3rd Sunday of Advent | December 15, 2024

Last week we heard in the gospel of Luke a list of names. They were the people at at the top of the ladder, people of power, and we are given these names before the gospel says: but, the Word of did not come to them… it came to John the Baptist in the desert. The point being that the gospel would not come through those people in power or the systems of power, political or religious, which they had created because they were powers after their own glory rather than the glory of God.

Today we hear about more people, but this time they are not named, they are just called tax collectors and soldiers amongst others. These are the people at the bottom of the ladder, and they are the ones coming to be baptized by John. These where the crowds of people that where low wage earners, at the bottom of society, awaiting for something better, awaiting for a different kind of power because the political and religious powers at the time had failed them, so they look towards John the Baptist wondering if maybe he would be the Messiah.

They hear John preaching I am baptizing with water, but the Messiah will baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. He will separate the grain from the chaff and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire, and they are attracted to that message… Why does that message strike them as good news? Why does it fill them with expectation? Because John is being totally honest about the state of affairs of life and society. It is impactful when someone is able to speak candidly about what you see and experience, when someone “tells it like it is.”

 John was calling for change in every aspect of life. Everything needed to change. He calls people to baptism for the forgiveness of sins which means he is calling people to be honest about the need for change in their lives. Then he says I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of the sandals of the Messiah who is to come. I can call you to repentance to receive forgiveness through water, but the true Messiah, Jesus, he has the power to change things permanently. He is going to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, not merely forgives sins, but takes away sin, and he will do so with fire.

Water and fire are symbols of judgment. The water of baptism recalls the water of the flood that God used to judge the world before the covenant with Noah, so receiving baptism is expressing a willingness to submit yourself to God’s judgment, to order your life around the way that God judges things. That is John’s baptism through water, but that is not enough. Anyone can forgive, anyone can strive to have a more virtuous moral life, but that does not do something more profound at the level of the human heart, the soul.

That is where fire comes in. Jesus teaches that baptism has to be more than just forgiveness, it has to also lead towards transformation. That is where the image of fire comes in. Fire in this context is not just superficial cleansing, but a permanent purification, the burning away of all unnecessary elements and this means a change in how you view and relate to ever aspect of life, especially religion… because we humans have had an interesting relationship with religion throughout our history.

John here is in dialogue with the Jews, and they think he might be the Messiah. Almos every religion has sought after a messiah, a savior, a hero, a guru, and they have made way to plenty of self-proclaimed messiahs as they try to be the religion that has the answers to all the world’s problems. Remember that just a few centuries before that title had been given to Agustus Cesar – called the savior of the world and the beginning of the gospel the good news.

So, as they are trying to make a Messiah out of John, instead of taking advantage of it and seek power, he immediately he corrects them. I cannot give you what you need, the one coming after me will… Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit.

The spirit was the presence of God, the glory of God, that dwelled only in the temple. By this time, the temple area was under Roman occupation, and Roman rule had silenced any prophetic voice, restricted the spirit, he presence of God. In John the Baptist the prophetic voice is heard once again and he speaks of the return of the spirit this time brought about by the Messiah, a spirit that enters human presence this time through the incarnation, Christmas, and anyone willing to repent and submit to God’s judgment will live in the power of spirit. To be baptized is to live in the presence of God.

This message was powerful, it was unlike anything anyone had ever heard of or imagined, so the people asked John what should we do? what does that mean for us? What John does not say is as important as what he does say.

He does not say God is going to burn all the chaff so go out and identify who you think should be burned because now is the time to get your revenge? I can think of a few people I would have thrown under the bus…

Rather, when the tax collectors the financial experts ask what should we do? John says stop acting dishonestly stop trying to rip people off.

When the soldiers, the enforcers of the law and order asked what should we do? John says stop using your power to take advantage of people stop using false accusations to cover up your abuse of power.

When the people in the crowd say what should we do? John says stop looking out only for yourself and start looking out for others.

There is one common theme in these three responses: justice. They are all looking for justice after the political and religious powers let them down. It was those powers that were accusing them, taking advantage of them, not looking after their common good, and they were hoping the Messiah would return the favor and put them in their place, revenge. Yet they are told justice begins when you yourself do the opposite.  

This form of justice is unique, it is based not on punishment but on mercy. This is what the prophet Zephaniah is singing about in the first reading:

Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
    Be glad and exult with all your heart,
        O daughter Jerusalem!
    The LORD has removed the judgment against you
        he has turned away your enemies;
    the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
        you have no further misfortune to fear.

God’s form of justice as mercy does not involve punishment. The gospel of mercy is that everyone created in the image of God everyone deserves the opportunity to grow in that dignity. Jesus at one point quotes the golden rule… due to another what you would like them to do to you. That rule is found in all the major religions of the world, but the gospel of mercy is beyond that… he will stretch it when he then demands love your enemies, love those who hate you, forgive those who have uttered every kind of insult against you falsely, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, be in solidarity with the poor, rejoice and be glad, because when you do these things, God’s justice, mercy, God’s spirit, God’s glory is reigning on earth. If the gospel of mercy is lived out, this is the beginning of fire, permanent change in our life and in the history of humanity.

Paul says rejoice in the Lord always… the Lord is near… have no anxiety, pray always, then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Chris.

By this time, Paul is in prison, guarded 24/7, threatened to be killed. My anxiety would be at an all-time high… But Paul is letting one thing guard his heart, the peace of God he has received through faith in Jesus Christ.

 Why is he in jail? Not because he committed a crime. He is in jail because of an injustice, because he was preaching the gospel. Prison guards enjoyed abusing their power, they would mistreat inmates and surely some of them beat Paul and enjoyed exercising their power over him. But Paul writes something interesting in this letter to the Philippines. At one point he says my situation has turned out to advance the gospel so that my imprisonment has become well known in Christ throughout the whole prison guard.

Instead of returning injustice with insult and ill wishes towards them, Paul is winning them over by his own witness, by forgiving them, by loving them, by talking with them, so much so that he ends the letter with greetings from the new converts among the prison guards. He says the brothers who are with me send you their greetings, especially those of Caesar’s household.

This 3rd Sunday of advent we are called to rejoice because of the power of mercy that comes to us through Jesus Christ. We begin Mass invoking this mercy as acknowledge our sins and willingly call upon God’s judgment for ourselves. When we say or sing Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy, we are not simply praying for God to have mercy on us as individuals, this is a prayer for God to fill us with mercy, to make us a people who witness to the gospel of mercy. It is a prayer that calls down fire, the Holy Spirit, so that, one act of mercy at a time, we will be led to permanent justice in the world and then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will forever guard our hearts and our minds in Jesus Christ.

Fr Carlos Orozco