by Pastor Jay Shailer

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'”

–Matthew 3:1-3

Have you ever been walking down the street and were bombarded by a street preacher? There used to be one that set up with a bullhorn on Main St. in Bexley, Ohio, right in front of Capital University, which was a block from the seminary’s campus. I had the chance to listen to him many times walking around town, and every time I was shocked by him. Not so much by what he said, because to be honest I didn’t listen to him, but by the scene of it. It was so out of the ordinary for me, it was surreal.

I think this was probably a bit of how John the Baptist operated. Now, don’t get me wrong, John had good stuff to say, but I think his brazenness confused people. They probably had no idea what to think when they saw him. I think this confusion and out of the ordinary feeling we get from John fits in perfectly with how we feel about the season of Advent. We are told that it is Christmas time on TV, on the radio, in the stores, but we come to church and we are told to snap out of it… Christmas isn’t until the 25th… we still have to wait. It’s confusing and frustrating.

This is the point to Advent. This is a season of in-betweens. As we feel the tension in the world around us, we are sitting in the tension of the time between when Jesus came the first time, and when he will come again. Advent names the reality we are truly living within: knowing the promise of Jesus through his death and resurrection and hoping for the fulfillment of that promise when he comes again.