December 10, 2006
(Second Sunday of Advent)
Road Construction Ahead
by The Rev. Canon Susan Sommer
Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4
Canticle 4 or 16 Philippians
1:3-11 Luke 3:1-6
(From
The Lectionary Page)
The road that takes me to the nursing home where my dad lives has been under construction for, well, forever. I THINK theyre trying to improve the drainage, though to my less-than-expert eyes its hard to tell. On good days, I give thanks that I dont earn my living on blisteringly hot or numbingly cold days holding a stop sign and directing traffic. On bad days, I grumble at the inconvenience, of backhoes that block my way, of lumbering dusty gravel trucks, at ruts and bumps that threatened the alignment of my car no matter how slowly I drive.
Our lessons today use road construction imagery. Both our reading from Baruch and our gospel from Luke quote a much earlier work: specifically, the 40th chapter of Isaiah. In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, and all people shall see the salvation of our God! Powerful imagery for pre-industrial people for whom no highway was ever straight or smooth, well-drained or easily built. Isaiah prophesied the return of the faithful to Israel following the Exile in Babylon. The path the captive Jews had walked two generations earlier in defeat, would be a highway for their triumphant return, led by God himself. Two centuries later, Baruch reminded the people of that message of restoration, using the language we heard in our first reading today. And three centuries after that, the message was repeated, this time by John the Baptist.
What had happened during those 5 centuries? The people did return from exile. There were kings and high priests once more, though of course, only by permission of a foreign ruler. As in any political system, those in authority within the Jewish world were savvy enough to do what it took to stay in the good graces of whatever empire controlled the world. By the time Tiberius was emperor of Rome and Herod was ruler in Galilee and Pontus Pilate was governor of Judea, an uneasy peace was established. Jewish officials lived well. City dwellers in Jerusalem and elsewhere got by. As for the underclass, well, it was with them as it had always been, and is to this day: a hand-to-mouth existence.
And into this real world, administered by emperors, governors, kings, and high priests, came another prophet speaking old and familiar words about a new and radically different thing about to happen. It wasn't going to be a geographic restoration, nor was it going to be political restoration. Nothing less than salvation was in the works. As God had acted from the moment he first called Abram into relationship -- centuries before Moses, centuries before King David, centuries before the return from Exile -- God was about to act again. So make ready, John says. Clear the way. And he used Isaiah's image because the people would have recognized it both in terms of the comfort it offered those who suffered as well as the implied criticism it created of those in charge. John will reserve his harshest criticism for those who had, in essence, recreated for their own people in Judea the suffering that their ancestors experienced in the Exile, and well hear that next Sunday.
Unlike Matthew and Mark, Luke does not give a physical description of John the Baptist's appearance. Frankly, I like to imagine him in a bright orange and yellow vest, steel-toed boots, and a hard-hat, holding one of those stop-signs. You know the routine. You see the sign, "Road Construction Ahead." And you hope that it won't be too inconvenient, that maybe it's just shoulder work or pothole patching." And then you see the guy with the stop sign. And you better stop. And all of your priorities at that moment had better get re-arranged. And when you proceed, you better do it carefully because the road is being transformed right before your eyes.
On this second Sunday of Advent, John the Baptist gets in our way with a stop sign. Stop. Pay attention. Something is happening here. The way of the Lord is being prepared. We can execute a 3-point turn at the first sign of road construction and find an alternate route where we won't be inconvenienced by an obstreperous hard-hatted, hard-headed prophet. Or we can stop, and open our hearts and minds to John's message and invitation. The blueprint has been around for a long time and is still valid. Preparing the way of the Lord remains a participatory event. We do it by engaging the work of transformation begun in us in our baptisms. By casting away the works of darkness, putting upon us the armor of light. No heavy equipment required. Merely stony hearts cracked open to Gods unwavering love.
