John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water;
but one who is more powerful than I is coming;
I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand,
to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary;
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
The Gospel called Luke, chap 3 (for Advent III, Year C,
RCL)
[
The complete Readings for Advent III can be found at:
The Collect (Gathering Prayer) this morning asks of God that She “stir
up Her power and come among us”. It speaks of God’s “bountiful grace and
mercy”. It speaks of our deep awareness of our Sin – our often deep lack of
Love which so diminishes both our own and everyone else’s humanity. It speaks
of our awareness of our need and desire to turn to Love – to “repent”. Yes,
Advent III is full of both our sense of our failures at reflecting Divine
Compassion and of our hope that we can find and claim our loving Self.
The prophet Zephaniah calls the people to Rejoice
and “sing aloud”. Despite their continuing sin, God has “taken away the
judgments” against them, and “turned away” their enemies. The message is – at
least to me – clear: each of us will
find the core of Love at our very center if we welcome the God Who is Love into
our hearts … and that indwelling of Love will “save us”.
People respond to John the
Baptist’s call from the Wilderness; they flock to the Jordan. I’m often a
little cynical: were they sincere, or
just hedging their bets? But then I recognize myself there among them … and I
join them in their longing and hope for “salvation”. “Salvation” is not magic.
Salvation is to be drawn onto the path of Divine Compassion and held onto that
Path by our own daily turning to Love and by the divine grace that frees us
from getting stuck in our failures.
Philippians says: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say,
Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not
worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. There is our template for living: Rejoice; Be gentle; Be not anxious; Trust and
Be thankful; Seek peace.
In these clashing days in politics and religion, Luke has some good advice for a Humanity
that seeks personal and global well-being: Whoever has two coats must share with anyone
who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.
The Baptist says of Jesus: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather
the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable
fire." The message is for each of us for this very day and every day of our Life: Choose Love. Love is that Holy Fire which
consumes that which is unlovely. It helps us to follow John’s call to “bear
fruits worthy of repentance” … to light the World with Compassion.
Brian+
1 comment:
Thank you Brian, my Desert Father.
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