The church to which Paul wrote his Letter to the Romans consisted of several communities. There was no central authority for them and, because of the cosmopolitan nature of the city of Rome, the Christians there were very diverse: Jews and Gentile converts, people from around the Empire, different political persuasions, upper and lower classes, etc. It’s no wonder Paul expresses the prayer, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another in keeping with Christ Jesus….”
In the Roman church there were also conflicts over religious matters — issues of food and drink and the observance of the Sabbath. In verses preceding today’s passage Paul pleads that the Romans “no longer pass judgment on one another” (14:13). Instead, he says, they should “pursue what makes for peace and mutual up building” (14:19).
As if it weren’t difficult enough for Roman Christians under the strain and persecution of the Roman Empire under, they also had to deal with internal conflicts that threatened their very existence. No wonder in today’s reading we hear Paul refer to “endurance and encouragement” — twice! Those battered and battling Christians would need both!
We tend to romanticize the early church, painting their communities in idealistic terms. It is as if they, unlike us, really practiced the Christian faith. We think that since they were so close to the life and times of Jesus, they must have been more authentic and exemplary in their faith. But isn’t it a kind of perverse comfort to know that there were many “issues” in the early church, as there are for our Christian communities today? We, like they, have to contend with outside pressures and, in some places in the world, persecutions. Like them we also have divisions and conflicts over racial, ethnic, economic and liturgical differences.
Paul’s prayer then, that the Roman communities might have “endurance and encouragement,” could just as well be a prayer he is praying for us Christians today. Perhaps we should turn in the direction Paul advised for his original readers–towards the Scriptures. (He was referring to the Hebrew Scriptures of course, but we add to that our Christian Scriptures as well.) In the Scriptures we are given “endurance and encouragement” and valuable lessons to help us persevere. Persevere in want? Well, among other things, Paul calls us, in Christ, to be hospitable to one another — and so, despite our differences in our communities we are to persevere in hospitality.
Paul has named the Scriptures as a resource for the harmony we are to have. He also names the example of Christ. He reminds the Christians in Rome that they, Jews and Gentiles, have been accepted and welcomed by Christ. They, in turn, are to welcome into their communities everyone, regardless of the differences they might have in society.
Who hasn’t experienced the great gift that hospitality is? Who hasn’t known, or longed for, the warmth and security one feels when welcomed into someone’s home, a new workplace, or upon entering a new school? In addition, what newly relocated Christian person or family doesn’t visit nearby churches in the process of deciding which church to join?. Often the prime reason for joining a parish is whether or not the visitor has been hospitably received.
We turn to the gospel for today. If they had MTV in Jesus’ day I’m sure that John the Baptist would have been a star! He was the closest thing first-century Palestine had to a rock star. He dressed the part: camels hair clothing and a leather belt. He ate exotic foods: locusts and wild honey. He was also up front and in-your-face.
John couldn’t help getting people’s attention: kicking up the waters of the Jordan; pointing his fingers in the faces of the insincere; shaking up the comfortable; calling the religious leaders, “You brood of Vipers!” He was an attention-getter because he had something big to say, “Repent… Straighten things up!”
I had an experience recently that perhaps some of you have had too. I was driving very early in the morning, while it was still dark and, after about four hours on the road, I began to dose. I realized I had been travelling at 65 miles an hour on the verge of falling asleep! Luckily there was no traffic and no fast response was called for. I pulled over and took a nap. You can’t travel at 65 miles an hour and not be fully awake!
Life gets like that doesn’t it? We are moving along at 65 miles an hour on cruise control. Maybe we haven’t crashed — yet — but is that any way to go through life? What are we missing along the way? What or who has our focus? Have we been overlooking those that count in our lives; losing a sense of priorities; missing out on the most important people and the best parts of our lives? Especially at this time of year, we can be rushing ahead on automatic; putting our heads down and ploughing through the season.
What we need is a wake-up call — and we often get it. Sometimes it’s as strident and in-your-face as was John the Baptist. A spouse stops us in our tracks and in a gentle way, or not so gentle way, gives us a wake-up call. He/she reminds us that we have been travelling life too fast and have been missing from life, our marriage and our children. A friend confronts us because we have broken a promise and have taken the friend for granted. Or, a child says to us, “How come you never have time to play with me anymore?” It’s the voice of John the Baptist coming at us in modern disguises. It’s John the Baptist, speaking on God’s behalf, telling us, in one way or another, “Repent,” “Straighten things up!” Whether the voice is harsh or gentle, we would be wise to listen to it and do what John tells us today, “Repent!”
If we do heed the voices that call us to wake up, our first response might very well be sorrow. What is there to be sorry about? Maybe we have lived superficial lives, searching for happiness in all the wrong places. We think what will make us happy at this season lies in the newest, fastest, cleverest device and the latest fashion. A recent survey shows that the less time parents spend with their children, the more gifts they buy them. Our society desires more and more, but we seem to have less and less of what really counts. We may be investing a lot of our energies in the wrong places. We are on cruise control and travelling very fast in the wrong direction.
So, we have to admit, with sorrow, that our quest for happiness has disappointed us. Other voices have identified for us what will make us happy and they have deceived us and we are found wanting. We come to worship here week after week. It’s not because we are just keeping a religious obligation, as it? It’s not just because we are concerned about earning a guarantee for the next life, is it? It’s about this life and finding meaning, sanity, balance and focus for ourselves and our families.
As harsh as John the Baptist sounded, he drew a crowd. He was popular because they needed help–a voice for clarity and for sanity. They and today we, hear his promise: Someone is coming bearing a fire for those whose spirits are chilled by boredom and routine and have become a bit cynical. We also hear his promise of the Holy Spirit, because our spirits are bloated with excess and we need a renewed spirit. It’s something we cannot gain for ourselves or do on our own.
That renewing Spirit is an Advent gift offered to us today. It can’t be bought and charged to Visa. It can’t be owned and possessed only by the rich and powerful. It can’t be cornered and monopolized by any special religious elite. Instead, the Holy Spirit is a free gift offered by God. It is a renewing spirit and a cleansing fire.
The voice behind John’s is the voice of God and it is a loving, concerned voice looking out for our well-being. God intends something special this Advent and Christmas for each of us and for this community.
The gift begins right here as it does each week when we gather. It is the gift of the Word, which St. Paul reassured us today can strengthen us in endurance and encouragement — as different and diverse as we are — just as that early Roman church was. We also receive the gift of the Eucharist, a food we share with one another, regardless of our differences. So, what Paul prayed for the Roman church is given is today: we are strengthened in our harmony, just as they were through God’s Word and Sacrament.