Readings for Advent 3

Isaiah 35:1-10 • Luke 1:46b-55 • Matthew 11:2-1

Prayer:
God of joy and exultation,
you strengthen what is weak;
you enrich the poor
and give hope to those who live in fear.
Look upon the needs of the world this day.
Make us grateful for what is good
and keep us faithful in your service to those in need.
Help us to know your joy as we wait in this Advent time.
Amen

Isaiah 35:1-10

In this oracle of restoration, the prophet promises:

1) restoration of the land to fertility,
2) the end of human suffering and infirmity,
3) restoration of hope and justice, and
4) the joyful return of the exiles from captivity.

The prophet has predicted the destruction of the nations, particularly of Edom, and the devastation of their lands. (Edom was thought to have aided the Babylonians in capturing Jerusalem.) The other lands will be laid waste, rendered unproductive and given over to wild beasts (in Chapter 34). Now, in contrast, exiled Israel will be restored. The “desert shall ... blossom” (v. 1), the fertility of “Lebanon” (v. 2), “Carmel and Sharon”, which has been taken from them (33:9) will be given to Israel as a sign of God’s favour and glory. (The Plain of Sharon, extending from the Mediterranean coast to the Carmel range of mountains, was then covered with dense oak forest, as was much of Lebanon.) The land which had once been given over to wild beasts (“jackals”, v. 7, “lion”, v. 9) will once again be cultivated, and barren land will bloom.

Not only the land will be restored, but human life will also be transformed, with the end of infirmity (“make firm ... feeble knees”, v. 3, “blind”, “deaf”, “lame”, “speechless” vv. 4-6), and with the restoration of justice (“vengeance” and “recompense” v. 4) and hope. “Waters” (v. 6) and “streams” will make the land fertile again. (The little evidence we have indicates that the exiles did not suffer in exile, so vv. 4-6 are not meant literally.) Finally, the exiles, those taken captive to Babylon, will return on a “Holy Way” (v. 8), a “highway” in safety (v. 9) to “Zion” (v. 10), the holy city, and once again will worship God in the Temple. All of these will be signs that God’s rule is restored and that his favour rests on his people.

For reflection:
-the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly." Can you picture the way crocuses boldly shove up through the snow at the first hint of spring time? a sign of hope and life after a long, cold winter. Imagine, then, hope and life springing forth from the desert. That sharp contrast of color in the midst of a sea of uniformity, where it is not expected.
-Opposites - did you ever have an 'opposite day' when you were young, where everything you said meant the exact opposite of the expected meaning? That is Isaiah's vision here: blind see. deaf here. lame leap. the desert streams. dry is wet. When God come, everything is completely changed, totally altered by the experience of God.
-"Make firm the feeble knees . . . [God] will come and save you." God's strength puts our fears to rest.

What do all these images say about the God we await?
Often we are led to think of God's coming as something to be feared. What are the feelings that Isaiah's images bring forth?
Who needs strength right now? Who needs hope? Who wishes for everything to be turned around, reversed?

Luke 1:46b-55
Mary is visiting Elizabeth and Zechariah. God’s messenger, Gabriel, has told her that she will bear Jesus, “the Son of God” (v. 35), successor to David and founder of an eternal kingdom. With God, “nothing will be impossible” (v. 37) – it was possible for Sarah to bear a child. Mary now thanks God in a poem known as the Magnificat, so called for the first word of its Latin translation. Speaking today, she might begin: From the depth of my heart, I declare the Lord’s greatness and rejoice in God my Saviour. “Servant” (v. 48) can also be rendered handmaid: in v. 38, she has acknowledged that she is a “servant of the Lord”, i.e. obedient to him in all things. She will be hailed by people of every age (“generations”, v. 48) in the new era of salvation launched by her son. Why? Because of the seemingly impossible “things” (v. 49) God has done for her. Then a reminder (v. 50): God is compassionate to all who hold him in awe throughout time. Vv. 51-53 universalize her experience, to reflect how God deals with all humanity always.
The “proud” (v. 51), the arrogant, are alienated from God by their very “thoughts”; he reverses fortunes, raising up those in need (“lowly”, v. 52, “hungry”, v. 53) and rejecting the rich, those who think they don’t need God. Vv. 54-55 sum up the Magnificat: in his compassion, God has fulfilled and continues to fulfill his promises to the patriarchs.

