“Once upon a time, long ago, there was this strange man who lived in the desert. He wouldn’t eat ordinary food, nor wear ordinary clothes. Instead, he ate locust (and they weren’t even chocolate covered) and wild honey, and he wore the scratchiest, itchiest tunic you ever could imagine.”
Hopefully, you recognized this story for what actually was – a retelling of the introduction of John the Baptist in the gospels. I wonder, though, if in many ways we ‘hear’ these gospel stories just like we hear all the stories that begin with the words: “Once upon a time…” The child within each of us settles down in eager anticipation, because we know what is coming next. A story! A nice tale. Something to get lost in and wander about in, like the Harry Potter series. Something, which, although it might be true, certainly is not real. And certainly, nothing we need change our lives over…
I think that can be one of the biggest dangers of the Christmas story, and even the readings of our Advent season. If we are not careful, we hear these readings only through the lens of “Once Upon a Time… But to do so is to miss the exact point that Luke was trying to make us understand. Luke situates the coming of the Baptizer very precisely in the unfolding of time and history. It was the 15th year of empire of Tiberius Caesar, not Augustus Caesar; it was this governor Pilate, not that governor; this tetrarch Herod, son of Herod the great, and who had a brother named Philip who also was in power; during this high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. Luke is not in the ONCE UPON A TIME genre of storytelling at all. But with a laser like scalpel, he cuts through the layers of history to pin point one exact, precise moment history in the unfolding of the world.
And then to further pin it down, it is the preaching of ONE man, John – the son of Zachariah, who begins it. And even before that, Luke tells us of the yes of one virgin, at one spot, in the small town of Nazareth, where it took flesh. In the church of the Annunciation, one can read the words: Verbum caro factum est HIC. The word became flesh HERE. Not over there. Not down the street. Not in somebody else’s town, but right HERE. And whether you call that the scandal of particularity, or just the shocking news of salvation, the heart of our faith is never a “Once upon a time” view of the world.
Here is the kicker about that.
If God chose exactly when, in the unfolding of history, his son would be born, do you think he stopped then, and brushed his hands off, and then left us on our own? The eyes of faith invite us to trust that we here at this time, on this day, in this country (and not another one) and this state (and not another) and this town, and this parish, in this year 2015 PRECISELY because of God’s good timing and plan.
And that means that we, who have now witnessed the latest mass shooting in San Bernadino, CA, and stood by as the latest person on Death Row was executed in Virginia last month, and are alive during the Paris Summit on Climate change, and walk the streets of Normandy past Payday lenders charging 400% interest, and are here as the Jubilee of Mercy begins this coming Tuesday, are alive here and now PRECISELY because God planned us to be here. God planned for us to be here! And the clarion call going back to the prophet Isaiah is still directed right at us, here and now, to make straight the paths and ready the way of the Lord
The fact that we are alive this Advent season is no accident. We are not living in ONCE UPON A TIME land, but right here and right now because of the plan of God. God needs my talents and abilities and passions and dreams precisely here and now, the second Sunday of Advent, here at St. Ann parish, in the year 2015.
I confess, it is easier to live in the once upon a time world. Because then we don’t have to do anything, except watch. Except be entertained. Except be a spectator in the story. Once upon a time lets us off the hook. RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW tells us there is work for us to do.
SOOO, spend a bit of prayer this week with this very practical question – either daily, or with an eye toward the time between now and Christmas: If God really has a plan for me, and I am living HERE, and NOW because of that plan, then, What ONE thing is GOD inviting me, THIS DAY, THIS ADVENT, to make sure I accomplish?
Once upon a time? I don’t think so…