“It was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hope that St. Nicholas would soon be there.” I know that won’t be true in every home on Christmas Eve. While most everyone will be asleep, there will be a few exasperated parents here and there trying to give Santa a helping hand by putting some toy together. One frustrated father was about to give up when he noticed a slip of paper a the bottom of the box with the advice, “If all else fails, follow the directions!”
Simple advice, yet how often have we not done that? When we don’t follow the directions, we’re asking for trouble. The same is true for the game of life. The world we live in bears little resemblance to Isaiah’s idyllic image of the peaceable kingdom because throughout history, God’s directions for living the game of life have often been ignored.
That is what prompts John the Baptist to raise his voice in the desert, preaching a disconcerting yet simple message. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Why preach such a message? Because deep down, we yearn for the peace that Isaiah describes, where there will be no more war, no more hostility, no more conflict. We yearn for a kingdom where the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, the calf and the lion will browse together, and the leopard will lie down with the kid. Every year at this time, our common wish is “peace on earth and good will toward all,” yet headlines remind us that our nation is still at war in a distant land. Once again, peace seems to be so elusive.
John the Baptist points the finger, not at the bad guys but at the good people, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the holiest people around, for ignoring or denying their sinfulness.
His timely advice is meant for us as well, but are we paying attention to his warning? Are we willing to acknowledge our own sins?
We would be wrong to think that the reprimand John the Baptist levels at the Pharisees and the Sadducees does not concern us. Matthew knew that all Christians, including you and me, needed to hear John’s message. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”John has good reason to speak to us. Unless we acknowledge our sinfulness, God’s peaceful kingdom will remain an elusive dream. That is why John is concerned about the self-destructive behavior of those who see themselves as being holy.
He is challenging us. “Demonstrate to me,” he says, “that you are repentant. Give evidence that you mean to change your lives.” It is easy to say that we are sorry, but if we don’t confront the attitudes, values, and actions that create conflict in our lives, then we can never expect to experience the peaceable kingdom that can be ours in this lifetime. To find that peace, we must mirror Christ in our daily actions and attitudes, so how do we even begin?
We begin by confronting the reality of sin in our lives and seeing just how damaging sin really is to us and others.
The wild animals used by Isaiah symbolize the sins of lust, pride and avarice. In the course of a given week, how often do you encounter such temptations? Everywhere we look, lust, violence, and greed seem to dominate our world, from movies to headlines, so the odds are these temptations crop up often in your life and when they do, how readily do you resist them?
Buried within the scriptures are the Ten Commandments and other biblical teachings that shape the moral principles designed for living the Christian life. Do you know them? Are they the blueprints by which you make your daily decisions? Or do you ignore them in favor of those values and principles that are the preferences of our secular world? By doing so, you could fail to see the dangers posed by temptations when they arise.
Many confessors now give a penance that is intended to help penitents make a change in their spiritual lives. I often urge them to say the Lord’s Prayer slowly, then carry out the promise embedded in that prayer, namely to forgive others by asking God for the grace to do so. That is a necessary step if we are to experience the peaceable kingdom.
This past Thursday, the world bid farewell to a man who talked the talk and walked the walk. His generosity of spirit made Nelson Mandela a global symbol of reconciliation. After being released from prison, he was able to transform the country of South Africa with the power of forgiveness, demonstrating the value of reconciliation instead of revenge. He was an ordinary man who did extraordinary things that brought peace to his native land.
Putting a complex toy together isn’t so overwhelming when the directions are followed. And the same can be said for the game of life. We must not give up hope in our quest for peace in our hearts and in our world. If we follow the directions given by John the Baptist, peace will be God’s gift to us.