Advent
Isaiah 40.3-5; Mark 13.24-37
Rev Muthoni Ruth Ngaari
Minister in the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, from Kenya. She is a member of the WARC executive committee, and currently a doctoral student at Trinity Theological Seminary, Indiana (USA).
The Advent season is the time of our preparation for Christmas, a time of waiting for the coming of the Messiah, Emmanuel, the Prince of Peace. It is a time for us to do what Isaiah proclaimed during his ministry: "Prepare the way of the Lord" (Is 40.3). Isaiah in a vision saw God's peace coming into the world. This is a vision of peace with justice for all peoples of the earth. It is a vision of peace for all of God's creation. When the Messiah comes, there will be complete wholeness and wellbeing: no more wars like those in many parts of the world today, no more hatred, no more aggression, no more killing instincts in God's creatures.
As God's people in Christ, we inherit Isaiah's vision of peace that is to come. This vision of peace keeps us alert and vigilant in our time of waiting. It inspires us, stimulates us, motivates us to become involved in our world in the struggle for peace with justice and human rights, the struggle against corruption and oppression.
The vision of Isaiah is the vision of perfect peace for which we all long. We all want to live in a world where peace with justice prevails and human rights are respected by everyone, not in a world of wars, impending wars, threats of wars, and killings everywhere. We long for a time when we will all live in perfect harmony with one another, regardless of differences of nationality and culture. This vision of peace calls us all to examine our values and our lifestyle. It convicts us all of our sins, our hatred, our greed, our pride - whatever in our way of life reveals that we have strayed from the way of the Lord and contributed to injustice against our neighbours.
The justice of the kingdom which Advent calls us to wait upon compels us to strive for justice for all. We must learn to treat all human beings as though they matter, for in God's kingdom they do. In that kingdom there is neither Jew nor Gentile; we are all members of God's family, and we need to treat each other as brothers and sisters as we wait upon the coming of Christ. Advent calls and compels us to centre our life and our work on this coming kingdom. It calls us to anticipate, to proclaim, and through our actions attempt to "bring liberty to the oppressed, human dignity to the humiliated, and justice which is their due to people without rights". For Christ came that we might have life and have it in abundance. This abundance will not come until there is peace. The fullness of life will not be experienced in a world torn apart by wars and hatred.
The message of Isaiah was echoed by John the Baptist. He preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Mt 3.2-3). All four gospels in their accounts of John's preaching see his role as the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice in the wilderness crying out, "Prepare the way of the Lord." His message was about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John's preaching prepared the people for Jesus' ministry, and John's baptism of Jesus prepared Jesus for his own ministry.
What message might John the Baptist have for us during this Advent season? We must prepare ourselves for Christ's coming. If the Lord is to come to us and truly live among us, then we need to change the way we live. We must stop doing things we like doing if these things are in reality in conflict with the Lord's will. We must live the way the Lord wants us to live, not the way we ourselves prefer, or the way the world expects us to live. We must humble ourselves before the Lord, so that we will be able to recognize our weakness. We realize that whereas we know very little, our Lord and Master Jesus is all-wise and all-knowing. Humbling ourselves will help us to put our trust, not in our own desires and judgment, but rather in the wisdom of Christ. We will listen to the word of the Lord and learn to obey it. We will bring peace and justice into all aspects of our lives. In this way we will prepare ourselves for the abundant life Christ came to bring.
In Advent we look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. But we can also look forward to the second coming of Christ at the end of time. Looking ahead during Advent can be disturbing in that it calls us, people of all nations and of all colours and creeds, out of our ignorance and arouses us to be attentive so that we are able to hear and act. We are called to tune our ears to hear those voices which sound as if they are far off in the distance, yet are very close to us. The Advent season calls us to lift our eyes above, to lift off the curtains that cloud our vision so that we can see the one who is to come on clouds descending. Only then will we be able to cry out in prayer with our voices loud. As we tune our ears, we hear the cries of millions of people in agony, their anguish too much to bear, because of war, hunger and hatred. Let us not be silent. Let us get into action, proclaiming the message of Isaiah and John the Baptist to prepare the way of the Lord.
In Advent we are reminded that the second coming of Christ will be different from the first. In his first coming, Christ came as Prince of Peace to set the captives free, to bring liberty to the oppressed, to give sight to the blind. He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. The abundant life can only be fulfilled in peace. In his second coming Christ will come as judge of the world, and you and I will be judged. So we should prepare to face the judge and have our answers ready.
May our minds and hearts be transformed in this Advent period of waiting and anticipation so that Isaiah's vision of the peaceful kingdom can reshape our lives, preparing the way of the Lord.
