Digging for Treasure

Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle A

BIBLE STUDY

"In deep nights I dig for you like treasure. For all I have seen that clutters the surface of my world is poor and paltry substitute for the beauty of you that has not happened yet." Poet Rainer Maria Rilke describes the work of Advent, in which we try to clear our lives of this clutter in anticipation of the Holy One, who has come to meet us.

We will behold our treasure as cleansing fire, heralded by the "voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight'" (Matthew 3:3). We will behold it in the wilderness, where John the Baptist invites us to know God in the untamable space where, deprived of what is familiar, comfortable, and easy, we will know God anew, and the wilderness itself will sing praises: "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom" (Isaiah 35:1).

And finally, we will behold this indescribable beauty in an infant, Emmanuel, who, in becoming human, makes each of us partners in holiness. Through God incarnate, we are all "God's beloved...who are called to be saints" (Romans 1:7). God's choice to be one of us makes all of humanity a chosen people. After spending Advent removing the clutter, we will discover on Christmas day that the treasure we have been digging for, the beauty whom we have awaited, was with us all along and calling to us through the life of each person, God's beloved.

DECEMBER 5

God of Fire

Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

Even if we managed to sleep through the first week of Advent, surely John the Baptist will startle us awake on the second. Though Isaiah assures us that the Savior's arrival will bring peace and harmony-"The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox" (Isaiah 11:7)-John promises that such peace will come at a price. He insists that the Messiah's arrival warrants purification, "for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 3:2). Taking special notice of religious leaders seeking baptism, John calls them a "brood of vipers," warning them of "the wrath to come" (Matthew 3:7). Their crime, according to John, is arrogance and complacency; they assume that their social privilege and religious pedigree guarantee them salvation. Mocking their presumption, he advises them instead to "bear fruit worthy of repentance" (Matthew 3:8).

We must all bear fruit worthy of repentance for, as John testifies, God's interruption into human history is not without its consequences. As true peace, God's peace is forged with justice. According to the psalmist, the Messiah will "defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor" (Psalm 72:4). In assuming human form, God teaches us a new way to be human and to relate to one another: with justice, righteousness, and a special love for the poor and the needy. John reminds us that God does not request that we love justice, God insists upon it. Therefore, we too must take stock of our actions and beliefs, separating the wheat from the chaff and cutting down "every tree...that does not bear good fruit" (Matthew 3:10). The justice and compassion that serves to nourish the world, like wheat, will be retained, but the chaff of judgment, exclusion, and hatred "he will burn with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:12). Newly prepared to meet God-With-Us this season, we can pray with Paul that "the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

DECEMBER 12

God of the Wilderness

Isaiah 35:1-10; Psalm 146:5-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

Many of us have entered this Advent as we have entered others: Unintentionally. Like any other yearly celebration, it risks becoming tame, predictable, or mindless. Today, in this third week of Advent, John and Jesus ask more of us. They ask us to come to the wilderness not to enjoy the scenery or to look at "a reed shaken by the wind" (Matthew 11:7), but to prepare to meet our Creator and Redeemer.

When asked if he is the Messiah, Jesus allows his actions to speak louder than words; he is indeed the one fulfilling prophecies. To Isaiah's promises that the blind, deaf, and lame will be healed, Jesus adds even more: Not only are those suffering from physical (and therefore religious and social) ailments healed, but "the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them" (Matthew 11:5)! The "ransomed of the Lord" (Isaiah 35:10) are the first to experience the new reign of God: "Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads...and sorrow and sighing shall flee away" (Isaiah 35:10).

Jesus also emphasizes that John the Baptist, as a true prophet, calls us to the wilderness-literally a wild, untamed place-so that we can meet God on God's terms. Unlike those from the centers of religious and social authority, "who wear soft robes" and "are in royal palaces" (Matthew 11:8), John summons us from the margins. He knows that to truly be prepared for Jesus, we must leave our comfort zones and meet God on God's territory, We must go beyond the easy answers and comfortable religion that neither influences nor interferes with the rest of our lives. It is no coincidence that God chose to be born as an infant for, like new parents, we must be willing to surrender all that is predictable and controllable in our lives to a love we can neither name nor comprehend before experiencing it firsthand. This Messiah is ready to teach us to see again, to rise from the dead, to preach the good news, if only we are willing to come to the wilderness and risk meeting God anew.