Third Sunday of Advent

 Lectionary: 92

The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?”
He said to them in reply,
“Whoever has two cloaks
should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.”

Now the people were filled with expectation... 

Advent expectation: everyone seems to know what that might be. It is widely known as "the Christmas Spirit;" and, there again, everybody knows what that is. And much is said about it although, if we examined what is said we might find little agreement. In the Christmas Spirit we agree to disagree and let it go at that. 

The Catholic Church along with many of the separated brethren, would separate the Christmas Spirit from Advent expectation. We might agree that preparation is in order -- shopping, housecleaning, cooking, gift-wrapping, card sending, travel, etc -- and some few might insist that all celebrations of Christmas should be delayed as long as possible, until sunset on Christmas Eve. 

But none of that addresses the haecceity of Advent expectation. What is it in itself? Saint Luke tells us today that the people who came to John the Baptist were "filled with expectation." They were certainly not shopping, giving gifts, or decorating trees in their houses. They were asking, "What should we do?" 

John's answer may be entirely too predictable: Do the right thing! Share and share alike. Stop cheating one another. Help one another. Go the extra mile. Do not judge. Etc, etc. All the familiar things that, like the young man who questioned Jesus, we learned as children. 

Advent expectation adds an elusive, mystical spice to the humdrum of our lives. It's a longing, a hopefulness, a desire which wants to be satisfied but knows that will not happen by the calendar. It is very attentive; it listens intensely for a quiet, unpretentious sound and ignores the loud, demanding, intrusive cacophony of the Christmas season. It waits as Elijah waited on Mount Horeb: 

Then the LORD said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. 

When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah?

Under the present regime of materialistic consumerism, it is probably too much to ask of ourselves or our loved ones to "wait until Christmas." Americans don't wait for anything, not even the end of a pandemic. Few wait until marriage, or a child to be born in its own time, or for death to arrive.  

Advent expectation is a willingness to hurt. The Buddha's great insight:

In Buddhism, desire and ignorance lie at the root of suffering. By desire, Buddhists refer to craving pleasure, material goods, and immortality, all of which are wants that can never be satisfied. As a result, desiring them can only bring suffering. 

Unlike Buddhism, our Jewish/Christian tradition does not teach us to stop desiring. Rather, Advent is a willingness to desire, and hurt, and wait for deliverance from the hurt. It acknowledges, "I cannot save myself. I cannot save others. I will wait for deliverance. I will obey the Lord and do whatever he tells me as I wait." 

This we can do amid the cacophony of Christmas. Content in our discontent, we are satisfied. That holy longing pleases God, and pleases our hearts beyond all expectations.