My friends, today brings us to the 2nd Sunday of Advent, a time of increasing joy and light, as we walk, day by day, toward the beautiful feast of Christmas—the Incarnation of our loving God into humanity, in the person of our brother, Jesus of Nazareth, who would become the Christ—a God, big enough for all of creation—for all belief systems.

I said that Advent is “a season of joy and light.” All our Scriptures for today speak of this fact. Beginning with the Old Testament prophet, Baruch, the joy of the season continues as he basically says, that if we practice living peacefully, acting justly, showing mercy, “we will be glorified,” and all this brings, “joy,” because we are doing what is right.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians continues the theme of “joy coming out of action” in saying, “I rejoice” because of how you are [living] the gospel. “It is my hope that you be found rich in the harvest of justice.”
And finally, in Luke’s gospel, we hear “urgency” in John the Baptist’s words to, “Make ready the way for our God”—make [in fact], “a straight path.” And if we believe Baruch and Paul’s words that “doing the right thing” brings “joy” into our personal lives, then the Baptist’s call for us to “prepare” a straight path for the Messiah, which will be “paved” with our good works, as we just sang so beautifully in our gospel verse, will bring “joy” as well.

If you think of the Creed by John Shea that we use here, you will recall that he speaks of the Messiah’s coming as, “God risking in sending Jesus.” That line has always “struck me” when we say these words, because if we think of God as all powerful, wonderful, and perfect, really—“the act of risking” almost seems below who God should be –yet the truth is there, if we can get our “hearts,” rather than our “heads” around this idea. The truth is, our God loved us that much in sending Jesus to be one of us, and one-with-us, Emmanuel, for no other reason but that we could see through his life, how each of us is to be in our lives.

And at this point, it would be good to reflect on another important event celebrated in our Church on December 8th each year—that of the Immaculate Conception. First off, it is important to reflect on the words, in order to truly understand what they really mean. Secondly, this feast only came about in 1854, so we didn’t always “believe” what it seems to be saying. The words very simply say that Mary was conceived “pure” (immaculate) from original sin which the rest of us presumably are “stained” with.
To say that Jesus’ mother was conceived without sin is to say that she was not human as the very definition of humanity is that we are not perfect and the best part, is that our God loves us anyway! Or, in other words, God made us this way—imperfect! So, if the only way that Jesus could be part of us, and our humanity was that his mother needed to be perfect, or not human, then where did the human component in Jesus come from? Clearly, the theologians and clerics would do well to clean up their act on this one. And if they can do that, then some of the negative thinking around sexuality might be able to be done away with as well. The beauty of the Incarnation is the realization that God loved us from the get-go and chose to be immersed in our humanity that is not an “original sin,” but an original blessing! Talk about risking!

Having put forth the idea that our loving God chose, “to risk” and become One-With-Us, the next piece to consider in today’s readings is what Jesus, living among us wanted us to know about our own human experiences in life. From Baruch in the Old Testament to Paul and Luke in the New Testament, it seems evident that Jesus wants us—each of us, to live lives of mercy and justice. The psalmist prays, “God has done great things for us” [and this should make us glad and help us to persevere, in times of trouble]. Additionally, Paul, writing to the Philippians affirms this notion, “the One who began [this] good work in you, will keep perfecting it.”

And in our world today my friends, we are truly called to be people of mercy and justice, always looking for the ways that we can make a difference in the lives of those needing the very basics in life that we often take for granted. When I was growing up, even though we didn’t have a lot of extras, and even if I didn’t always like the food choices, I can honestly say that I never knew what it was like “to go hungry,” unless I chose that option. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be a mom or dad in this world and have nothing to feed my children or to be unable to keep them physically safe from constant bombs flying overheard destroying what they once called home. A newscaster this past week documenting the suffering in the Middle East and speaking specifically of a very young child said, “She and other children here have known nothing but war their entire lives.” I can’t imagine, nor probably can you, what that is like to endure.

Paul encourages us today to try and “understand, to discern” basically, situations that are bigger than our own, and when we do that, we have to realize that simple, black and white answers, such as, “peace is the absence of war,” or “love is the absence of hate,” just don’t cut it when we are trying to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Going back to John Shea’s notion of “God risking” in sending Jesus into the mess that our human lives can sometimes be, was not about showing God’s “powerfulness,” but really, God’s “vulnerability” in doing whatever it might take to show us that we are truly loved, with all our “imperfections.” And friends, if we can follow our God’s lead here, reflecting, always reflecting on Jesus’ life, then these days of preparation can truly be ones of joy! Amen? Amen!