Donald R. Elly, M. Div.
Ever played the game “Connect the dots”? You can start anywhere filling in the dots and slowly a picture emerges that conveys what the creator of the game intended. This is the image that came to mind for me I read Luke’s Gospel account that begins with John the Baptist as a central figure of Advent as we ponder again the birth of Jesus. The writer uses John’s story to help us understand the impact of Jesus, and to make that birth what some have called the “hinge of history”.
John the Baptist plays a vital role in Luke’s history of Salvation. However, as the first dot it is an unexpected surprise. The author of Luke unfolds for us just how intertwined the life of John the Baptist and his family is in the birth of Jesus and itsroots in the history of Jewish religion. We meet Zachariah, a Priest in the Temple hierarchy, his wife, Elizabeth who is an older cousin to Jesus’s mother, Mary. They are also the parents of John the Baptist. Though they do not appear in our traditional manger scenes their stories highlight and make clear that God coming into human form, i.e.,the incarnation, required more than nine months’preparation and involved many more people than just the Shepherds, the Wise ones and angels.
So the first question I would ask you as you wait for and prepare for the birth of Jesus this Advent is this: Who are the persons who played a major role in the connecting the dots for you in your relationship to God? Take a moment and say a silent prayer of thanks for these often-forgottenpersons who made you the unique person you are today. My identical twin brother, Ron and I were adopted on December 6, 1946 by Robert and Dorothea Elly five years after our birth and living in the foster care system of the State of Alabama. Hidden in that story are Mom and Pop Brown of Millbrook, Alabama. Deeply faithful Christians(United Methodist), they were important dots that helped us know the love of God long before we felt the call to serve God in the Gospel ministry.
In Luke 3:1-6 Luke’s writer makes clear that for him the birth of Jesus is rooted in the history of Judaism and the Roman Empire when he writes, “in the 15th year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius when Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea…the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. …proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord…” Jesus did not just drop down from heaven to be our Savior. Jesus’entry and birth is real and took place in history. Itwas prepared for and God is eager for us to realize that just as John prepared the way for Jesus and had a unique purpose and role for John and his parents, he has a role for us in Jesus’s story.
What is the unique role God has for you this Advent as your follow God’s lead and connect the dots of God’s design of Salvation for all the world? It may be a huge question and you may have only a small part of the answer, but God is depending upon you to make the truth of Zechariah’s prophecy as related to John the Baptist, a task we all have. “And your child will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways and give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon you, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Prayer: Thank you,Lord for the call to all of us to connect the dots. May we be thankful for everyone and everything that opens us up to your love. Amen.
December 5, 2021 Cycle C 2nd Sunday of Advent
Malachi 3:1-4 Philippians 1:3-11. *Luke 1:68-79; 3:1-6
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