Advent 3

ADVENT 3     Isaiah 35:1-10   James 5:7-10   Matthew 11:2-11

Salvation is a personal experience which unites us with God. While salvation is certainly personal, it is also communal because we are saved into the Body of Christ—the church. No one can be saved outside of the church because there is no parallel to membership in the People of God. Each of us is being saved from "the flesh," (The Holy Spirit uses our disciplines to delivers us from our dark side with its sinful desires), but God must also free us from the demonic and redeem us from the world.  

In Genesis 1, chaos pre-exists creation, and in the Noah story human sin results in a return to chaos. Humans are commanded to watch over the world and subdue it, but after the sin the world is cursed and nature is a source of blessings and adversity. The New Testaments introduces spiritual warfare with the demonic and Jesus calls Satan (John 14:33) the prince of this world. We inhabit the world and the environment is a key contributor to our wellbeing.

Isaiah 35 is a song about that worldly dimension of redemption. Human beings are impacted by politics and weather, diseases and relationships. Isaiah declares that God saves people by making a parched wilderness to teem with life. The Lord exhorts His people: "Be strong, do not fear." God will save His friends, and overthrow His enemies. The Lord will establish a highway for His people—but it will be holy, so the people cannot be unclean. His people will sing with joy as their maladies are healed.

God gives promises of salvation, but He rarely explain the step-by-step process. Jews had many different beliefs about salvation, and those who believed in a Messiah disagreed on who it would be and what he would do. In Matthew 3, John the Baptist had proclaimed that there was “one coming” after him who would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. John expected him to come in judgement, to separate the wheat and burn the chaff. In chapter 11, John sits in prison and he apparently wondered if he had been right. John asks Jesus, "Are you the one who is to come?" Jesus' answer is not a straight yes or no. Rather, with a reference to Isaiah, Jesus emphasizes His healing ministry. Jesus concludes, “Blessed is the one who is not scandalized by Me." We do not know what John the Baptist thought, but what about us?

We may be scandalized by the healing ministry, or troubled that there are not more healings. Maybe we are scandalized that His kingdom has not come and that the world is not a better place. Maybe we are offended by the constraints of Christian morality or the expectation to help the poor. Maybe we like a Savior but not a Lord? Or maybe we are scandalized by the long wait for His return?

It’s been over 1900 years since James said, “be patient until the coming of the Lord.” James used the Greek word macrothymia three times. It means “to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes, troubles and offenses and not lose heart.” James also adds that the prophets are our model for suffering. The promise of suffering is one of Christianity’s least desirable qualities. Few churches in our culture advertise suffering as a benefit of membership…  

Many people have decided that Jesus is not the One, and they are looking elsewhere. It is our own state, however, for which we are responsible. As we wait for Jesus, we must be aware that in subtle ways we also might be paying Him lip service, while in reality our hearts serve other masters. That is part of our battle with the flesh.

God will deliver us from Satan and the World—and the suffering in the meantime will be real. In Advent we wait for Jesus, even as He tarries. The most important gift you will give this holiday season is your heart to Him. While we wait, we give ourselves to Him, who has given Himself to us (in word, sacrament and Spirit). The gift of theosis—saving union with God—is a process which we receive together, as a church.

maranatha, Come Lord Jesus!