This post was published to Pieces off me at 10:29:55 PM 12/11/2010
Advent: The Message of John the Baptist
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The term advent is derived from the Latin root adventus which means coming and advenio meaning to come. In proper terms the word means to expect. The time of advent has come again and we are all expecting to receive something. But do we all know what it is. Let us not be quick to expect and expect wrongly. We should all ask ourselves, what are we expecting? Indeed the term advent can be used in varying ways to depict this expectancy and that is why it is maintained that we ask ourselves what we are expecting or what we hope to gain by expecting. People usually expect the best, but there are also people who also expect the worse. Strange as it may seem that someone should expect the worse and yet we cannot limit expectancy to only good things. Advent as a word is also applied to the expectation of Christ, his birth; In the Christian church calendar, the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and also of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ. It begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 (St. Andrew's Day) and is the beginning of the new church year. The date when the season was first observed is uncertain. ("Advent." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010.) Advent has probably been observed since the fourth century. Originally, it was a time when converts to Christianity readied themselves for baptism. During the Middle Ages, Advent became associated with preparation for the Second Coming. In early days Advent lasted from November 11, the feast of St. Martin, until Christmas Day. Advent was considered a pre-Christmas season of Lent when Christians devoted themselves to prayer and fasting. (http://www.infoplease.com/spot/advent1.html)
The message of advent is one of preparation, one of making straights the paths, one of repentance, messages that are all enveloped in the message of John the Baptist. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist remarks: listen to the voice crying out in the desert: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The valleys would be filled and the mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked will be made straight and the rough paths smooth; and every mortal will see the salvation of God. (Lk 3:4-6) What prompted such statement from John the Baptist, what gave the prophet Isaiah the insight? All was done by God, because He was to come. And yet we should remember that the message of John was set upon the eschatological and apocalyptic thought that ran in the minds of the children of Israel. (Filip Noel- LUKE, in the International Bible commentary) After years of oppression and suffering, the children of Israel, hoped that the same God who had allowed this suffering to befall them would also allow some respite to come their way. And thus the sayings and prophecies of the prophets saw that this longing was heightened by the day. With the inherent delay, the people needed assurance as they had begun seeing the true prophets as false due to their oracles that failed to come to pass. John’s message was a message of truth, a message of reassurance that the prophecies of old had come to pass and that people should get ready and stand up in expectation. Indeed the people of Israel had longed for a saviour who would come to set them free from captivity, a warrior-like savior who would put their enemies to shame, who would punish severely their enemies. Their thought was not out of place, because if we were told in Nigeria that we should expect the chosen one, where would our minds first go? Would it not go to one who would come and save us from this corruption that is keeping this nation at a still point? Would our minds go to a religious person? Maybe, maybe not, but most probably, our minds would go straight to a political giant who would come to crush and make new our lives. Our minds would go to a politically minded person especially now that Nigeria is on the eve of another election. Advent is a period of Joyful preparation. Indeed there are two periods when the church earnestly prepares in expectation for something- it is during the seasons of Easter and Christmas. But while the period of lent which prepares us for Easter has more rigour attached to it, the period of advent is a period of joyful waiting. Let us not forget what is very important in this season of waiting- Christ. Indeed the message of John the Baptist would have fallen short of a true message if it had not had Christ in it. We know for sure that John the Baptist’s message did not have traces of joy; it was rather a message of doom to all that refused to align themselves towards this expectancy. At the point of his warning, the message of advent was not as joyful as we know it to be today, but it had in it an element that made it worthy, that made it a worthy message, a message that should provoke repentance. At this point, we should ask ourselves again, what are we or who are we truly expecting?
