Hearts under construction
Commentary
It was the late 1970s ...
We lived in a small North Carolina town named Wilson, distinguished or infamous (depending upon your view) for being the World's Greatest Tobacco Market and also for the best barbecue you will ever find. I was attending a small college there, Atlantic Christian College, now renamed Barton College.
Well, Wilson was abuzz with activity. The streets were being swept, every bit of litter picked up anywhere, yards mowed and raked, colorful banners stretched across the sky. Even shopkeepers cleaned their windows, swept and mopped even the sidewalks in front of their stores. Old Wilson was rolling out the red carpet.
Why?
Because the president was coming to town! President Carter, that is.
The president was coming to town! Had to get ready! Had to make him welcome!
Maybe that's kind of what John the Baptist, the Messiah's transportation secretary, meant when he said: "Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel" (John 1:23).
John was into road construction!
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
This passage is the text that Jesus chose for his first sermon at Nazareth (see Luke 4). It set forth how he saw himself and how he would go about being the Messiah. Who wrote this passage is not known. It comes from the sixth century B.C. when the exile in Babylon was over and some of the people of Judah had returned home to Judea. They found their country in ruins. But here is a message of good news, of comfort. It is a message of salvation and liberation. Verses 10-11 are the response of the people to this good news. The theme of rejoicing is prominent here.
Verses 1-4 sound very much like a Servant Song (see 42:1-4; 49:1-6, etc.) or are at least modeled on one. The Servant or Messenger here is most likely Israel itself, that is, God's people. Even as early as Exodus 19:5-6, the people are given a priestly role, and Isaiah develops that theme of Israel being a priest to all the nations. Thus the community itself plays a messianic role. However, other scholars believe this is a reference to a prophet, the one who wrote this (Third Isaiah). Others see this as a prophetic reference to the coming One, the Messiah. The important thing is that God called and empowered the prophet/the people/the Messiah to carry out a great mission and proclaim a wondrous message to the oppressed -- that God's justice, salvation, and liberation are at hand.
The language here is very much like that of the year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25) that time after 50 years when slaves were to be set free and all debts forgiven (though there is no evidence this was actually ever really done). Here it is God's Jubilee, that is, God setting all captives free (an eschatological Jubilee, that is, in the end time). Jesus read and interpreted this as saying that it was fulfilled, all these things were beginning to take place in him.
A key theme here is the role of the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can call and empower the prophet to carry out this commission. Note that later, John the Baptist says that the One coming after him is the One who bestows the Spirit. And at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus we see, at his baptism, the descent of the Spirit upon him. Then Jesus calls and empowers his disciples and after his death and resurrection empowers them with the Spirit at Pentecost. Always in the Bible when God calls, God empowers.
The content of this call is also important. It has to do with justice, with good news to the least among us, the powerless -- release to captives, good news to those being oppressed (their oppression is over), healing to the brokenhearted, comfort to the mourning. And it was to the least of these that Jesus spent most of his life and ministry.
Another powerful image in this passage is that of being "clothed." Since the beginning, God has clothed humankind (Adam and Eve). Here God has clothed the prophet and the people in wondrous garments of salvation, robes of righteousness, as bridegroom and bride. The image is one of great joy, and note the intimacy between bride and groom, that is, between God and the people. The New Testament and Martin Luther pick up this theme and relate it to Christ. Christ has dressed Christians in his robe of righteousness and taken upon himself our sins as filthy rags. So now when God, the Judge, looks at mortals, God does not see their sins, but the righteousness of Christ. (Is it not interesting that one of the first public things Jesus does is be baptized with sinners?)
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
This passage is a list of ethical qualities followers of Jesus are to seek in light of his Second Coming. Such lives will help bear witness to Christ and to the Light. But these moral qualities are not mere human achievements but the work of God. God is "faithful" to accomplish these things in us (v. 24).
One of the things that stands out in this passage is the theme of "constantly." The Thessalonians are called to "rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances...." In modern parlance, they are to live faithfully 24/7. They are to live each moment with a sense of the being in the presence of God and being loved by God.
Verse 16 connects this passage with the first two lections in emphasizing the theme of rejoicing. The word "rejoice" appears in Paul's letters more than two dozen times. This rejoicing spirit is not mere happiness but something deeper and more profound. It is rejoicing "in the Lord" as Paul says elsewhere. It is that joy that comes from knowing the kind of release Isaiah 61 speaks of as does Psalm 126, freedom from sin, the joy of knowing God's forgiveness, being given a whole new life, of knowing that whatever the future may bring the One who is coming is our Lord.
The Thessalonians are also to be thankful in all circumstances. Paul himself is an example of that (see Colossians 1:24 and Philippians 4). Gratitude, like joy, is not determined by the ebb and flow, the ups and downs of life.
To this is added the exhortation to "pray without ceasing." Perhaps that is a key to being able to rejoice and give thanks always. This is "practicing the presence of God" sort of prayer.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
The heart of this passage is the call of John the Baptist to bear witness to Jesus. It stresses that he is not that Light, not the Messiah, but only a voice calling out to everyone to get ready, to be prepared that one was coming and was indeed already among them.
Verses 6-8: Compared to the synoptics, the role of John the Baptist is described somewhat differently in John. Here John is never called the "Baptist." He's not even called the "forerunner" of Jesus. Here John has one role -- to bear witness to Jesus.
