2nd Sunday in Advent
Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 1:68-79
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you from the one who
comes at the right time. Amen
The Bible is famous for long lists of names
that have stymied many a well-intentioned Bible reader.
Often these are genealogies
tracing the family from one important figure to the next.
The first appears as chapter 5 of Genesis
and if you make it past that
it only takes until chapter 10 for the next list,
with another in 11 and so on,
often full of unfamiliar names
we tend to skim over the lists
or skip them altogether
and we’re so conditioned to this practice
that when we reach the gospel of Luke
we are tempted to do the same thing,
‘okay here are some names, now let’s get to the good stuff-
John in the wilderness preparing the way,
calling people vipers (thought we’ll get that next week)
dunking them in the Jordan River,
now that’s interesting.’
But if we skip the names in Luke,
we miss an important point
that Luke has been making
from the very beginning of his gospel:
that God entered human history
in a very particular way,
in a very particular time and place,
for a very particular purpose.
This is not a story we can dismiss as a myth or a legend
that could have happened any time,
the power of the story is in its particular nature,
that God chose to fulfill the promises that God had made
in this very real way,
through very real people,
at this time that God determined was right time
that can be marked in history.
In ancient Greek there are two words for time:
chronos- or chronological time,
this is what we think of as time,
a linear progression of seconds, minutes, hours, days,
always moving forward, one thing leading to the next.
The other word for time is Kairos,
kairos is the right moment regardless of chronos,
kairos is God’s time.
The story Luke is telling
happens at the intersection of chronos and kairos
and he provides the markers for us to tell both times,
the historical figures for chronos
and the God events for kairos.
But there is even more to Luke’s list of names
at the beginning of chapter three,
just one of them names could have provided the historical location,
these names point not to just when God works,
but how God works.
Luke names the most powerful people
in this particular time and place,
Tiberius- Emperor of Rome,
Pontius Pilate-governor for Rome of Judea,
Herod and his brother and other local rulers
put in power by Rome,
and then the high priests
who were as it happens
also subject to regulation and annual appointment by Rome (Harper Collins Study Bible)
- see a theme here?-
Rome has the power
and these are the people that wield it.
And yet
The word of God comes to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
Not to the people with the power to move nations,
or even the religiously powerful,
and not in a place where the most people will hear it,
even the most likely place like the temple.
No,
the word of God comes to John,
in the wilderness.
God’s power comes differently than worldly power.
To the least likely rather than the most likely.
John himself is a product of chronos defying kairos.
He is the angelically announced late in life child
of Zechariah and Elizabeth who was thought to be barren,
who leapt for joy in his mother’s womb
when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visited.
His purpose has been clear from the beginning of his life
but it’s been awhile since all the miraculous stuff happened,
Luke tells us John grows strong and is in the wilderness
until he appears publicly as a prophet who emerges on the scene,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The right time has come,
the time to prepare for the salvation of God,
predicted in the words of the prophet Isaiah so long ago.
And the salvation will come from God in Jesus,
who puts aside the power of God to become human
Jesus who is born to an unwed teenager, in a barn
who will associate with a group of unknown outcasts,
and in the process
bring down the wrath of those people in power
listed at the beginning of chapter three,
and their power will feel so threatened by Jesus
that they will seek to remove the threat
by putting him to death.
And yet
Three days later Jesus rises from the dead.
Overcoming the power of the world
with God’s chronos defying power
and in the process bringing about the salvation of God for the world to see.
This is what John is preparing for in the wilderness.
But what about us?
We who are caught in the middle of chronos and kairos,
we know of the finality of the resurrection
we have seen the salvation of God
and we still wait for Jesus to return
and bring the kingdom of God to full realization
on earth as in heaven.
What this means for us
is that in watching for God,
we know where not to look-
we know not to look to the powers of the world,
or the most likely places,
salvation will not come from them
but will be shared through the unlikely,
the powerless
or those who give up power
to serve the Christ
whose power comes through the surrender of it
People like Paul,
who had everything going for him,
who was violently opposed to the way of Jesus
and yet when Paul met Jesus
he gave it all up
and turned his life to telling others of Jesus,
turning from the one doing the persecuting
to the one being persecuted,
but so strong is his conviction,
his faith in the return of Jesus,
that he continues his work
even from prison
from where he writes to the community at Philippi,
the letter we heard part of as our second reading
and note what he says:
“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”
Paul believes that God will keep the promises God makes
on God’s own time
and he knows that the community
will have to find a way to live until that time,
how are they to determine the right course?
Through love.
He says: “and this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best…”
With God
love is the source of wisdom and power.
Love is where God is found.
Love is our calling and our guide.
As we wait in the middle of chronos and kairos
and must determine what is best
we are to be guided not by obvious power
but by love,
love which kneels at the feet of our neighbors in service,
love which looks for the best possible interpretation of events
even as love is clear eyed about how power works in the world,
love that knows that God chooses the least likely at the right time
love that watches for the right time.
This is what we are called to in Advent,
a return to waiting for God’s time,
the right time,
a waiting that is active and alert,
a waiting that includes preparation,
preparation guided by love. Amen
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