John’s preparation saw him baptize persons, repentant persons. His reason was that people could not hope to receive the God in a state that is ungodly, and as such baptism, which is prefigured by a complete repentance, was called for. In the message of John the Baptist, in the message of advent, we see three very important aspect of this expectancy, and they are:
1 PREPARATION: According to late Fr Mason OSA, there can be no celebration without any preparation. To push this further a little bit, I would say that nothing works well if it is bereft of preparation. Preparation enables us to seriously weigh the options and to set our minds upon having a wonderful or successful event. This truly pictures what advent is all about. It is a preparation for the coming of our Lord. How do you prepare for the coming of an important guest? Do you allow yourself to wait till the dying minute or do you start your work on time? How do you prepare for exams? Do you wait till it is few days to the start of the exams or do you start it on time? We should consider the caliber of person that we are expecting. John knew of His worth and that is why he advocated repentance with baptism. The concept of repentance is not old to man, for with the dawn of sin came the need to repent. Repentance is always initiated by God, who instills in His children the need to seek out a better life than the one they are at present living. To prove this point, God showed depth of initiative when He came as man to show man the way to repentance. Such preparation via baptism points to one truth and this truth is contained entirely in the meaning of repentance. That is a truth that speaks of cleanliness. Baptism washes ones sins away, making one more acceptable to God; while repentance is the potential movement towards this acceptable cleanliness needed by man in his appearance before God, baptism is the actuality of that movement. One would ask, why do I need repentance for this season? This season is about God and His love for humanity, it is a season of Christ obedience made manifest in his becoming man, it is a season of the Holy Spirit’s collaboration with a virgin to make salvific process a reality. Repentance is literally a change of mind, not about individual plans, intentions, or beliefs, but rather a change in one’s attitude about God. Such repentance accompanies saving faith in Christ (Acts 20:21). It is inconsistent and unintelligible to suppose that anyone could believe in Christ yet not repent. Repentance is such an important aspect of conversion that it is often stressed, as when Christ said that there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). (illumina Gold software) One would be working against God’s plan for salvation if he turns his back on a very important aspect of this salvation process- the beginning, which is the birth of His Son. It is to stress here that the beginning of any process is very important and that is why people go through pains to see that they start of well and particularly end well. We show our solidarity to this process of salvation of the human race when we prepare to receive he who is going to do the job for us. Humanity has called on a technician to repair what was damaged in the relationship, and that technician has agreed to come. What are we supposed to do? He does not know the terrain as we do, but we are very sure that he is an expert and that is why we have called him. Should we just leave him just like that? Are we not going to welcome him? That is what preparation does, and that is why John the Baptist’s advocacy for baptism and repentance is very much in place. This is the best way to welcome Christ, our technician. And yet we should not conceive of this literally. For us that have already been baptized, we are called upon to make ourselves clean by an act of confession and generally by doing acts of piety this season. Advent is a time for preparation for the coming of God. We should welcome him in faith and our faith is made manifest in the works that we do. What are the works that truly manifest this faith in God? These are works that are acceptable in the sight of God; these are works that are done by one who has aligned himself in obedience to God. Psalm 15 says:
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to slander others or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise persistent sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people would stand firm forever. (Ps 15:2-5)
Our works must be that of uprightness and truth (Pro 21:3 says: The Lord is more pleased when we do what is just and right than when we give him sacrifices.) Any work that lacks in this respect does not reflect truly the faith we profess in Christ. We have been always reminded that God take more delight in our works that have been inspired by a total faith in Him, than in the sacrificial goods offered Him. In this season, we are called to run away from showy sacrifices, sacrifices that range from the celebration of the season without the reason for this season. Let us order our lives in such a way that as Christ was born in the manger 2000years ago, he would also be born in our hearts come 25th December. We should make our hearts ready, in the spirit of John the Baptist; we should make right our hearts and prepare it fully for the reception of Christ. There is need to clean our hearts because it is in it that we harbor all that goes against the dictates of God. There should be a total conversion towards to this season and yet in the light of the thought of Fr. Celsus (a priest of Shendam Diocese), conversion is only possible with God, for He is its author; but man can repent from his sins. Thus repentance this season is much needed, for we hope that with the repentance of our hearts and minds God’s coming would effect a conversion.
