Second Sunday of Advent
The Bible’s Story
Today’s Gospel introduces us to John the Baptist, preaching about repentance and forgiveness. John declares that the words from Isaiah 40, written centuries before Jesus, have been fulfilled. This reminds us that the many stories of the Bible, what Christians call the Old Testament and the New Testament, are really one story, about the relationship between the one creator God and humanity. Although parts of the Bible are certainly hard to understand and interpret, the Bible is a story about our continually falling short of the possibilities God has planted within us and among us, and God’s continuing efforts to help us be the wonderful creatures God intends.
John the Baptist will go on to say how Isaiah is especially fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I believe the words of Isaiah are also fulfilled when we, as the people of Jesus, the followers of Jesus, live lives that demonstrate we have been with Jesus.
It is often said that our religion is determined by where we grew up. If we grew up in India, it is most likely we are Hindu; if Poland, it is most likely we are Roman Catholic; if Morocco, it is most likely we are Muslim. I do not deny that, but many people now choose not to identify with the traditions they grew up with.
But I also believe that if our Christian faith is more than nominal, it is because we have known persons whose lives have been shaped by their relation to Jesus in ways that show.
Scripture invites us to live as persons made by a loving God whom we see in many ways, but especially in the Bible’s story of God’s relationship with the Hebrew people and of God’s coming to us in Jesus.
Hermann Weinlick, retired pastor
Minneapolis, Minnesota