Second Thursday in Advent

Isaiah 41:13-20; Psalm 145:1-4,8-13; Matthew 11:7-15

“What did you go out to see?” (Mt 11:9)  This is a good question for each of us.  What do you to church for?  Some people, honestly, go for the show.  They don’t name it that, but when asked they say they go for the choir or the music, or the beauty of the surroundings.  They go for the “soft robes” of the clergy and the choir, in the “royal palace” of a beautiful church.  

Other people go for the “liturgy.”  This can mean the same thing as the show, but sometimes it means being fed at Eucharist.  This may include hearing the word spoken and preached, but only if it leaves them feeling good.  These people want to be comforted (though not, perhaps, as God asks Isaiah to “comfort” the people, encouraging them to get on the road).  

Now, there’s nothing wrong with either response.  Nothing wrong; but something missing.  Just as John comes preaching repentance, and his crowds miss the boat if they only come for the show, so we too can miss the chance of a lifetime if we turn away from the hard words.  Even as Jesus names his yoke as easy and his burden as light, he pushes us toward the hard work of repentance and renewal.  If all we seek is comfort, we miss the real gift.  We get what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.”  That grace is cheap both because it doesn't cost us much, and because it’s not worth much.  It’s settling for superficial relationship with God and with the deepest parts of ourselves.  It’s settling for nice music when transformation is on offer.

So: Why do you come to this page?  What do you hope for?

John is “Elijah who is to come.”  He is a prophet, the forerunner of the Messiah.  He carries an urgent message, a message that got him killed.  This message is no less scandalous and unwelcome today than when he preached it.  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt 3:2).  When people came for baptism whom he suspected of coming for the show, he did not say, “Well, whatever you brought you here, we’re just so darn glad you’re here; we won't ask anything of you, no inconvenience or challenge, just welcome.”  No, he said: “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Mt 3:7)  He loved them enough to name their sickness and challenge them to true repentance.

I pray that I, that you, may find the desire for healing so strong that we hear the challenge as love and repent this Advent.  May we be found ready for the coming of the One who was, and is, and is always.  Amen.