Lectionary for Dec. 8, 2024
Second Sunday of Advent
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79;
Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6
My wife, who has been moving toward remission from cancer this year, has watched many hours of dramatic shows while in bed recovering. I’d do anything to spend relaxing time with her, so I watch the shows with her (mostly Suits and “Hot Rabbi”). I’m starting to see the appeal. It’s easy to get caught up in the drama and how people interact with each other and deal with crises (frequently of their own making). For this week’s lectionary readings to make any sense at all, we must immerse ourselves in the interpersonal drama at stake. So grab the popcorn, because the Bible is about to “spill the tea.”
We read in the book of Malachi that things haven’t been going well at the temple, or indeed in all of reconstituted Israel. The Persians had ended the Babylonian exile, and the people have returned to the land of their ancestors. But gratitude and amazement at being returned to the land quickly turns to lackadaisical business-as-usual. God wants to restore awe and respect in worship, starting with the leadership (1:6-14; 2:1-9; and here in 3:3-4). So God stirs up a messenger to prepare the way as a refiner burning out the impurity of counterfeit worship.
The work focuses on confronting the Levites and priests, who are failing in their roles. There’s an interpersonal battle between prophets and priests over who represents God correctly. Looking forward hundreds of years, John the Baptizer will do this exact work, confronting priests and Levites who come out to see what he is doing (John 1:19).
John the Baptizer’s father, Zechariah, framed God’s activity in interpersonal terms as well, but he focused less on priests and more on oppressors (Luke 1:68-79). In the days of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the enemies of the people had gained a stranglehold on the land. Herod’s Edomite family, with the support of Rome, had come to power. Archelaus, tetrarch of Judea, Samaria and Idumea, was “ethnarch” of the Jewish people, as he was half-Edomite and half-Samaritan. He was so famously violent and unjust that he was deposed and exiled (which is why he doesn’t appear in the list of rulers in Luke 3).
What are we meant to learn from these Advent readings and do in our present contexts? We start with working toward resolving interpersonal drama and injustice.
Zechariah, Elizabeth and their son John lived in the territory of Archelaus. We must hear Zechariah’s words in the context of the interpersonal drama they were given. “He has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people,” “salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us,” and “being rescued from the hand of our enemies …” must be understood in his context of being oppressed by Herod Archelaus. Zechariah understood his son’s miraculous birth as God stepping in and undermining unjust rule.
About 30 years later, the political situation dramatically changed. Romans had merged several of Herod’s territories to create the province of Judea, which they administered directly. Herod’s descendants still ruled the Galilee and the land across the Jordan, and the lands northeast of the Sea of Galilee. John spoke out in the region of the Jordan, in-between the realms of different kings, governors, tetrarchs and priests. His ministry was framed in the words of Isaiah 40:3-5—preparing the way of the Lord. This message, however, was no longer framed as making a desert highway for exiles to return to the land. Instead, John’s message here, and his ministry in general, should be understood as an interhuman call to justice.
As we will read next week, the mountains to be lowered are the rich who are to give away their extra possessions and the tax collectors who are to refrain from using their power to enrich themselves. The valleys to be lifted up are the poor and abused folks who have grown up in the shadow of the evil of the Herodians and the Romans. The Herodians themselves certainly understood John’s point, and that is why they murdered him.
Malachi’s message, Zechariah’s message and John’s message are all explicitly interpersonal and address the dramatic injustice practiced by people in power. Context matters, and we do no one any favors by deracinating (removing racial or ethnic influences) the words of Scripture from their contexts. And knowing those contexts, we must ask, what are we meant to learn from these Advent readings and do in our present contexts? We start with working toward resolving interpersonal drama and injustice.
