John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1)
John the Baptist was one wild and crazy guy. For parents with a marriageable daughter like Gloria and me, he would have been our worst nightmare for a prospective son-in-law. He lived alone in the desert among scorpions; ate locusts and wild honey; wore clothes made of scratchy camel hair; ignored personal hygiene; and must have looked like a raving lunatic. His baptisms for the purification of sin were full dunkings in the Jordan River. No minimalist sprinkling on the forehead for him! His fiery sermons, which included graphic descriptions of the torments awaiting unrepentant sinners at the end of time, gave new meaning to fire and brimstone.
As tactful as a radio talk show host, this first century charm school drop-out was brutally honest like when he called the scribes and Pharisees, to their faces no less, a brood of vipers – just about guaranteeing he wouldn’t die of old age. Also sure to rile up the religious establishment, he warned that Jews should not rely on ancestry to Abraham as a defense for their disobedience. Scripture tells us that his penchant for truth telling so infuriated Herodias, King Herod Philip’s wife, that she got her adolescent daughter Salome to perform an exotic dance with seven veils that cost John his head.
Herald of the long awaited messiah, John the Baptist preached repentance. What’s repentance? A complete change of heart and mind; a reversal of values; a U-turn in how you’re living. Repentance was a necessary pre-condition for entering the kingdom which Jesus was about to inaugurate.
Despite his bizarre look and abrasive manner, those who observed the dramatic simplicity and holiness of John’s life were moved to want God in their lives too. Jesus was so impressed that he asked John to baptize him, even though Jesus was sinless and needed no purification. Last of the Old Testament prophets, John prepared the way for the public ministry of the One born in a manager 30 years earlier who would come with fire to purify souls and warm hearts.
Preparing for the Lord’s coming is a primary theme of Advent, this four-week holy season before Christmas. “Prepare yourselves,” “Make straight the way of the Lord,” “Repent, for the kingdom…is at hand,” that was John’s mantra as he roamed the Judean countryside urging people to turn away from self to God.
John understood well that one of God’s greatest gifts to us, a close second to life itself, is free will. Free will makes changing direction in life possible. Not forever doomed to the errors and consequences of past behavior, we’re free to repent and thus make up for the evil we’ve done. More than feeling sorry, however, we have to take responsibility for the hurt we’ve caused others; then try, as best we can, to make it up to them. By learning from our mistakes, we can transform the evil that separates us from God and others into the good that brings us together and closer to God. Although not all righteous folk agree, we believe God much prefers penitence to punishment.
One of Judaism’s noblest and most inspiring contributions to human spiritual development is the concept of Teshuvah -- repentance. Repentance provides a fresh start; a chance to fix what’s wrong in us; an opportunity to add what’s lacking for a meaningful life. A hallmark verse of the Torah, the 5000 year compiled teachings of Judaism, is this one: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; choose life…” It’s free will, the crown of our humanity that gives us the power to make moral choices. And it’s making moral choices that enables us to live meaningful lives.
History is filled with stories of women and men who changed their lives for the better; people who cared only for themselves, but then became loving and generous to others. Ebenezer Scrooge, the fictional character in Charles Dickens The Christmas Carol is a literary prototype. Their lives remind us that we too can change and become more Christ like. Advent is a time to take stock of how well we’re doing on that score.
Charles Wallis tells a remarkable story that took place in the early days of British history when punishment for public crimes was often cruel and unusual. A man was caught stealing sheep. The authorities ordered the letters S.T., standing for “sheep thief,” to be branded on his forehead. The man spent the rest of his life trying to live down those words. He succeeded beautifully. When he reached old age, the letters S.T. could still be seen on his forehead. When children asked their parents what the letters stood for, they replied reverently: ...“saint.”
Every advent John the Baptist reminds us that God demands an accounting; a personal inventory on how we’re doing in becoming the persons God intends us to be. In short, are we choosing life?
Anthony J. Sciolino
2rd Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2004. (Cycle A)
Isaiah 11:1-10, 10-11
Romans 15:4-9
Matthew 3:1-12.