There may have been those who thought and perhaps even taught that John himself was the Messiah. That idea is dealt with right away. John is not the Messiah. He is only a witness to the Messiah, one who points to the Light. This is emphasized even more in verses 19-28 as John answers the questions in a kind of interrogation by the religious leaders.
Verses 19-28: John had been stirring things up, which is often a prophet's job. Many were flocking to him out there in the wilderness. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council, felt obligated to send a delegation out to examine John. Perhaps part of their responsibility was to test prophets to see if they were false or not. But the tone of the encounter is that they seem to have already made up their minds about him. Opposition to the Light had already begun.
They want to know, "Who are you?" Judging from John's answer, they must have been asking, "Are you the Messiah?" John gives an emphatic no to that. Would-be messiahs did spring up from time to time and almost always it brought trouble for the leaders and the people, and they perhaps were seeking to nip this one in the bud.
They ask him, "Are you Elijah?" According to 2 Kings 2:11, Elijah was beamed to heaven. It was thought by many that he would then be sent back as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Some even believed that Elijah would be the one to anoint the Messiah (as a priest did a king). But John will have none of this as well. He refuses such honor.
"Are you the prophet then?" Either this is also a reference to Elijah or to a common belief that Isaiah or Jeremiah might also return at the coming of the Messiah. However, it may just be a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses promised that God would always raise up for the people a prophet. Some may have thought this referred to some great prophet, the greatest Prophet of all. They had been prophetless for a long time. But John denies being this as well.
Frustrated, they ask, "Well, who are you then?" His answer is simply that he is a voice, like the voice of a herald who would come before a king visiting a village shouting out, "The king is coming! The king is coming! Get ready for the king!"
"So why are you baptizing then?" they ask. "By what right?" For, after all, baptism was not for them, but for sinners like Gentiles who sought to join Judaism. John does not really answer them. Instead, as was characteristic of him, he reflects it back to the coming one, the one who would truly baptize them. In the other Gospels, John further describes this as the Messiah baptizing them in the very Spirit of God, the presence of God, the one who connects and unites them with God. For the coming of this king even they, the most religious among them, should seek baptism, that is, cleansing. In other words, John was seeking to lead them to the Light, to faith. It was this testimony of John about Jesus that led to the first disciples of Jesus (see John 1:35ff).
John also says of this one coming after him that he (John) was not even worthy to do what a slave would do -- untie and take off his sandals. That was the most menial of responsibilities of a slave. But John did not feel he was worthy of even that. John simply refuses to claim a name or place for himself, other than as a voice giving testimony to the one coming after him.
What's astounding is that John then tells them that this one is among them even now. But they seem to miss it altogether. They do not even ask, "Who? Where?" John describes this one as "the one who you do not know." Such knowledge or illumination comes only through the work of the Spirit. But the testimony of persons like John (and like us) can be used by the Spirit to bring about such illumination.
Application
It seems that every road I get on these days I come to an orange sign with large dark letters: ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION
As I read this familiar story about John and his mission, I got this image of him out on the highway putting up such signs.
Of course, I don't think that's exactly what John had in mind. However, even in his day, when someone special was coming to town, they would go out and clean up the roads and byways, making sure nothing was in the way, everything was ready. It was a custom with which they were well familiar.
John isn't really calling us to go out and do road construction work either. He's calling us to a project of "Hearts Under Construction," to an inner journey of preparing a road this Advent for the Lord, of making a straight path to our hearts, a road free of any obstacles that might hinder Messiah from coming more fully into our lives.
And John gives us a wondrous tool for this hearts under construction project -- repentance -- a broom that can sweep away a lot of litter -- a shovel that can dig out stumps and rocks and fill in potholes ... a surveyor's scope that enables us to look deep inside ourselves, honestly, to see all there that might hinder Messiah from coming to our little town, our tiny village, our hearts.
I have seen highways under construction. I have heard the mighty booming of dynamite in the distance as mountains of earth and rock are blown out of the way section by section, making a clear and straight path for the new road.
Repentance is spiritual dynamite. It will remove those obstacles that would keep Messiah from coming into our hearts.
O Messiah, what wondrous news! You are coming to our town! Let the banners be unfurled! Let the streets be swept! Roll out the red carpet! But not just on the street. Not just on the sidewalks. No, in my heart, to my heart, Lord, come, this Advent. Give me strength to do this hard roadwork, for it is truly hard work, Lord. I had rather not do it. I do not like it. I do not like seeing the truth about myself. But I know, Lord, only on such a road can you come into my heart. So help me see the obstacles to your coming. Help me take up this tool of repentance, that is heavy and fearful at first, but wondrous and freeing the more I wield it. Lord, I put a sign outside my house, my life this Advent, to stay there throughout the year, "Heart Under Construction." Amen.
Alternative Applications
1) All Readings. In former years Advent 3 was known as "Gaudete Sunday." On the traditional Advent wreath, Gaudete Sunday is represented by the rose candle. "Gaudete" was the first Latin word of the Introit "rejoice" (see Philippians 4:4). Rejoicing is a key theme in the readings for today.
