“Jesus is coming…get to work!” by Michael Guarducci, Fiat Ventures
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
So, the holiday season is finally over. It’s ironic how sad it is to see the Christmas decorations come down, as many of us complain about how early we see those same decorations go up. Lately though, it seems companies will start advertising for Christmas before we’ve even gotten past Halloween. “It’s too soon!”, we’ll say, “Not yet! I’m not ready!” But once we get past Thanksgiving, and begin the season of Advent the following Sunday, many of us are finally ready to prepare for Christmas.
And so much of Advent is about preparation, the word itself coming from Latin, meaning “approach” or “coming arrival”, and as much as we prepare for time with family & friends, parties, giving gifts, etc., we are really preparing for the coming of our Lord, a point that often gets lost in all the lights and wrapping paper. But then, before we know it, Christmas has come and gone, both the day itself, and the liturgical season. And now, many of us are settling back into our normal routines, the meaning of the season already slipping away.
But this week’s Gospel reading reminds us of what we were really preparing for, and what we seem to have forgotten; it is time to get to work! The Gospel tells us of John the Baptist’s description of Jesus, that He is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” But earlier, Isaiah tells us what God, the Father expected of His Son, Jesus; “It is too little, the Lord says, for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and restore the survivors of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
The moment that John had been preparing for his whole life, and which scripture had been predicting had finally arrived! The wait is over; Jesus is here, and it is time to get to work, not just to save the people of Israel, not just His own community, or even His own country. But He is here to save the world: every race and every nation! And as followers of Christ, it is our job to follow Him and do the same.
Today’s Psalm says, “I have waited, waited for the Lord, and He stooped toward me and heard my cry. And He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God…In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart…I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know.”
Christmas is a time that reminds us to be thankful for what we have been blessed with, and to be mindful of what others have not. It is a time for all of us to be more Christ-like; to be more kind, more giving, more compassionate. According to Bill Murray, in the Christmas movie, Scrooged, it is a time where “we are the people we always hoped we would be.” But why would we ever let this miracle come to an end, just because the season has changed?
Christ will always be with us, but He won’t do it all for us. He invites us to come follow Him, join Him, in spreading His message of love, and hope all over the world. What, then, are we waiting for? What excuses do we give? “It’s too soon!”, we’ll say, “Not yet! I’m not ready!” But the seasons of Advent & Christmas are over. We are done waiting; Christ is no longer “coming” – He is here, with us, right now! There is no time left for preparation; Jesus is here, and it is time to get to work!