Despite its penitential overtones with shades of purple, Advent is really meant to be a time of joy. Paul tells us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” The prophet, Zephaniah, urges his community, “Sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exalt with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!”
Given what happened in Connecticut, joy is not on our minds this weekend. The tragedy of another senseless rampage, this time claiming the lives of 20 children has dampened the joy of the season for many across America. So what will it take to find joy if we are not so inclined? That question may have prompted many to ask John the Baptist, “What should we do?”
To the crowds, John told them to share what they have with those in need. “Whoever has two cloaks, should share with the person who has none.”
To the tax collectors, he said, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” To the soldiers, he said, “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.”
“What should we do?” is a fitting question to personally ask ourselves as we await the coming of Christmas. What answer would John give us if he were standing in our midst? He may tell us to live out our beliefs since our lives abound with ethical and moral decisions made at work, school, and in our homes, affecting how we relate to others and feel about ourselves.
The Christ that John the Baptist describes wants to sweep away from our lives the chaff that prevents us from finding joy. Chaff like selfishness, prejudice, bigotry, and hatred. When we find Christ, our inclination will be to rejoice. Zephaniah foretells such will be our response when we come to see that God is in our midst, not to condemn us or reprimand us, but to love us unconditionally. God wants to renew us with his love and embolden us to do the same for others.
The world we live in isn’t all that different from the world of John the Baptist. It too was burdened with tragedy, war and destruction. Lives were displaced and assaulted. Hopes had been dashed. We may be as skeptical about peace as the Ancient Israelites were, if not more so. Yet that skepticism need not prevent us from trusting that God wants to grant us the peace and joy we so desperately want.
Notice that not once John the Baptist advised anyone to look back on the past. Instead, he urged them to look to the future. I came across an article a doctor wrote on his practice, inspired by a line from George Eliot, the English author, who said, “It’s but little good you’ll do, watering last year’s crops.”
Now you might be wondering what she meant by that. That doctor wrote, “Watering last year’s crops is exactly what I have seen hundreds of my patients doing in the past twenty years. Watering with freely flowing tears things of the irrevocable past. Not the bittersweet memories of loved ones, which I can understand, but the things done which should not have been done, and things left undone which should have been done. Moaning over what cannot be helped is a confession of selfishness and cowardice. The best way to break this morbid circle, to snap out of it, is to stop thinking about yourself and to start thinking about others. You can lighten your load by doing something for someone else. By the simple act of doing an outward, unselfish act today you can make the past recede, and the present and future will take on their true perspective. As a doctor, I have seen it tried many, many times and nearly always it has been a far more successful prescription than any I could have ordered at the drug store.”
That doctor and John the Baptist offer us sound advice. We can’t undo the past but if you really believe in the future, if you believe in the coming of Christ, and that is what Advent is all about, then the only way to live is to bury the past and start today to do good. Think of it this way; God has allotted you so many days, so use them for other people. Bring joy to their lives. It doesn’t have to be done with a magnificent gesture; it can be achieved with an ordinary act of kindness.
You can’t obliterate the past but you can make it recede. You can learn to live with the disappointments your children have given you, or your spouse, or your former spouse or whomever else has hurt you in the past. You can learn to live with the bad memories if you get out of yourself and do a good deed, and in turn, pave the way for others so that they too can look into the face of the Messiah. That is called forgiveness.
Imagine how different the world would be if John’s advice had been followed ever since he first spoke his mind. Back then, he challenged the crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers to make a difference in the lives of others. Today he places that challenge before us: it isn’t too late for us to make a difference now in somebody else’s life and in doing so, find the joy we are seeking in life.
This we can do in any number of ways, such as helping out at Holiday House or Good Cheer, buying a present for the giving tree, making a donation to Good Cheer, lending a helping hand to a neighbor, or refraining from using abuse of any kind.
If joy is what we want and I imagine it ultimately is, I am certain that John would tell us that there is no better way for us to find it than to love tenderly, act justly, and walk humbly in the sight of God. Be mindful of others and the joy you seek will be yours in this lifetime and the next.