Readings: Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Mt. 3:1-12
A Leader After God’s Heart
1. John is the prophet we meet on the second Sunday of Advent every year. He came to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. John lived in the desert and wore camel hair. His food was locust and wild honey. His appearance was frightening, and his message was direct, demanding immediate action. According to John, everything else can wait but searching for God cannot. To postpone acts of kindness or not be compassionate and merciful are leisure Christians cannot afford. Putting off repentance can spell disaster, and not doing what is right is a delay of justice. Why put off till tomorrow that which should be done today? It is always right to do the right. The time for repentance is now. “If today you would listen to his voice, harden not your hearts.” (Ps.95:8). And Paul reminded us that “It is the hour now for you to wake from sleep.” (Rom.13:11-14). And so Christ tells us “Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.” (Matt.24:42).
2. As John was preaching in the desert, people went to him to be baptized in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins. He called them a ‘brood of vipers’ and urged them to repent from their sins and flee from the coming wrath. He demanded that they produce good fruit as evidence of their repentance and stop deluding themselves that they were Abraham’s children “God can raise children from Abraham from these stones. Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt.3:9-10).
3. John the Baptist was not the most pleasant prophet to be with. He would remind you of the beggars on the streets. Yet, without John the Baptist and his message, we would not have Christ in our hearts, and Christmas would make no sense. To enjoy a fruitful Christmas, we must be confronted by this ‘crazy prophet’ in the desert with his message that must be heard. It is by taking John’s message seriously that the first reading would make sense to us. Isaiah prophesied a king, who will be the living embodiment of the qualities expected of one worthy to govern. The king will spring like “a shoot from the stump of Jesse.” He is coming from an unexpected ancestry (stump) and possesses the rare qualities of a great king. Wisdom and understanding, are the essential intellectual qualities of a judge. Counsel might represent the practical application of wisdom, the gift of decisiveness in judgment, and the moral energy to carry it out. Knowledge and the Fear of the Lord are the religious characteristics of leadership. He who rules others must himself be ruled by the knowledge of God and must live according to God’s moral demands. A Good leader will not judge by appearances, nor decide by hearsay, but act with justice to the helpless, and decide fairly for the humble. He will strike down the ruthless with his verdicts and slay the unjust with his sentences. Justice shall gird him for action, he shall be belted with trustworthiness. Herein, then, lies the fruit of repentance demanded by John the Baptist. The outcome of right judgment and leadership according to the mind of God that the Messiah will usher in by his birth, will be reconciliation even in the world of nature, and the ancient enmity between man and beasts shall be destroyed.
4. Isaiah and John were prophets who spoke God’s message to His people and called them to repentance and faith. Their messages were difficult, but some paid attention and repented. John the Baptist warned that repentance was not enough, we must bear its fruit. It is not enough to tell people that we are Christians, we must demonstrate it through our way of life. It is by doing simple tasks of love that we bear good fruit. Let me conclude with this exhortation from the letter of St. James: “Therefore, put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and can save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.” (James 1:21-25). May God find in our hearts a well-prepared dwelling place for His Son at his birth. Amen!
Please continue reading the Letter to the Romans as your Advent homework. Enjoy!
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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