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Advent and the Joy of Working for a Better World
All Year-End donations are going matched!
Please see the various thank you offers following this week’s article, below.
New Episode of JustTalking!
Season 1, Episode 43: John 1.6-8, 19-28. Lectionary B, Advent 3
Each week, we’ll be talking about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it.
You can find the latest show on YouTube at
Season 1, Episode 43: John 1.6-8, 19-28. Lectionary B, Advent 3
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Thanks in advance for watching!
Advent and the Joy of Working for a Better World
Herb Montgomery | December 15, 2023
To listen to this week’s eSight as a podcast episode click here.
“As difficult as doing preparation work in the wilderness is at times, there is joy in knowing what it is you are preparing the way for. We are preparing the way for the advent of a world where love is our guiding principle. There is joy in that assurance, and our labors are not in vain.”
Our reading this month is from the gospel of John.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing. (John 1:6-8, 19-28)
Most scholars agree that John’s gospel was the last gospel in our canon to be written. Mark’s was the earliest, and Matthew and Luke were written between Mark and John. In Mark’s gospel John is a contemporary of Jesus. Jesus begins as one of John’s disciples and part of his Jewish reformation and renewal movement. Once John is imprisoned, Jesus begins his own renewal movement. One gets the impression that John’s followers and Jesus’ followers were in two related but separate movements, contemporaries and occasionally in competition.
John’s gospel presents John the Baptist as Jesus’ forerunner, the one who announced Jesus’ arrival. In Mark, Jesus is baptized by John, but as the gospels progresses, this fact becomes less and less emphasized until John’s gospel, which conveniently leaves out John’s role in Jesus’ baptism. It is cryptic about it, and this may reflect tensions that had developed between John’s followers and Jesus’s. If that’s the case, the Jesus community may not have wanted to see Jesus subordinated to John in any way in the gospels, even if only by implication.
John’s gospel seems to downgrade John the Baptist for the purpose of exalting Jesus. One example is how, in this gospel, John the Baptist rejects attempts to be identified as Messiah, the Prophet, or Elijah.
In Mark, Matthew and Luke, on the other hand, John the Baptist is dramatically associated with Elijah:
Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.” (Mark 9:12-13)
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. (Matthew 11:14)
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17, cf. Micah 4:5)
But in our reading this week, John the Baptist rejects being associated with any of these figures, including Elijah.
What I appreciate about the picture of John the Baptist that we get in the gospel of John is that it unequivocally locates John’s ministry. Each gospel tells us where John taught.
When John is cornered in our reading by people demanding that he answer their questions about who he was, John’s response is:
“I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
Last week I wrote at length about John’s ministry being in the wilderness as we considered the way John’s ministry is characterized in the gospel of Mark. If you haven’t already read that article, you’ll find it helpful as a foundation for what I’m about to say. (Read that article)
The wilderness in the gospels is contrasted with the central location of power: the temple state, centered in the temple as the capital in Jerusalem. John is characterized as working outside the centers of power, property, and privilege. Here I want to be very clear that this is not imagery that symbolizes some conflict between Christianity and Judaism. Rather, these are symbols of long standing within the Jewish society at that time. They represent Jewish voices in conflict with one another over what fidelity to the God of the Torah looked like in relation to economics, society and politics. These were all deeply religious matters in that culture, and religious fidelity demanded people live in certain economic, social, and political ways.
The symbols being contrasted, then, are those of priest and prophet. The priesthood represented those who had been coopted by Rome and were barely more than puppets of the absentee emperor, Caesar. Whoever held the position of high priest was designated as such by Rome, and the priesthood’s chief responsibility was to ensure that whatever actions took place in the Jewish temple state, those actions did not violate the Pax Romana.
In contrast to this elite class in John’s society was the symbol of a prophet in the wilderness. This symbol stood in a long lineage with Hebrew prophets who continually called those in positions of power back to justice. Again, how the most vulnerable in society was taken care of or exploited was a matter of fidelity to their God. Faithfulness to God implied living justly in relation to one’s neighbor. Those who participated in the Hebrew prophetic justice tradition stood on the margins of their society, calling those at the center and those in positions of power and privilege to return to a path of distributive justice.