2) All Readings. Advent 3 is also known as "Ministers' Day," a traditional day in the ancient and medieval church for ordinations. The Isaiah 61 passage deals with ordination and the ministry of God's servant and the gospel reading is the account of the ministry of John the Baptist. A theme of ministry -- lay and clergy -- could easily be the emphasis of the day.
3) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. Paul warns, "Don't quench the Spirit." The Spirit is like a flame. Often in the life and work of the church we will see this flame, sometimes just a spark, an idea, a passion for some ministry that is revealed, and the first reaction all too often is to dose it with water, to say, "But we never did it that way before." How many have shared ideas only to have the first and overwhelming response be reasons why it will not work? Would it not be better to train our minds first to ask, "Well, how can we make this work? How can we fan this spark into a flame?" When a prophetic word is clearly spoken, challenging us, convicting us, motivating us, we are to listen and act, though we are also to "test" the voices lest they be false ones. Testing means: "Does this agree with the mind and will of Christ as we understand them? Will it help us give a greater witness to Christ?"
First Lesson Focus
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Deeply embedded in the Isaianic traditions that find their expression in the three Isaiah books (chs. 1-39; 40-55; 56-66) is the figure of a special Servant of the Lord, who is given God's Spirit to establish God's rule of justice, righteousness, forgiveness, and mercy throughout the earth (cf. Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; also 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13--53:12). Our text stands in that tradition. A special figure is anointed with the Spirit and given a six-fold task. We should understand that the words, "he has sent me," in the Hebrew precede all of the phrases that begin with infinitives. Thus the servant is anointed with the Spirit by God "to bring good tidings," "to bind up the brokenhearted," "to proclaim liberty," "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor," "to comfort," "to grant to those who mourn ..." and "to give them a garland...." In short, the servant in this passage is sent to bring God's great reversal of human misfortune and wrong. He is sent by the Lord to bring a totally new beginning, a new era into human life.
The question is: Who speaks here? Throughout the Isaiah books, this special figure has alternatively been spoken of as an individual or as the corporate identity of an ideal Israel. In Isaiah 11:1-8, the reference is clearly to a future messianic king of the line of David. In Second Isaiah, the servant seems to be an individual and yet in many passages in chapters 40-55, Israel is named the Lord's "servant." Here in our text, an individual speaks in verses 1-4 and 10-11. So the description of this anointed Servant of the Lord is fluid. He could be the Davidic Messiah, he could be the Suffering Servant, he could be an ideal Israel, that is, Israel as Israel was meant by God to be for the salvation of the world.
Noting those facts, what is this Servant of the Lord given by the Lord to do? As is so prominent throughout the scriptures, his attention to the afflicted and poor and brokenhearted is first mentioned. God's succor comes first to those who have no other helper, to those who have no means of lifting themselves out of their suffering or poverty or despair. The world may ignore the wanting, the hungry, the homeless, the brokenhearted, but God does not. His servant is sent to them with "good tidings," with a gospel, that will reverse their tragic circumstances.
The second task of the Servant seems to have political overtones. Captive peoples are going to be released, and imprisoned persons will be set free. Because of this verse, some scholars have suggested that the work of Cyrus of Persia, who released the Israelite exiles from their Babylonian captivity, lies in the background here. However that may be, the enslaved and shackled victims of this world are promised freedom.
That thought leads directly into the next verse, in which the Servant will announce "the year of the Lord's favor." That could be a reference to the sabbatical or seventh year, when slaves were freed and debts were canceled (cf. Exodus 21:1-11; Deuteronomy 15:12-18), or more sweepingly, to the Jubilee or 50th year, when land was also returned to its original owners, thus preventing the piling up, at the expense of the poor, of huge landholdings in Israel (cf. Isaiah 5:8-10). Notably, at the same time that freedom is granted from slavery and debt and poverty, those who have profited from such conditions will be punished, for the year of the Lord's favor is also the year of his vengeance upon those who have perpetrated such wrongs.
In the following verses, the Servant's task centers more on the condition of post-exilic Israel after the return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. It was a difficult time, with Jerusalem and its temple in ruins, rampant inflation and crop failure, most of Israel's former territory lost, and widespread despair and hopelessness over any return to normalcy. Families had lost children and breadwinners to war. Priests argued and fought among themselves. Leaders were constantly attacked by opponents. Cynicism characterized religious life. Worship brought mourning and the ashes of repentance sprinkled on drooping heads. But the Servant is sent by God to comfort his people, and to replace their ashes with garlands of flowers. Oil was never used during periods of sadness (cf. 2 Samuel 14:2), because it was an expression of refreshment and pleasure. So the text states that the Servant will restore to his faint-spirited people "the oil of gladness." All that the Servant will give will result in praises instead of laments lifted up to God, and by praising, the people will glorify the Lord. Indeed, so changed will be the condition of the populace that they will again have the will and the strength to rebuild ruined Jerusalem and its surrounding cities. (Cf. Haggai 1.)
The intervening verses, which are not included in our stated text, emphasize the intensity of the Servant's reversal of the human lot. Those who were captive will become the masters. Those who were poor will be rich. Those who were shamed will be honored. Those who lost everything will be granted a double portion. The statements are all figures of speech intended to underline how radically the Servant will transform human life.