A story is told of friends who set out to prepare a birthday party for one of their friends. On the appointed day and on the appointed time, the chief host was nowhere to be found. He did not drop any message and so his friends and the people they had invited waited and waited, but this man did not show up. After waiting for a long time, they decided to start the party. When the party and the music that came forth, had reached crescendo, the chief host arrived. What do you think was his reaction? He indeed did not like the fact that they had started the party without him. And so he asked them “what of if something bad had happened to me? Is that how you people would have gone on with the party?” it was evident that his friends had more interest in the partying than in the person who the party was for. This occurrence is always found at the time of Christmas. We like these friends of the host, would do everything right and fail to do the most important thing well. Christ is the chief celebrant but more than ever he has been sidelined and made almost unimportant in this Christmas. Have you ever seen a Christmas without a Christ? A Christmas without Christ is very pathetic, consider it. Christmas has Christ as her central and only focus.
God the Father wishes to celebrate the birthday of His Son and He has prepared the birthday banquet, wishing that all His friends attend. He has sent out word to all His friends and has told them of the venue; it is left for us his friends to attend. Let us remember that if we fail to attend, the banquet hall must be filled and so He will go looking for people to fill up this banquet hall. In the midst of this all, we are all advised to come dressed in our birthday garments lest we face what happened to that man that did not have a festal garment (Mt 22:11-13) The whole of Chapter 22 especially from verses 1 to 13 of the gospel of Matthew, brings to light the fact of preparing in the right way. Know this, that in the event of Christmas, while we are preparing to receive Christ, God is also preparing to Christ for this reception. There is a mutual-ongoing preparation between the Creator and the created. And since it is the occasion of the Son of God, there is every reason to align our preparation to that of the organizer-God. God wishes that we dress up in a festal garb, thus we should go shopping for that garb and nothing more that is if we want to be accepted into the banquet hall. The best preparation we can offer is a change of heart, in fact a total renewing of our hearts to accept the First Born Son of God- REPENTANCE, is very much the ideal here. Instead of going ahead with all the cooking preparations and the present buying or the clothes shopping, let us look for that which will make us acceptable- our festal garment. We have trivialized and turned Christmas into another material charade. This is a wrong presentation of the truth; it is a total falsification of the whole ideal. While I still maintain that the above mentioned are very important for this season, I still hold that the most important should be given it own pride of place and should not be knocked off that position. The important is nothing but the fact that Christ is the essence and truth behind the celebration of Christmas.
2 HOPE: To hope is to expect the fulfillment of a desire or wish. (Illumina Gold) A desire of some good, accompanied with an expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable; an expectation of something which is thought to be desirable; confidence; pleasing expectancy. (http://ardictionary.com/Hope/4354) Hope is a vital condition for human life. Without hope, a person cannot exist. People experience their existence as a longing and striving, as a dynamism proceeding from a hidden impulse and aspiring for a better, more perfect life. (Karl Peschke- Christian Ethics) Hope, in its widest acceptation, is described as the desire of something together with the expectation of obtaining it. The Scholastics say that it is a movement of the appetite towards a future good, which though hard to attain is possible of attainment; it is defined to be a Divine virtue by which we confidently expect, with God's help, to reach eternal felicity as well as to have at our disposal the means of securing it. It is said to be Divine not merely because its immediate object is God, but also because of the special manner of its origin. Hope, such as we are here contemplating, is an infused virtue; i.e., it is not, like good habits in general, the outcome of repeated acts or the product of our own industry. Like supernatural faith and charity it is directly implanted in the soul by Almighty God. Both in itself and in the scope of its operation it outstrips the limits of the created order, and is to be had if at all only through the direct largess of the Creator. The capacity which it confers is not only the strengthening of an existing power, but rather the elevation, the transforming of a faculty for the performance of functions essentially outside its natural sphere of activity. All of this is intelligible only on the basis, which we take for granted, that there is such a thing as the supernatural order, and that the only realizable ultimate destiny of man in the present providence of God lies in that order. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07465b.htm) Hope is termed a theological virtue because its immediate object is God, as is true of the other two essentially infused virtues, faith and charity. St. Thomas acutely says that the theological virtues are so called "because they have God for their object, both in so far as by them we are properly directed to Him, and because they are infused into our souls by God alone, as also, finally, because we come to know of them only by Divine revelation in the Sacred Scriptures". Theologians enlarge upon this idea by saying that Almighty God is both the material and the formal object of hope. He is the material object because He is that which is chiefly, though not solely, aimed at when we elicit acts of this virtue- i.e., whatever else is looked for is only desired in so far as it bears a relation to Him. Hence according to the generally followed teaching, not only supernatural helps, particularly such as are necessary for our salvation, but also things in the temporal order, inasmuch as they can be means to reach the supreme end of human life, may be the material objects of supernatural hope. It is worthwhile noting here that in a strict construction of the term we cannot properly hope for eternal life for someone other than ourselves. The reason is that it is of the nature of hope to desire and expect something apprehended precisely as the good or happiness of the one who hopes (bonum proprium). In a qualified sense, however, that is so far as love may have united us with others, we may hope for others as well as for ourselves. (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07465b.htm) What are we hoping for at this period of Advent?
