Deacon Ed Shoener, 
Second Sunday of Advent, Year C,
(Mental Illness Mentioned)

“You brood of Vipers” – that is the very next thing John says after his proclamation we just head in the Gospel reading.

Not exactly Merry Christmas, is it?  You brood of Vipers.

At the risk of sounding a bit sarcastic, John the Baptist was preaching the advent of Christ long before Bing Crosby sang “White Christmas” and Hollywood and the retail industry appropriated Advent and Christmas for financial gain. What John and the other prophets proclaim has nothing to do with parties and buying presents.

John was a voice that cries out in the desert - prepare the way of the LORD! He and other prophets are still “in the desert”, so to speak.  Preaching a message that may be hard to hear.

Their message is about repentance and our need for a savior.  It is about seeing our own sinfulness.  It is about seeing the sinfulness of our world and how we perpetuate that sinfulness.

John is telling us to prepare for our savior. A savior who comes into the world - not because we have “been nice” – but because of our pride, our self-centeredness, our greed, our polluting, our racism and our many other sins. 

But he is not pointing out our sins to make us feel guilty.  He is pointing out our sins so that we can see them for what they are – and so that we can then change our ways.

John’s message is about preparing for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  A Kingdom based on justice and mercy and love. A kingdom where we do not defeat our enemies, but where we instead love them.

John was quoting the ancient words of the Prophet Isaiah, written thousands of years before John’s time. And today, thousands of years after John, we still need to hear that message. 

A modern-day prophet and preacher used those words to challenge the world to change its ways and look to Christ, to prepare for the way of the Lord.  The Reverend Martin Luther King’s used them in his most famous and moving speech –

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

You see, he knew that the call for racial justice was not just another political issue – it is a moral imperative.  He was calling on us to change our minds and hearts and to prepare for the coming of Lord by being a more just people – to create a more just world.

And a prophet in our own day calls out to us. He has decried what he calls the “idolatry of money”. He calls us to be a moral force amid the injustice we see all around us. Where the poor remain poor and the rich get richer.

He is, to some a radical prophet. 

He looks at the world and sees the destruction of life and abortion, the cruel treatment of immigrants, the lack of concern for those with a mental illness, the pollution of our environment and he tells us: 

“Behind all this pain, death and destruction there is the stench of ‘the dung of the devil’. An unfettered pursuit of money rules. Once greed for money presides, it ruins society, it condemns and enslaves men and women, it sets people against one another, and it even puts at risk our common home.” – the earth and the environment.

Who is this radical prophet?  Those are the words of our Pope. 

Pope Francis tells us that we can’t just prepare for the coming of the Lord in a Church building– but we are to prepare the way of the Lord out in the world – where we work and live.

So - down through the ages the prophets have challenged us to prepare for the coming of the Lord – from Isaiah to John the Baptist, to Reverend King, and now Pope Francis.

How are we to seek justice and prepare for the coming of the Lord this year – in 2021?

First, we need to examine our own hearts – examine our conscience to understand where we fall short, how we sin – and then beg God for forgiveness and seek repentance.

What are the rough ways in our lives that need to be made smooth?

Perhaps, we have not been as kind to a family member as we should be. Maybe we are attached to a sinful behavior that we need to face up to. Is there a grudge or a hurt that we just cannot let go of? 

In these divided times we need to look inward and ask ourselves - do we truly love those we disagree with?  Do we love our enemy? 

Christ wants us to say we are sorry. Christ wants us to forgive the hurt.  Christ wants us to encourage that person who is down.  He wants us to care of the sick

And, perhaps most importantly, Christ wants us to pray to him for guidance in whatever it is we are struggling with.

Because whatever it is – we can, with great hope, know that this is true:

Christ is coming – every valley will be filled, and the rough ways will be made smooth, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.   Amen