SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
Rom. 15:7: “Accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.”
Luke 21:33: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.”
Reflection
“The Pope is shepherd of his flock.
What animal does that make his followers? Sheep.
What’s the dumbest animal in the country? Sheep.
I rest my case.”
These words greeted me on my morning subway commute to church about three weeks ago.
I had been reciting the Daily Office, as I usually try to do on the train, headphones on, no music, because I find it keeps my mind from being distracted by others’ conversations, and the like. I barely noticed the two older gentlemen and one woman with them who got on and sat down near me, much less what they were talking about.
The whole weekend, I had been thinking about what to write for this blog (you can see I try to plan ahead), and then, out of the blue, as if by design, the words above are what instantly and clearly stuck out at me in their entirety as they were spoken. Pretending not to have heard him, however, I finished Morning Prayer, but definitely not with the same level of concentration and openness with which I started.
Now did that man, roughly twice my age in his 60s, say that purposely so I would hear? I mean, if you come in and sit down near someone reading to himself from a gilded Book of Common Prayer/NRSV Bible combo, it’s pretty obvious what he’s doing. Maybe my headphones threw him off, and he thought he could covertly make fun of me to his companions.
But he definitely got one thing right. We are sheep. His reference to the Roman Catholic Pope notwithstanding, all Christians confess Christ as our Good Shepherd. And we’re not the only ones in a metaphoric pasture. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” is as much a treasured part of the Jewish faith, as it is of ours. But just what are we saying when we call on the Lord as our Shepherd? What kind of God are we confessing?
Today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Romans gives us a clear answer. Note how, each time Paul refers to God, he’s quick to add a descriptive attribute: “the God of patience”, “of encouragement”, “the God of hope”, and “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”, that is to say, the Father of our Good Shepherd. And that Shepherd, Paul continues, accepted us just as we are, becoming, of all things, a servant (in Greek, a “minister”)—not just for his own people back then, but for all people, for all time; “to the glory of God”, “for the truth of God”, “for his mercy”, for “joy and peace in believing”, for not just any hope, but for abundant hope. And for all of these reasons, Paul calls us to follow Christ’s example and “accept one another”.
The man on the train left me with a whole range of emotions: anger, sadness, discomfort, but I mostly remember the sense of inferiority and worthlessness. I did not feel patience, encouragement, hope, joy, nor peace. I felt someone who smugly believed with his whole heart that he was better than me, than any person of faith. And that's not the kind of life I want to lead; that’s not the kind of image I want to project to others. God knows the Church, his flock, is not immune from that kind of holier-than-thou attitude. But as this Advent season prepares us once again to receive our Savior, who came to us in humility, poverty, and even persecution, let us try to come back to the people God has called us to be. Let us take last week’s “Christmas list”, and really reflect on the kind of God we’re confessing to our neighbor and to ourselves, so that when Christ is born again into our hearts, the God of hope may indeed fill us with all joy, peace, and abundant hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer of the Day
Blessed Lord,
you caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning.
Grant us so to hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
so that by the patience and comfort of your holy Word,
we may embrace and ever hold fast
the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,
[who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God forever and ever.]
Amen.
(The Book of Common Prayer, 1662)
Or,
Almighty God,
grant that your grace may always precede and follow us,
so that, with the coming of your only-begotten Son,
the chief desire of our hearts,
we may obtain from you
refuge in the present life and in the life to come;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Gelasian Sacramentary, 5th century,
used for Advent 1; translated by Joseph A. Soltero)
Hymn: “Prepare the way, O Zion”
(Words: Frans Mikael Franzen, 19th century; translation adapted by Charles P. Price, 20th cent, and by Joseph A. Soltero, 21st cent.
Tune: ‘‘Bereden väg för Herran’, from Then Swenska Psalmboken, 1697)
Prepare the way, O Zion,
Your Christ is drawing near!
In every hill and valley,
A level way appear.
Greet One who comes in glory,
Foretold in sacred story.
Oh, blest is Christ that came
In God’s most holy name!
He brings God’s rule, O Zion.
He comes from heaven above.
His rule is peace, and freedom,
And justice, truth, and love.
Lift high your praise resounding,
For grace and joy abounding.
Oh, blest is Christ that came
In God’s most holy name!
Fling wide your gates, O Zion,
Your Savior’s rule embrace.
His tidings of salvation,
Proclaim in every place.
All lands will bow before him,
Their voices will adore him.
Oh, blest is Christ that came
In God’s most holy name!
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