Christ has always been our hope and will always be our hope. Every Christian has the belief that they would end up sharing in the beatific vision of God and the only way to attaining to this is by living in the hope which God has presented to us. We should live in the Hope of an eternity that God presents us through the coming of His Son. The hope of heaven is a summit of all hopes that can be found in life. There is no way for us to get that sunum bonum of life in God if God does not come in person to show us the way to Him. Christ’s coming was not to only reconcile us to God, he came to clear a path and show us the best possible path to the father. In many ways, we would expect and hope for many things except that which is the essence. Advent is a period of expectancy; it is similarly a period of hope. What does hope do to us as Christians?
· It gives us endurance in adversity and suffering: hope gives people the strength to pursue tasks and goals assigned to them also in difficulties and adversities, to make moral choices involving great effort and sacrifice, and to persevere in them. While hope gives us Christians the fortitude to endure in suffering, their patient bearing in distress also becomes a witness to the strength of hope that they possess.
· It opens us to the future: Christian life is always prospective, it always looks forward, and it seeks to depart to the unknown. In an encounter with the God of hope people always find themselves in what is new, surprising, unique and full of mystery.
· It summons us to transform the world: hope does not render effort superfluous but demands it. People hope for God’s justice and peace by striving for their progressive realization. The hope of our calling is a summons to be mediators in that process by which all things should be brought home to the kingdom of Christ and submitted to his salvific lordship.
· It is committed to the liberation of man: hope transforms the world in a special way. It poses a challenge to reform the society and to create better conditions of life for humans. Among the principal objectives of hope is the salvation of man. (Karl Peschke- Christian Ethics).
The last point draws our attention to the fullest work of hope, that of salvation. Man cannot seek to live without hope; he makes a mistake if he does this. This is what makes our religion unique, and this has what people have criticized in Christianity, that we live out our belief in something that is non-existent. It should be maintained that God is not something but somebody and He has shown us that He truly exists and has interest in our wellbeing by sending us His Son. There is every need to hope for the best this advent. Yes, we should hope for the best because the best is coming into our lives to take his place. We should hope for a Christ who comes into our world to relieve us of our pain, a pain that he is ready to share; what could we wish for. The prophecies of old spoke of a child that was to be expected, a child that was going to make all things new, a child that was going to reinvigorate the people, a child that was going to set them free from oppression, a child that would be a selfless leader, a child that would carry the interest of all in his heart and on his shoulders. That child is the same child that we are expecting in our times. Yes, we are hoping that he would do all what the prophecies of old spoke of. Christians, you should realize that God loves you; according to Fr Celsus, God is undeniably four things, namely: He is powerful, loving, faithful and caring. Thus God expects that we hope in His ability to meet with our needs and beyond. Every human being desires a life of pleasure, one that he/she would not suffer. Looking into the depth of this desire, I have come to realize that every human desires that beatific vision with God because that is the summit of all pleasures and assuredly with Him there is nothing about suffering. And this God has presented us a pathway to thus beatific vision with Him- Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. (Jn 14: