The
LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you
with gladness, and renew you in his love, he will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals. Zephaniah 3:17-18A
“I
am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy
to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to
gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with
unquenchable fire.”
Luke 3:16-17
Piety
O Lord, incline your ear to our Advent prayers
and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of your visitation. Holy
Spirit, bring us together with family and friends this Holy Season and drive
away the darkness and evil and illness that threaten our unity.
Study
The countdown to Christmas is getting
closer. The joyful rose candle on the
Advent wreath gets lit tonight. We are
at less than two weeks before Christmas. Gaudete Sunday is the Sunday of
rejoicing, because the faithful have arrived at the midpoint of Advent, when
their preparation is now half over and they are close to Christmas.
The prophet Zephaniah guides us in a joyful prayer.
The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a
mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his
love, he will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals. Zephaniah 3:17-18A
Usually, the books of the prophets in the Hebrew
Bible has the image of being more “fire and brimstone” than the books of the
New Testament. Not in today’s pairing. Luke
recounts that John is sharing “good news.”
The good news from two thousand years ago is not unlike we might hear
from the pulpit or from the million-plus charities that the IRS has certified.
Share your food and clothing with the person
who has none
Stop collecting more taxes than what is
prescribed.
Do not practice extortion.
Do not falsely accuse anyone.
Be satisfied with your wages.
Do not falsely accuse anyone.
Be satisfied with your wages.
Action
Good news comes with a warning. Heed what I say or you might end up burned
like the chaff. John does not only
present a warning to his followers. He
has a pretty lowly position prescribed for himself. Untying sandals was a task
for the lowliest slave. John explains
that he is not worthy to do that for the coming Messiah. John is just a voice crying out in the wilderness
-- a voice who will foretell the message of repentance and change that the
Messiah will echo when he is in our midst.
What is the change you want to see in your
life this Advent season so that you do not end up in the fire with the chaff?
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