2^nd Sunday Advent

I wonder what kind of reception John the Baptist would receive here in Hong Kong if he suddenly appeared in Statue Square in Central and began to preach from his soap box that it was time to repent, that the Lord was soon to come. The gospel tells us that he had an unusual diet and dressed outlandishly when he appeared at the River Jordan. In those circumstances he had to be considered an eccentric loner when he called the people to pause, take a break from their ordinary busy schedule, reflect on their lives and repent of their sins. The amazing thing about it was that a great many people actually took him seriously and publicly acknowledged that they were sinners ready to confess and to start a new life.

The bible gives little preliminaries to the appearance of John. He is suddenly there announcing that he was the one Isaiah the prophet spoke of as “a voice crying in the wilderness”, who was to prepare the way for the Lord and make straight his paths. What can we surmise? Who listened to him and why did they do so?

Today there are a few regulars in Central who are dressed not in camel’s hair but in black, oily rags. If one day one of them were suddenly to proclaim a similar message, who would believe him? Was it the camel’s hair and diet of locusts and wild honey that attracted so many to John and made him credible? Even some of the educated elite, the Pharisees and Sadducees, presented themselves for baptism with the others, though obviously they were not prepared to change their ways. Since Jesus himself authenticated John’s ministry and declared him to be truly a man sent by God, there was a lot more to him than how he looked or what he ate.

This was the same John who, at the greeting of the mother of Jesus, in his sixth month leapt in his mother’s womb. May we say that at that time John received his vocation in life and that he too was filled with the Holy Spirit so that he could accomplish it? From that moment he was destined to be God’s chosen one, the one to tell the world that the long-promised one had arrived in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. And somehow many believed him and accepted his word.

By presenting themselves to John for baptism they publicly acknowledged him and his prophetic mission. The conditions that he laid down for their receiving his baptism were that they confess their sins openly and promise to turn away from sinful behaviour in preparation for the kingdom of God that was at hand. It seems that those who were readily recognized as sinners, including prostitutes and soldiers, came to John prepared to turn over a new leaf. The supposedly good, however, were in fact self-righteous ones, who wanted to take no chances and externally came forward with pious gestures but internally had no intention of making any radical changes. As so often happens in the presence of holy men or women, their hypocrisy was evident and they could not fool John.

These gospel events happened a long time ago at the beginning of Jesus’ public life. It is easy to say that it is an interesting story and that man John the Baptist was a strange figure of strength and zeal. But it all happened a long time ago and many might say, “Yes, John must have been all that was said of him, but so what? Beyond being an interesting story about an unusual character in the time of Jesus, so what? What has he to do with me?”

The Church thinks he has plenty to do with all of us, especially at this time when we once again celebrate Christmas and recall the first coming of Jesus at Bethlehem. In the life of the Church the liturgy seeks to make present events of the past, and Christmas is special in that there are so many visible representations of the birth of Jesus. It’s a gentle feast by which we remember and celebrate God’s love for us and his gift of his only Son. John the Baptist helps us to further remember the public coming of Jesus later at the River Jordan. He told people of his day how to prepare for that coming and also helps us to prepare for his coming again into the lives of each of us today.

It will surely be a happy Christmas if we do more than remember the babe born in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago. That babe became the man Jesus who taught us how to live and promised to live in us that we might live happily. He comes to us not only once but constantly, provided we put no obstacles in his way. What John said to the people of Israel is as applicable to us as it was to them.

“Repent,” John said, “ the kingdom of God is at hand.” The Church prophetically says much the same thing: “The Lord is coming soon. He desires to be with you. Will you let him? He cannot violate your free will and will not force himself on you. To repent means to change the direction of your life; if it is sinful you must give up your sin, for he, even though he is God　 - perhaps even because he is God – he cannot live in you and you in him when you are in sin. Repentance opens your heart and makes room for him.

As we have seen, those who knew themselves as sinners were moved to present themselves to John for baptism. The self-righteous had no need to repent. Where do you fit in? The Church calls all of us to seek the forgiveness of our sins, but we must first of all admit our need. We cannot get away with a pious exterior but must meet the demands that John made of the Pharisees, appropriate fruit, a change of heart, and if needed a radical change in the direction of your life. MAY IT BE SO.