This Advent Sky

Matt 11:2-10  1 Cor 4:1-5

I was reflecting on the plight of John The Baptist to the backdrop of a glorious Advent sky.

To begin with it’s a pale lemon colour with a hint of orange. Then in minutes blue with red ripples which grow into magnificent puffy waves of light. The redness grows ever deeper until the sun itself peeps over the horizon like a searchlight over our town. Then all the competing colours start to fade until that one light swathed in wisps of white cloud sends its streaming  brightness into all the homes of the parish.

It’s a light that now dazzles me to distraction as I think about these words.

The changing shape of the Advent horizon was not what John The Baptist had been expecting.

Gladly and willingly he had given his life to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah – who turned out to be his cousin – Jesus of Nazareth.

Like the reddest of skies which greets us at dawn that preparation had comprised a warning of fiery repentance.

That the world had better get ready for the one whose sandals he would not be worthy to untie – one who was going to baptise people, not with water from the Jordan, but bring down fire from heaven to do it.

Now John, confined behind bars in Herod’s prison, must have reflected on the lack of success of his ministry.

Because by and large people hadn’t changed. They had come to be baptised by him in great number, but many had then continued to go their own sweet way in life, so that by the time the ministry of Jesus came out into the open, it was not with a great crowd of disciples that he was taking the towns by storm, but rather the Messiahwas keeping to the country lanes with out of work fishermen and tea class accountants. Even more strangely, Jesus did not seem to be taking up the cry of judgement which John had begun.

There had been one or two scuffles with Pharisees, it was true, but by and large this messiah was going about his business with gentle healings and whispered one to one conversions.

Nor did he seem particularly interested in rescuing John.

Why would he be content to let his cousin rot in prison if he had command of the kingdom of heaven.

And so he sent his message of faltering faith

“Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another”

The glory of the Advent sky is that it leads you through unexpected shades of colour. Glorious one minute and gone the next, but all are a prelude to the eventual domination of the one light that was in the beginning with God and was God.

And that one light beams with the brightness of mercy, not the red hot anger of judgement.

It brings out the best in people for their salvation – rather than pouring over inadequacies with the threat of hell.

John was caught in the dilemma was sometimes face.

Wicked people don’t like the message of judgment because they think – quite rightly – that it’s aimed at them, so sometimes good people don’t like the message of mercy because they think – quite wrongly – that people are going to get away with their wickedness.

Mercy was at the heart of Jesus’ mission.

So he says to John “Look, the blind are receiving their sight, the lame walk and lepers are cleansed , the deaf hear and the dead are raised up – and blessed is he who takes no offence at me”

All through the life of Jesus people were surprised at what they found in hIm.It was not what they thought would be next on the horizon.

John in the wilderness was a far cry from the kings houses from which you might have expected a kingdom to be announced.

A man from Nazareth, born in a stable, living in obscurity for the bulk of his life, followed by an unlikely band, ending up on a cross and then vanished from his burial place.

Jesus leads us a merry dance in comparison from what we might have expected.

To underline the truth – that he heralds a kingdom of mercy and compassion.

That he takes to himself the aggressive wills and passions of men that he might deal with us with tenderness and love.

The end of John The Baptists life was to be cruel and vicious and begs the same questions as we tend to ask when we see good people suffer.

It reminds us that to live in the way of mercy is no soft touch or easy option.

There will always be examples of such wickedness until we all learn mercy.

Enjoy the changing horizons of the Advent skies whilst the season remains and as you look east on the next bright morning we have – raise your prayer with mine – Shine! Jesus! Shine!

RH 19.12.07