It is clear from verses 8-9 that the Servant's task is rooted in the character of the God who sends him. The Servant will establish justice in Israel, because the Lord loves justice. And the Servant announces the day of vengeance in verse 2 because the Lord hates robbery and wrong and will punish those who perpetrate them. The Servant's six-fold task is not his own, but that given him by his Lord. Indeed, verses 8 and 9 go on to spell out more fully the great reversal that God will make in Israel's situation. God sent the Israelites into Babylonian exile for their sins, setting his face against them for ill and not for good. But now God promises that he will make an everlasting covenant with his people and multiply them among the nations who will see and know that Israel lives under the blessing and favor of the Lord.
The Servant of the Lord ends this song, therefore, with exuberant praise, and in these verses (10-11) the designation of the servant as corporate Israel seems to be more fitting. God will transform the situation of his beloved people and make them the recipients of his covenant love forever. God has declared his people "righteous," innocent once more, covering them with the robes of righteousness like a bride or groom clothed with wedding garments. The Israelites' sin is forgotten. They are restored to fellowship with their God. And that forgiveness and restoration will be as certain in the future as a seed sprouting from the earth. So Israel responds in exultant praise and worship of the Lord.
As is common in the Old Testament, however, the Lord's transformation of his people's lot is not for Israel's sake alone (cf. Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 42:1, 4; 49:6; 52:12--53:13). Rather it is for the sake of "all the nations" (v. 11), who, when they see the transformation of Israel's life will be drawn to the worship of the one true God. God works through his Servant because he wishes to draw all peoples to himself, to know and enjoy the saving grace of life in communion with him.
These prophecies in the Isaiah traditions are ambiguous about the identity of the Servant. But of course for centuries the church has known that they find their embodiment and fulfillment in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 4:16-21). In the New Testament, Jesus is the recipient of the Spirit that descends upon him and remains with him (John 1:32). He is the one coming from God who totally transforms our human situation. To the blind he gives sight; "the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them" (Luke 7:22). Indeed, can we not say that he has brought freedom to all us captives and released us from the bonds of the sinfulness and death that held us prisoner for so long? Certainly he has forgiven us our debts that we owe to God, and in times of mourning and sorrow, he has comforted us and restored our joy once more. He has leveled his avenging judgment on all who have opposed him, while making an everlasting covenant with all who in faith sit at his table. And through his cross and resurrection he has made us all righteous in the eyes of our God, replacing our tarnished resumes with his justice, his purity, his love. Indeed, he has even promised us that he will draw all nations to himself (John 12:32), and that finally his right rule will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
So the one whose coming we celebrate once more on this Third Sunday of Advent is the final Servant of the Lord who has brought in God's great reversal -- God's loving transformation of our lives, yours and mine. Surely our proper response to that is the one we find in our text: great rejoicing and exultation for all that God has done.
The Political Pulpit
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
With Christmas on the horizon, the large Christmas trees have been set up in most of our great urban centers. We often look to the city as the center of the great public celebrations of Christmas. But in truth, there is not much to celebrate in the inner city, at least not as much as there is to celebrate in the suburbs or the countryside.
That American cities are in crisis is not news to readers. How they got into their present state may teach lessons about how American society and the church can address these dynamics.
Social commentator Christopher Lasch (The Revolt of the Elites, 9) offers a penetrating analysis of the decline of the American city. Noting that a healthy tension between town and country has characterized much American history, Lasch calls attention to how the development of the sprawling suburb after World War II has upset this balance. In the last decades, the suburbs have lost their purely residential character and been developed by businesses that ostensibly relocate in response to the residents' demands for goods and services. This development has created a cycle that encourages more and more businesses to abandon the cities to relocate in areas closer to the educated work force (and increasingly where the neighborhoods not decimated by urban flight are not so "rough").
As a result, what's left in the cities, Lasch maintains, are the large law firms, the advertising agencies, the publishing companies, entertainment enterprises, museums and hotels catering to professional conference guests, along with a few residents of high-rent districts. The vast majority of the remaining population is in poverty, working, if at all, only in servicing positions in the remaining businesses. There is no place for the middle class in the new city, as most of the jobs that they held have relocated to the suburbs. Residents of the city without the job training and money to be players in the remaining businesses have no other option, if they can get work, but to accept the low-paying service jobs that are left (like cleaning, chauffeuring, and the like). And as rents rise with gentrification, these service workers effectively get poorer.
Statistics verify that as a result, the American city has become impoverished. The 2000 Census noted that while nearly 31 million Americans were in poverty, of those, 16.1 percent of the impoverished lived in the center cities and 19.8 percent in metropolitan areas (US Census Bureau, "Historical Poverty Tables," www.census.gov). Lasch's analysis suggests that while those of us in the suburbs benefit from the relocation of businesses nearby, as our jobs relocate closer to us, or as wealthy urban residents gentrify the communities, more poverty is created for most other urban residents.
Too many American Christians today avoid the city and its problems, even those worshiping in metropolitan churches. Our text proclaims that it is the mission of God's people to repair the ruined cities (v. 4). For God loves justice and hates robbery (v. 8). The Suffering Servant, the Messiah for whom we prepare, is engaged in a ministry to the oppressed (v. 1). The celebration of Christmas without visible concern about the city (through prayer, donations, appropriate lobbying on its behalf) is a distortion of the urban orientation so evident in the faith to which this text testifies.
