On You Tube, you will find many evangelical preachers screaming at you to “repent your sins.” Nobody likes being called out or being accused. That’s the real bummer we face every year on the Second Sunday in Advent when the gospel readings confront us with this freaky mass of zeal and passion of John the Baptist. John comes as Jesus’ advance man. He’s a bizarre figure outside the mainstream, dressed in animal skins and eating bugs and looking for all the world like the prophet Elijah. Like Elijah before him, John, in our Gospel is calling out society for turning away from God and warning folks to come to repentance. I think he was more persuasive than our You Tube preachers because tons of people came out to hear him and let him give them a dunk in the Jordan when they confessed their sins.
The gospel story tells us even Pharisees and Sadducees were curious about John. I’ll bet they only came out to hear this guy because they thought he was a novelty or because they were afraid he might be telling people something which would impugn the power structure the Pharisees and Sadducees so enjoyed. When John sees these bigwigs, he really gives them an earful. He calls them snakes and goes totally ballistic on them—telling them their vaunted pedigrees don’t amount to spit and, unless they actually started doing something worthwhile with their faith, there was going to be a lot of chopping and burning in their future.
I think both John the Baptist and Elijah before him saw a nation which had skidded off the rails. Given the borderline psychotic times we live in here in America, we could certainly use a prophetic voice calling us all to repentance.
If you watch Youtube, many speakers make the very interesting point that liberal ideas and values are everywhere in the media. You don’t need to go to church to hear them. So why, they asked, would anyone feel the need to attend church or your church every Sunday? My answer? For the same reason people came to hear John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan. Maybe the folks came for the entertainment value of hearing this wacky guy preach, but that wasn’t what drew them into the water. They came because they knew in their hearts they needed to confess and be forgiven and be transformed. Progressive ideas alone don’t bring people to repentance. The hunger for God does.
As Catholics we begin every Mass to confess our sins and claim the renewing power of Christ. We ask forgiveness for what we’ve done and for what we’ve left undone—for the sin of not producing the fruits worthy of repentance. I find I have to ask myself every day, “Have I really served the Lord today?” In the swirling chaos of this present hour—when compassion, mercy, and generosity are so needed—have I born the fruit Jesus expects of me? Could I be doing more? The Baptist calls to each of us during this sacred time to examine our conscience and wrestle with our faith. And that’s a good thing.
When the Evangelical preachers of this world try to call us out, we’ll get defensive. But when we hear John the Baptist calling, we’ll hear the truth about ourselves and gladly come with both contrition and joy to the river.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that they all have a blessed Advent.
