December 10, 2006
Baruch 5: 1-9 + Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 + Luke 3: 1-6
All those really important people: Caesar, The Governor of Judea, Tetrarchs and High Priests! And where does the Word of God go? By-passing all the seats of power and influence, ignoring the high holy ones with their religious influence and power, the Word of God goes straight to the desert to an insignificant wild man who is living on the fringe of society and holds no claim to any authority, influence, or power. The reversal of things predicted by Baruch goes on. Perhaps it was not so much a prediction of some future event, but a commentary on the way things are.
Some of the powerful in Washington know how quickly things change. Opinion polls plummet for a president, A powerful Roman Catholic Cardinal is driven from his post, Celebrity athletes shamed from the spotlight by revelations of drug enhancing performances, “Enron” the symbol of prominence, power, and influence collapses in a shameful revelation of greed and lies. Who needs Baruch or Jeremiah? But these ancient prophets speak both ways: about the mighty who will fall, and about the lowly who will rise. This is important to remember in Advent. Things change, and when they do, God will be found at work in the middle of it by those who remember.The Greek word for change or repentance is “metanoia.” It literally means, “Going beyond the mind.” When we can go beyond the mind, forgiveness of sins follows. Behind this idea is something we all know to be very real. There is something about the mind that holds onto sin. I can’t count the times I have heard people say to me: “Father I wish I could forget it, or just forgiven them.”
Sinful experience sticks to us like super glue. We remember the beatings, humiliations, hateful glances, mocking words, insults. When we can’t even remember our own phone number, we can remember as if it was yesterday, a hurt from twenty years ago. The experience of sin begins with being sinned against, and we are quick learners. We learn all too soon how to hurt others. We call it “protecting ourselves” sometimes; but it is little more than just advancing and promoting oneself at all costs. If the truth is told, we have been hurt, wronged, and maltreated. If the truth is told, we have done the same to others.
Our problem comes when the mind enthrones this experience and we begin to believe that we are helpless sinners, victims, and justified by an ever deepening connection between who we are and what had been done to us and what we have done. Our identification with sin is a roadblock, a mountain in the way that makes slow going, not for us, but for Christ Jesus who comes. He can’t get to us with his message that we are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, and blessed if we continue to cling to our sin and our identity as sinners. He becomes then, not the one who is to come, but the one sin keeps away. This is what John comes to address – “Let Go of Sin.” he says. Repentance is subtle but not impossible. Two steps to get there: One, recognize the truth; we have been hurt and that we hurt others. Two, understand the basic core belief of the Christian tradition: the unconditional forgiveness of God.
If God can and does let it go, then what’s the point of our holding on? The question changes from: “Will God forgive me?” to “How can I get beyond a mind that clings to sin when God does not? Before we can hear the words that Jesus heard at his Baptism:“You are my beloved.” We must undergo the baptism of John: a baptism of repentance that leads to forgiveness of sins. When we do, the path is clear, and we will understand that this season is truly about waiting; but not about us waiting for God to come. It is about God waiting for us to put down sins already forgiven.