We lived in a small North Carolina town named Wilson, distinguished or infamous (depending upon your view) for being the World's Greatest Tobacco Market and also for the best barbecue you will ever find. I was attending a small college there, Atlantic Christian College, now renamed Barton College.
Well, Wilson was abuzz with activity. The streets were being swept, every bit of litter picked up anywhere, yards mowed and raked, colorful banners stretched across the sky. Even shopkeepers cleaned their windows, swept and mopped even the sidewalks in front of their stores. Old Wilson was rolling out the red carpet.
Why?
Because the president was coming to town! President Carter, that is.
The president was coming to town! Had to get ready! Had to make him welcome!
Maybe that's kind of what John the Baptist, the Messiah's transportation secretary, meant when he said: "Prepare a road for the Lord; make a straight path for him to travel" (John 1:23).
John was into road construction!
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
This passage is the text that Jesus chose for his first sermon at Nazareth (see Luke 4). It set forth how he saw himself and how he would go about being the Messiah. Who wrote this passage is not known. It comes from the sixth century B.C. when the exile in Babylon was over and some of the people of Judah had returned home to Judea. They found their country in ruins. But here is a message of good news, of comfort. It is a message of salvation and liberation. Verses 10-11 are the response of the people to this good news. The theme of rejoicing is prominent here.
Verses 1-4 sound very much like a Servant Song (see 42:1-4; 49:1-6, etc.) or are at least modeled on one. The Servant or Messenger here is most likely Israel itself, that is, God's people. Even as early as Exodus 19:5-6, the people are given a priestly role, and Isaiah develops that theme of Israel being a priest to all the nations. Thus the community itself plays a messianic role. However, other scholars believe this is a reference to a prophet, the one who wrote this (Third Isaiah). Others see this as a prophetic reference to the coming One, the Messiah. The important thing is that God called and empowered the prophet/the people/the Messiah to carry out a great mission and proclaim a wondrous message to the oppressed -- that God's justice, salvation, and liberation are at hand.
The language here is very much like that of the year of Jubilee (see Leviticus 25) that time after 50 years when slaves were to be set free and all debts forgiven (though there is no evidence this was actually ever really done). Here it is God's Jubilee, that is, God setting all captives free (an eschatological Jubilee, that is, in the end time). Jesus read and interpreted this as saying that it was fulfilled, all these things were beginning to take place in him.
A key theme here is the role of the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can call and empower the prophet to carry out this commission. Note that later, John the Baptist says that the One coming after him is the One who bestows the Spirit. And at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus we see, at his baptism, the descent of the Spirit upon him. Then Jesus calls and empowers his disciples and after his death and resurrection empowers them with the Spirit at Pentecost. Always in the Bible when God calls, God empowers.
The content of this call is also important. It has to do with justice, with good news to the least among us, the powerless -- release to captives, good news to those being oppressed (their oppression is over), healing to the brokenhearted, comfort to the mourning. And it was to the least of these that Jesus spent most of his life and ministry.
Another powerful image in this passage is that of being "clothed." Since the beginning, God has clothed humankind (Adam and Eve). Here God has clothed the prophet and the people in wondrous garments of salvation, robes of righteousness, as bridegroom and bride. The image is one of great joy, and note the intimacy between bride and groom, that is, between God and the people. The New Testament and Martin Luther pick up this theme and relate it to Christ. Christ has dressed Christians in his robe of righteousness and taken upon himself our sins as filthy rags. So now when God, the Judge, looks at mortals, God does not see their sins, but the righteousness of Christ. (Is it not interesting that one of the first public things Jesus does is be baptized with sinners?)
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
This passage is a list of ethical qualities followers of Jesus are to seek in light of his Second Coming. Such lives will help bear witness to Christ and to the Light. But these moral qualities are not mere human achievements but the work of God. God is "faithful" to accomplish these things in us (v. 24).
One of the things that stands out in this passage is the theme of "constantly." The Thessalonians are called to "rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances...." In modern parlance, they are to live faithfully 24/7. They are to live each moment with a sense of the being in the presence of God and being loved by God.
Verse 16 connects this passage with the first two lections in emphasizing the theme of rejoicing. The word "rejoice" appears in Paul's letters more than two dozen times. This rejoicing spirit is not mere happiness but something deeper and more profound. It is rejoicing "in the Lord" as Paul says elsewhere. It is that joy that comes from knowing the kind of release Isaiah 61 speaks of as does Psalm 126, freedom from sin, the joy of knowing God's forgiveness, being given a whole new life, of knowing that whatever the future may bring the One who is coming is our Lord.
The Thessalonians are also to be thankful in all circumstances. Paul himself is an example of that (see Colossians 1:24 and Philippians 4). Gratitude, like joy, is not determined by the ebb and flow, the ups and downs of life.
To this is added the exhortation to "pray without ceasing." Perhaps that is a key to being able to rejoice and give thanks always. This is "practicing the presence of God" sort of prayer.
John 1:6-8, 19-28
The heart of this passage is the call of John the Baptist to bear witness to Jesus. It stresses that he is not that Light, not the Messiah, but only a voice calling out to everyone to get ready, to be prepared that one was coming and was indeed already among them.
Verses 6-8: Compared to the synoptics, the role of John the Baptist is described somewhat differently in John. Here John is never called the "Baptist." He's not even called the "forerunner" of Jesus. Here John has one role -- to bear witness to Jesus.
