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The voice with which John the Baptist cried out was persuasive to many. He told them to prepare, to make ready the way of the Lord. Those who responded felt a desperation that this way be opened, yet at the same time recognized all of the obstacles present their own lives blocking the path.
Others who did not respond came to him insincerely. Perhaps they wanted to do what the crowds were doing or to be where the excitement was. On some level maybe they even desired the fulfillment of the promises which John was speaking. But those who came insincerely did not bear fruit worthy of repentance. These insincere seekers were often Pharisees and Sadducees. Perhaps they were too secure in their own positions to really to be open to what John was saying, to certain of themselves to recognize their own need.
Others, unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees, were willing to ask the million dollar question, "Teacher, what should we do?" They believed the message of John and so desired it to be true that they wanted it to be true in their own lives, in their hearts and minds, even if that meant that they could no longer be the same. It was not primarily circumstances which John came to set in order, but rather, the hearts of the people. Those who responded first and best seemed to be from groups that were despised or rejected by society, soldiers and tax collectors. They did not have an overly idealized sense of their own self-sufficiency. They were all too aware that the imperfections were not only outside, but inside as well. And they were at least willing to hear what ought to be done.
Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none.
And whoever has food should do likewise.
...
Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.
...
Do not practice extortion,
do not falsely accuse anyone,
and be satisfied with your wages.
The teaching John gave these seekers in response to their questions was not profoundly groundbreaking. Yet to be willing to hear it from a vulnerable place was very different from merely knowing it. All these classes of people probably understood the ways in which they were living selfishly. But it was only here, now, in the desert, in response to the hope of the Messiah, hope built on the prophetic words of John, that they could hear these words deeply enough to let themselves be changed be them.
The Lord is near.
When the Lord is near change becomes possible. Rather than being so preoccupied with the most prestigious aspects of ourselves, our own inner Pharisees, we become free to hear and respond to God. This freedom can empower our lives in such a way that our kindness really can be known to all, because we no longer need to hold back or hesitate.
When the Lord is near we no longer face the grueling necessity to transform ourselves and make ourselves ready. Rather, we respond with the eagerness of the crowd, of soldiers and of tax collectors. We sense that there is nothing on our end which is worth holding over and against the coming of the Lord. We are able to give up all that we were as so much rubbish. We are able to surrender all of our current concerns and desires by prayer and petition with thanksgiving. As we place Jesus at the center of our lives instead of ourselves we find that the consequence is joy, a joy that is not simply elation, but is a peaceful and lasting resting in the presence of Jesus himself.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Paul commands joy, and the Church too uses the imperative in telling us to rejoice on this third Sunday of Advent. They are not asking us to work up in ourselves an emotional state. Rather, than are instructing to seize the promise of what we will experience when we truly let the prophetic word get inside of us to change us from the inside out. Jesus himself will reorder our loves. His very presence at the center of our lives, which we can not create but only receive, is the only source of true and lasting peace. This is the promise spoken of by the prophet Zephaniah:
the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
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