A story is told of a soldier who asked a monk, “Teach me the difference between heaven and hell.” The monk said, “You are an obvious coward, not a warrior. Furthermore, I believe you do not know how to use that gun.” The soldier was so enraged that he drew his revolver from his holster to shoot the monk. As he prepared to squeeze the trigger, the monk said calmly, “That’s hell.” The abashed soldier immediately came to his senses and placed his gun back in its holster. And the monk said quietly, “That’s heaven.”
In twenty-one days, we shall salute the feast when heaven came to earth as a Child. As a fitting preparation for that feast this second week of Advent, why doesn’t each of us attempt to reproduce heaven on earth in the here and now? Why need we wait for Christmas day itself?
I met a person today who was busy doing such. She makes barely above a minimum wage at her job. Her employer gives her neither medical plan nor pension. Yet, despite my words of caution, she mailed a check for $200 to the Red Cross for the victims of a major hurricane. She was giving not from her surplus but from her household funds. It was you might say her birthday gift to the Christ. Using Matthew (25:34-37) as a yardstick, I wager Jesus will never forget it. And Matthew 19:29 promises He will return the gift to her a thousandfold. The Master will not be outdone in generosity.
I submit the monk of the opening story would say to that valiant woman, “While the hurricane damage is hell, your gift is heaven.” That generous woman deserves not only our commendation and admiration but also imitation in some form by ourselves these next several weeks. She is what this season of Advent is all about. The Son was generous enough to leave the heavens to become what we are. Why then are we not generous enough to reproduce the heavens immediately in our own corner of this global village?
Luke in today’s Gospel tells us John went about the whole Jordan district preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We like to think that the Baptizer was speaking to hardened sinners.
But, as William Bausch points out, he was doing nothing of the sort. The record shows he was preaching not to criminals but to the Pharisees, Scribes, and Publicans. These were, as we like to say, good church-going folk.
In a word, he was excoriating people who are stand-ins for our own selves. Bausch’s insight brings us up short, for most of us privately look upon ourselves as just about the salt of the earth. Unhappily John the Baptizer would not be a member of our fan club. In Matthew’s Gospel (1:7-8), the Baptizer is on the record saying to the same audience as well as ourselves, “You vipers’ brood!…prove your repentance by the fruit it bears.” I think one of the few he might exempt from his indictment would be the woman of the above who gave the $200 to the hurricane’s victims. But the rest of us could expect to receive hot tongue and cold shoulder from him. John the Baptist is certainly no man to mess around with. John, our decidedly unamused mentor this season, commands, “…prove your repentance by the fruit it bears.”
William Bausch offers some suggestions as to how we might accommodate the Baptizer. “Make friends with someone you’re at odds with. Pick up the phone and talk to somebody you haven’t talked to in months or years. Be the first to hold out the hand of reconciliation even though it gets slapped or rejected. Don’t turn your head at shady dealings. Be willing to put some of your possessions on the line. Tithe, not out of your excess, but out of your substance. Add up your Christmas spending bills that you chalked up for presents and then slice off 10 percent and give it to the poor. Give evidence that you mean to repent.”
Sally Koch reminds us that great opportunities to help others seldom come but small ones surround us every day. It takes only a minute to be kind, but the prophet reminds us the end result can remain forever and a day.
This Advent put a wraparound smile on the face of John the Baptist. He sounds as though he needs some cheering-up.