For reflection:
We usually think of magnifying in the sense of making something bigger. Thinking of it this way, what would it mean if you soul, your spirit, made God appear larger to others?
Mary speaks as one who sees God's greatness already complete in the not-yet-complete actions of the birth of her baby, we see by the fact that she speaks about what God has done in the past tense. What trust, and what vision! Where do we need that trust? What do we hope that God might do?
Mary's images of God are all about God who changes the usual order of things - a God who lifts up the lowly and removes the rich and powerful from their usual places.
And it’s a song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB0eT2tYAZk
What is your favourite seasonal song?
What event or experience has made you want to sing?




James 5:7-10
Early Christians expected the return of Jesus, the second coming, almost immediately. This was connected with expectations about the Kingdom of God. The apparent delay of this event caused some difficulties and even some disputes among the faithful. James warns his readers not to be impatient lest this impatience lead to grumbling and division within the church which will bring judgement. For with the second coming of Christ comes also the judgement of God. The second coming is a two-edged sword: its arrival is both of comfort and of warning to Christians!
Instead, James tells his readers that they are to be patient in suffering like the prophets . They are to bide their time like the farmer who plants his crop in the knowledge that the rains will come in their own time . (In Palestine, there are two rainy times of the year: October-November, “early” and April-May, “late”.) So it is with the Kingdom. It is on its way, it is “near”, but will come in its own time. Our impatience will not hasten its coming, but we can expect it with the confidence of faith.

For reflection:
James seems at first a surprise choice for a text for Advent. Isn't James all about faith and works? But here is a most appropriate text.
"Be patient . . . until the coming of the Lord." Patience is not something we seem to value anymore. We value speed and efficiency. When have you had to be patient? When has patience brought you something better than what you could have gotten right away?


Matthew 11:2-1
John the Baptist has been arrested and imprisoned. Discouraged and in doubt, he sends messengers to ask Jesus: “Are you the one ...?” (v. 3) But Jesus does not simply say yes. Instead, he points John (and the crowd) to the signs of the Kingdom (v. 5). Echoing Isaiah, he points out that the blind, the deaf, the lame and the lepers are being healed and good news is given to the poor. Anyone can claim to be a herald of the kingdom, but only in the presence of the Messiah will the true signs of the Kingdom be evident. These are not mere claims, but incontrovertible proof. Yet apparently there are some who take offense at Jesus (v. 6). Perhaps even John himself has been disappointed because his expectations of the Messiah do not seem to be fulfilled by Jesus, e.g. he does not “wear soft robes” (v. 8). Perhaps this has given rise to doubts. Jesus refers to the signs of the Kingdom in Isaiah. John is “more than a prophet” (v. 9) for he heralds the dawn of the final era of history and announces the coming of the Kingdom. Now Jesus validates John’s ministry as a true prophet (by quoting a prophecy from Malachi, v. 10), going on even to identify John as Elijah, returned (v. 14). (Jews understood the time of the prophets to have ended, but took Malachi’s words to mean that Elijah would come again.) Jesus criticizes the people who went out to see John the Baptist in the wilderness with a variety of incorrect expectations. What they actually saw was greater than they could have imagined. Yet even John, as great as he was, only pointed the way to an even greater reality (v. 11). Up to and including John the Baptist was the time of prophetic promise; now this promise is starting to be fulfilled (v. 13). When we are disappointed, or our expectations of God’s Kingdom are dashed, perhaps it is because we are not looking for the signs of the Kingdom that are all around us.

For reflection:
If you've seen The Matrix, think Morpheus to Neo for John the Baptist to Jesus. John wants to know if Jesus is the one he's been waiting for. If he is, John will invest himself in this Jesus, and prepare to direct people to Jesus. If he's not the one, fine, but John wants to know the truth up front.

Jesus responds by saying: don't ask for confirmation of who I am in words from me. The confirmation of who I am is in my actions and what I have done. Can we say the same of ourselves?

What did you go out to see? Jesus repeats this question three times. What are you looking for? A spectacle? A circus side-show? Jesus suggests that whatever misguided notions people had in seeking John out, they would get more than they bargained for: "A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet." Have you ever gotten more than you bargained for, in a good way? Done something without hope of much meaning, but found instead a life-changing experience.

"yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Here's the puzzle Jesus lays out for us today. What does he mean by this? Well, if Jesus' message of good news is to announce that the kingdom of God is at hand, and John had been trying to prepare people for the coming, once the good news 'arrives', so to speak, John is - not irrelevant, exactly - but his task is done, his purpose has been served. We who live in the kingdom - our purpose is not yet served - we've more to do.