There may have been those who thought and perhaps even taught that John himself was the Messiah. That idea is dealt with right away. John is not the Messiah. He is only a witness to the Messiah, one who points to the Light. This is emphasized even more in verses 19-28 as John answers the questions in a kind of interrogation by the religious leaders.
Verses 19-28: John had been stirring things up, which is often a prophet's job. Many were flocking to him out there in the wilderness. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council, felt obligated to send a delegation out to examine John. Perhaps part of their responsibility was to test prophets to see if they were false or not. But the tone of the encounter is that they seem to have already made up their minds about him. Opposition to the Light had already begun.
They want to know, "Who are you?" Judging from John's answer, they must have been asking, "Are you the Messiah?" John gives an emphatic no to that. Would-be messiahs did spring up from time to time and almost always it brought trouble for the leaders and the people, and they perhaps were seeking to nip this one in the bud.
They ask him, "Are you Elijah?" According to 2 Kings 2:11, Elijah was beamed to heaven. It was thought by many that he would then be sent back as the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Some even believed that Elijah would be the one to anoint the Messiah (as a priest did a king). But John will have none of this as well. He refuses such honor.
"Are you the prophet then?" Either this is also a reference to Elijah or to a common belief that Isaiah or Jeremiah might also return at the coming of the Messiah. However, it may just be a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses promised that God would always raise up for the people a prophet. Some may have thought this referred to some great prophet, the greatest Prophet of all. They had been prophetless for a long time. But John denies being this as well.
Frustrated, they ask, "Well, who are you then?" His answer is simply that he is a voice, like the voice of a herald who would come before a king visiting a village shouting out, "The king is coming! The king is coming! Get ready for the king!"
"So why are you baptizing then?" they ask. "By what right?" For, after all, baptism was not for them, but for sinners like Gentiles who sought to join Judaism. John does not really answer them. Instead, as was characteristic of him, he reflects it back to the coming one, the one who would truly baptize them. In the other Gospels, John further describes this as the Messiah baptizing them in the very Spirit of God, the presence of God, the one who connects and unites them with God. For the coming of this king even they, the most religious among them, should seek baptism, that is, cleansing. In other words, John was seeking to lead them to the Light, to faith. It was this testimony of John about Jesus that led to the first disciples of Jesus (see John 1:35ff).
John also says of this one coming after him that he (John) was not even worthy to do what a slave would do -- untie and take off his sandals. That was the most menial of responsibilities of a slave. But John did not feel he was worthy of even that. John simply refuses to claim a name or place for himself, other than as a voice giving testimony to the one coming after him.
What's astounding is that John then tells them that this one is among them even now. But they seem to miss it altogether. They do not even ask, "Who? Where?" John describes this one as "the one who you do not know." Such knowledge or illumination comes only through the work of the Spirit. But the testimony of persons like John (and like us) can be used by the Spirit to bring about such illumination.
Application
It seems that every road I get on these days I come to an orange sign with large dark letters: ROAD UNDER CONSTRUCTION
As I read this familiar story about John and his mission, I got this image of him out on the highway putting up such signs.
Of course, I don't think that's exactly what John had in mind. However, even in his day, when someone special was coming to town, they would go out and clean up the roads and byways, making sure nothing was in the way, everything was ready. It was a custom with which they were well familiar.
John isn't really calling us to go out and do road construction work either. He's calling us to a project of "Hearts Under Construction," to an inner journey of preparing a road this Advent for the Lord, of making a straight path to our hearts, a road free of any obstacles that might hinder Messiah from coming more fully into our lives.
And John gives us a wondrous tool for this hearts under construction project -- repentance -- a broom that can sweep away a lot of litter -- a shovel that can dig out stumps and rocks and fill in potholes ... a surveyor's scope that enables us to look deep inside ourselves, honestly, to see all there that might hinder Messiah from coming to our little town, our tiny village, our hearts.
I have seen highways under construction. I have heard the mighty booming of dynamite in the distance as mountains of earth and rock are blown out of the way section by section, making a clear and straight path for the new road.
Repentance is spiritual dynamite. It will remove those obstacles that would keep Messiah from coming into our hearts.
O Messiah, what wondrous news! You are coming to our town! Let the banners be unfurled! Let the streets be swept! Roll out the red carpet! But not just on the street. Not just on the sidewalks. No, in my heart, to my heart, Lord, come, this Advent. Give me strength to do this hard roadwork, for it is truly hard work, Lord. I had rather not do it. I do not like it. I do not like seeing the truth about myself. But I know, Lord, only on such a road can you come into my heart. So help me see the obstacles to your coming. Help me take up this tool of repentance, that is heavy and fearful at first, but wondrous and freeing the more I wield it. Lord, I put a sign outside my house, my life this Advent, to stay there throughout the year, "Heart Under Construction." Amen.
Alternative Applications
1) All Readings. In former years Advent 3 was known as "Gaudete Sunday." On the traditional Advent wreath, Gaudete Sunday is represented by the rose candle. "Gaudete" was the first Latin word of the Introit "rejoice" (see Philippians 4:4). Rejoicing is a key theme in the readings for today.
