4 Advent, December 17, 2015
Is 61:1-2a, 10-11; 1 Thess 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
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Today’s first reading is from the book of Isaiah. Scholars tell us that this book records the prophecies of three men over a period of two hundred years; one lived before, one during, and one after the Babylonian captivity. About 600 BCE, the Babylonians conquered Israel, killed the last king of Judah, destroyed the temple, and took all the leaders away as captives to Babylon. The second Isaiah prophesied a return from captivity. Today’s reading comes from the third Isaiah, who lived after the return, in the late 500s BCE.
The exiles had expected that the return would solve all their problems, but in fact there was hardship, PTSD, poverty, and injustice. The lower classes who had remained in Judah resented the returned exiles. The new temple was small and poor. The priests were corrupt. In all these troubles, Isaiah was inspired to comfort and guide the people of Judah. Today’s reading starts with that message of comfort:
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus begins his ministry by quoting just this passage. He comes to bring good news (that’s what “gospel” means) to the poor. The “year of favor” Isaiah promises refers to a jubilee year in the law of Moses: every fiftieth year is to be a jubilee year, when all debts are forgiven and all slaves set free. What a great idea: a fresh start for the people at the bottom of the heap!
The first reading continues with a promise that things really will get better. Isaiah likens Judah to a bride or bridegroom at a wedding feast. Judah will be clothed in salvation (that means rescue) and justice—two things that were in short supply. He also likens Judah’s future to a garden where justice and praise will sprout up. It sounds like a description of the kingdom of God that Jesus preached.
So what does this reading have to do with us? The exiles in Babylon wanted to go home, and they did go home, but home wasn’t the way they had expected. In this Advent season, we look forward to Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus. But we also look forward to the second coming, because the first coming of the Messiah did not solve all our human problems. The divine came to earth in Jesus, but we are still far from the kingdom of God: wars, injustice, poverty, and suffering are still with us. There are over 65 million displaced people in the world today[1], an unimaginable number. In our own country, inequality and addiction are increasing, ordinary people feel ignored and despised by the elites, and families are disintegrating. We need salvation and justice as much as Isaiah’s audience did.
Isaiah is speaking to us with a message of hope:
As the earth brings forth its plants,
and a garden makes its growth spring up,
so will the Lord GOD make justice and praise
spring up before all the nations.
God’s kingdom is both already and not yet. It has already begun, but it is not yet complete. We have to have hope as we wait for the fulfillment of the promise. In today’s second reading, Paul tells the Thessalonians—and us—how to wait: we are to give thanks, because the kingdom has already begun, and to work and pray for its completion.
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing.
In all circumstances give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
… Refrain from every kind of evil.
May the God of peace make you perfectly holy
and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body,
be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls you is faithful,
and he will also accomplish it.
[1] http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html, June 2017, accessed November 15, 2017.