the 3rd sunday of advent
the PRAYER …
Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God, and open our ears to the words of your prophets, that, anointed by your Spirit, we may testify to your light; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
the READING …
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
the DEVOTION …
It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of Jerusalem, back in the day. For Jews the world over, in Jesus’ time, Jerusalem was the center of the universe. Not just because it was the seat of government, but because – even more so – it was the heart and soul of faith! The Temple was in Jerusalem! The one! The only! And it wasn’t, just, another place to worship. It was where god lived! So, when concerns about the baptizer cropped up, the questions, naturally, came from Jerusalem.
But it’s funny … when John, finally, gets around to answering, he says nothing about Jerusalem! Doesn’t, even, mention the name! Instead, it’s about the wasteland! “I am the voice of one crying out,” he says, “[not from Jerusalem,] but in the wilderness!” Not from the holy and the sacred, but from the untamed and the uninhabited! But then, that’s the way it always is … with god! Ventures of which we cannot see the ending! Paths as yet untrodden! Perils unknown! These are the godly places! Mangers, not Temples! Crosses, not thrones!