2) All Readings. Advent 3 is also known as "Ministers' Day," a traditional day in the ancient and medieval church for ordinations. The Isaiah 61 passage deals with ordination and the ministry of God's servant and the gospel reading is the account of the ministry of John the Baptist. A theme of ministry -- lay and clergy -- could easily be the emphasis of the day.
3) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24. Paul warns, "Don't quench the Spirit." The Spirit is like a flame. Often in the life and work of the church we will see this flame, sometimes just a spark, an idea, a passion for some ministry that is revealed, and the first reaction all too often is to dose it with water, to say, "But we never did it that way before." How many have shared ideas only to have the first and overwhelming response be reasons why it will not work? Would it not be better to train our minds first to ask, "Well, how can we make this work? How can we fan this spark into a flame?" When a prophetic word is clearly spoken, challenging us, convicting us, motivating us, we are to listen and act, though we are also to "test" the voices lest they be false ones. Testing means: "Does this agree with the mind and will of Christ as we understand them? Will it help us give a greater witness to Christ?"
First Lesson Focus
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Deeply embedded in the Isaianic traditions that find their expression in the three Isaiah books (chs. 1-39; 40-55; 56-66) is the figure of a special Servant of the Lord, who is given God's Spirit to establish God's rule of justice, righteousness, forgiveness, and mercy throughout the earth (cf. Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; also 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13--53:12). Our text stands in that tradition. A special figure is anointed with the Spirit and given a six-fold task. We should understand that the words, "he has sent me," in the Hebrew precede all of the phrases that begin with infinitives. Thus the servant is anointed with the Spirit by God "to bring good tidings," "to bind up the brokenhearted," "to proclaim liberty," "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor," "to comfort," "to grant to those who mourn ..." and "to give them a garland...." In short, the servant in this passage is sent to bring God's great reversal of human misfortune and wrong. He is sent by the Lord to bring a totally new beginning, a new era into human life.
The question is: Who speaks here? Throughout the Isaiah books, this special figure has alternatively been spoken of as an individual or as the corporate identity of an ideal Israel. In Isaiah 11:1-8, the reference is clearly to a future messianic king of the line of David. In Second Isaiah, the servant seems to be an individual and yet in many passages in chapters 40-55, Israel is named the Lord's "servant." Here in our text, an individual speaks in verses 1-4 and 10-11. So the description of this anointed Servant of the Lord is fluid. He could be the Davidic Messiah, he could be the Suffering Servant, he could be an ideal Israel, that is, Israel as Israel was meant by God to be for the salvation of the world.
Noting those facts, what is this Servant of the Lord given by the Lord to do? As is so prominent throughout the scriptures, his attention to the afflicted and poor and brokenhearted is first mentioned. God's succor comes first to those who have no other helper, to those who have no means of lifting themselves out of their suffering or poverty or despair. The world may ignore the wanting, the hungry, the homeless, the brokenhearted, but God does not. His servant is sent to them with "good tidings," with a gospel, that will reverse their tragic circumstances.
The second task of the Servant seems to have political overtones. Captive peoples are going to be released, and imprisoned persons will be set free. Because of this verse, some scholars have suggested that the work of Cyrus of Persia, who released the Israelite exiles from their Babylonian captivity, lies in the background here. However that may be, the enslaved and shackled victims of this world are promised freedom.
That thought leads directly into the next verse, in which the Servant will announce "the year of the Lord's favor." That could be a reference to the sabbatical or seventh year, when slaves were freed and debts were canceled (cf. Exodus 21:1-11; Deuteronomy 15:12-18), or more sweepingly, to the Jubilee or 50th year, when land was also returned to its original owners, thus preventing the piling up, at the expense of the poor, of huge landholdings in Israel (cf. Isaiah 5:8-10). Notably, at the same time that freedom is granted from slavery and debt and poverty, those who have profited from such conditions will be punished, for the year of the Lord's favor is also the year of his vengeance upon those who have perpetrated such wrongs.
In the following verses, the Servant's task centers more on the condition of post-exilic Israel after the return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. It was a difficult time, with Jerusalem and its temple in ruins, rampant inflation and crop failure, most of Israel's former territory lost, and widespread despair and hopelessness over any return to normalcy. Families had lost children and breadwinners to war. Priests argued and fought among themselves. Leaders were constantly attacked by opponents. Cynicism characterized religious life. Worship brought mourning and the ashes of repentance sprinkled on drooping heads. But the Servant is sent by God to comfort his people, and to replace their ashes with garlands of flowers. Oil was never used during periods of sadness (cf. 2 Samuel 14:2), because it was an expression of refreshment and pleasure. So the text states that the Servant will restore to his faint-spirited people "the oil of gladness." All that the Servant will give will result in praises instead of laments lifted up to God, and by praising, the people will glorify the Lord. Indeed, so changed will be the condition of the populace that they will again have the will and the strength to rebuild ruined Jerusalem and its surrounding cities. (Cf. Haggai 1.)
The intervening verses, which are not included in our stated text, emphasize the intensity of the Servant's reversal of the human lot. Those who were captive will become the masters. Those who were poor will be rich. Those who were shamed will be honored. Those who lost everything will be granted a double portion. The statements are all figures of speech intended to underline how radically the Servant will transform human life.
