. BUT IF WE LIVE A LIFE OF REPENTANCE, AND IT IS A LIFETIME PROJECT, WE WILL ALWAYS BE LOOKING AT WHAT WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND RECOGNIZING THAT WE NEED TO STRUGGLE TO PURGE WHAT WE DO OF SELF-CENTEREDNESS, OF MEDIOCRITY, OF DOING ENOUGH TO JUST GET BY, OF PETTY THINGS, LIKE MAKING PERSONAL CALLS OR USING THE INTERNET FOR PERSONAL REASONS WHILE AT WORK; LIKE VEGGING OUT IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION SET; LIKE NOT VOTING BECAUSE I'VE GOT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO; LIKE MAKING NO EFFORT TO DISCERN GOD'S WILL FOR US THROUGH THE DIALOGUE WITH GOD WE CALL PRAYER, THROUGH STUDY OF GOD'S REVELATION.
PART OF THIS PROJECT OF REMAKING OURSELVES RIGHT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO, IS THE REMAKING OF OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US. IF WE BELIEVE IT BELONGS TO ME, I'LL HANG ON TO IT. BUT IF I BELIEVE IT IS GOD'S, ON LOAN, THEN I AM MORE LIKELY TO SHARE WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NONE. OUR JEWISH BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE TAUGHT THAT TO BE CHARITABLE IS A GOOD DEED, BUT THERE ISN'T A DOWNSIDE; ON THE OTHER HAND, AN APPEAL TO JUSTICE IS MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN A RESPONSE. AFTER ALL, THE PATRIARCHS WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR JUSTICE, AND GOD IS JUST, AND THE DOWNSIDE IS THAT JUSTICE NOT DONE IS TO RISK INJUSTICE TO YOURSELF. AND JUSTICE REQUIRES THAT NO ONE BE DENIED FOOD AND CLOTHING AND THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE, IF WE CAN HELP IT.
SO GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE THE SPECTACULAR; HE ONLY ASKS A VERY LITTLE EFFORT FROM YOU AND I, NAMELY, TO STRIVE TO DO EVERYTHING AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, TO BE SENSITIVE TO THOSE ASPECTS OF OUR LIVES THAT ARE LESS THAN PERFECT, AND, KNOWING THAT WE WILL NEVER QUITE BE PERFECT AS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN IS PERFECT, AT LEAST TRY TO REACH FOR PERFECTION; AND HE REQUIRES THAT WE TREAT ALL THE GOOD THINGS HE HAS GIVEN US, JUST AS HE TREATS THEM; THEY ARE THERE TO BE GIVEN AWAY. AND LIVING THIS WAY MAKES US BETTER AND HAPPIER, AND MORE CAPABLE OF LOVE.
IT MAY BE A LITTLE EFFORT, BUT IT REALLY IS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE, A CONSTANT SELF-EXAMINATION, AND IT LASTS A LIFETIME. AND THE HARDEST PART IS GETTING STARTED.
AND IN A FEW DAYS WE WILL CELEBRATE GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US; MAY THIS CHRISTMAS SEE US FINDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, WHAT SHALL WE DO?