It is clear from verses 8-9 that the Servant's task is rooted in the character of the God who sends him. The Servant will establish justice in Israel, because the Lord loves justice. And the Servant announces the day of vengeance in verse 2 because the Lord hates robbery and wrong and will punish those who perpetrate them. The Servant's six-fold task is not his own, but that given him by his Lord. Indeed, verses 8 and 9 go on to spell out more fully the great reversal that God will make in Israel's situation. God sent the Israelites into Babylonian exile for their sins, setting his face against them for ill and not for good. But now God promises that he will make an everlasting covenant with his people and multiply them among the nations who will see and know that Israel lives under the blessing and favor of the Lord.
The Servant of the Lord ends this song, therefore, with exuberant praise, and in these verses (10-11) the designation of the servant as corporate Israel seems to be more fitting. God will transform the situation of his beloved people and make them the recipients of his covenant love forever. God has declared his people "righteous," innocent once more, covering them with the robes of righteousness like a bride or groom clothed with wedding garments. The Israelites' sin is forgotten. They are restored to fellowship with their God. And that forgiveness and restoration will be as certain in the future as a seed sprouting from the earth. So Israel responds in exultant praise and worship of the Lord.
As is common in the Old Testament, however, the Lord's transformation of his people's lot is not for Israel's sake alone (cf. Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 42:1, 4; 49:6; 52:12--53:13). Rather it is for the sake of "all the nations" (v. 11), who, when they see the transformation of Israel's life will be drawn to the worship of the one true God. God works through his Servant because he wishes to draw all peoples to himself, to know and enjoy the saving grace of life in communion with him.
These prophecies in the Isaiah traditions are ambiguous about the identity of the Servant. But of course for centuries the church has known that they find their embodiment and fulfillment in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 4:16-21). In the New Testament, Jesus is the recipient of the Spirit that descends upon him and remains with him (John 1:32). He is the one coming from God who totally transforms our human situation. To the blind he gives sight; "the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them" (Luke 7:22). Indeed, can we not say that he has brought freedom to all us captives and released us from the bonds of the sinfulness and death that held us prisoner for so long? Certainly he has forgiven us our debts that we owe to God, and in times of mourning and sorrow, he has comforted us and restored our joy once more. He has leveled his avenging judgment on all who have opposed him, while making an everlasting covenant with all who in faith sit at his table. And through his cross and resurrection he has made us all righteous in the eyes of our God, replacing our tarnished resumes with his justice, his purity, his love. Indeed, he has even promised us that he will draw all nations to himself (John 12:32), and that finally his right rule will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
So the one whose coming we celebrate once more on this Third Sunday of Advent is the final Servant of the Lord who has brought in God's great reversal -- God's loving transformation of our lives, yours and mine. Surely our proper response to that is the one we find in our text: great rejoicing and exultation for all that God has done.
The Political Pulpit
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
With Christmas on the horizon, the large Christmas trees have been set up in most of our great urban centers. We often look to the city as the center of the great public celebrations of Christmas. But in truth, there is not much to celebrate in the inner city, at least not as much as there is to celebrate in the suburbs or the countryside.
That American cities are in crisis is not news to readers. How they got into their present state may teach lessons about how American society and the church can address these dynamics.
Social commentator Christopher Lasch (The Revolt of the Elites, 9) offers a penetrating analysis of the decline of the American city. Noting that a healthy tension between town and country has characterized much American history, Lasch calls attention to how the development of the sprawling suburb after World War II has upset this balance. In the last decades, the suburbs have lost their purely residential character and been developed by businesses that ostensibly relocate in response to the residents' demands for goods and services. This development has created a cycle that encourages more and more businesses to abandon the cities to relocate in areas closer to the educated work force (and increasingly where the neighborhoods not decimated by urban flight are not so "rough").
As a result, what's left in the cities, Lasch maintains, are the large law firms, the advertising agencies, the publishing companies, entertainment enterprises, museums and hotels catering to professional conference guests, along with a few residents of high-rent districts. The vast majority of the remaining population is in poverty, working, if at all, only in servicing positions in the remaining businesses. There is no place for the middle class in the new city, as most of the jobs that they held have relocated to the suburbs. Residents of the city without the job training and money to be players in the remaining businesses have no other option, if they can get work, but to accept the low-paying service jobs that are left (like cleaning, chauffeuring, and the like). And as rents rise with gentrification, these service workers effectively get poorer.
Statistics verify that as a result, the American city has become impoverished. The 2000 Census noted that while nearly 31 million Americans were in poverty, of those, 16.1 percent of the impoverished lived in the center cities and 19.8 percent in metropolitan areas (US Census Bureau, "Historical Poverty Tables," www.census.gov). Lasch's analysis suggests that while those of us in the suburbs benefit from the relocation of businesses nearby, as our jobs relocate closer to us, or as wealthy urban residents gentrify the communities, more poverty is created for most other urban residents.
Too many American Christians today avoid the city and its problems, even those worshiping in metropolitan churches. Our text proclaims that it is the mission of God's people to repair the ruined cities (v. 4). For God loves justice and hates robbery (v. 8). The Suffering Servant, the Messiah for whom we prepare, is engaged in a ministry to the oppressed (v. 1). The celebration of Christmas without visible concern about the city (through prayer, donations, appropriate lobbying on its behalf) is a distortion of the urban orientation so evident in the faith to which this text testifies.