This rich heritage of justice prophets is the heritage that John the Baptist is characterized with in each gospel.
What does this say to us today?
For me it tells me to keep my ear to the ground and my eyes not on the establishment; to listen to those outside, on the edges, the margins, the undersides of society, and the calls for justice they are making. It brings to mind such movements today as the Poor People’s Campaign, or the Movement for Black Lives, or movements like we saw at Standing Rock calling for justice for indigenous communities and an end to the extraction and pollution of their lands. It brings to mind the recent Women’s March on Washington and movements for LGBTQ justice and inclusion. It brings to mind those today calling for justice for the thousands of innocent Palestinian lives being taken. Who is in the wilderness today? What justice needs are they raising awareness for? Or, in the language of this week’s passage, what is the “way” that they are preparing for God’s future of love, compassion, justice and safety to arrive, a world that is a safe, compassionate, just home for us all?
Who, in other words, are the John the Baptists of today?
In our story, John was preparing the way for the one whom the synoptic gospel authors borrowed the words of Isaiah to describe:
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.” (Isaiah 42:1, cf. Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22)
Who today are preparing the way for justice to be brought to the nations?
Who are the ones on the edges, working within the grassroots of our communities preparing the way so that when justice is accomplished, it finds rich soil to take root and remain?
In our story, when God’s just future arrived, it was crucified by the powerful, privileged and propertied. We have the ability today to write a different ending to the story, one that stands awake to the resurrection of God’s just future.
But this season is not the season of Easter, yet. This season is advent. And this weekend’s theme is the joy of Advent. As difficult as doing preparation work in the wilderness is at times, there is joy in knowing what it is you are preparing the way for. We are preparing the way for the advent of a world where love is our guiding principle. There is joy in that assurance, and our labors are not in vain.
HeartGroup Application
1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s eSight/Podcast episode with your HeartGroup.
2. Advent is that season where we take time again to reflect on the joy of the kind of world we are working toward. What joy are you finding in Advent this year? Share and discuss with your group.
3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone?
Thanks for checking in with us, today.
I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking donate.
You can find Renewed Heart Ministries on X(Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and Threads. If you haven’t done so already, please follow us on your chosen social media platforms for our daily posts. Also, if you enjoy listening to the Jesus for Everyone podcast, please like and subscribe to the JFE podcast through the podcast platform you use and consider taking some time to give us a review. This helps others find our podcast as well.
You can watch our new YouTube show called “Just Talking” each week. Todd Leonard and I take a moment to talk about the gospel lectionary reading for the upcoming weekend. We’ll be talking about each reading in the context of love, inclusion, and societal justice. Our hope is that our talking will be just talking (as in justice) and that during our brief conversations each week you’ll be inspired to also do more than just talking.
If you teach from the lectionary each week, or if you’re just looking for some thoughts on the Jesus story from a more progressive perspective within the context of social justice, check it out, you might like it. You can find JustTalking each week on YouTube at youtube.com/@herbandtoddjusttalking. Please Like, Subscribe, hit the Notification button, and leave us a comment.
And if you’d like to reach us here at Renewed Heart Ministries through email, you can reach us at info@renewedheartministries.com.
My new book, Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels is now also available at renewedheartministries.com
Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.
I love each of you dearly,
I’ll see you next week.
Matching Donations for the Rest of 2023!
As 2023 is coming to a close, we are deeply thankful for each of our supporters.
To express that gratitude we have a lot to share.
First, all donations during these last two months of the year will be matched, dollar for dollar, making your support of Renewed Heart Ministries go twice as far.
Also, to everyone how makes a special one-time donation in any amount to support our work this holiday season we will be giving away a free copy of The Bible & LGBTQ Adventists.
When making your donation all you have to do indicate you would like to take advantage of this offer by writing “Free Book” either in the comments section of your online donation or in the memo of your check if you are mailing your donation.
Lastly, its time for our annual Shared Table event once again. For all those who choose to become one of our monthly sustaining partners for 2024 by clicking the “Check this box to make it a monthly recurring donation” online, we will be sending out one our a handmade Renewed Heart Ministries Shared-Table Pottery Bowl made by Crystal and Herb as a thank you gift for your support. Becoming a monthly sustaining parter enables RHM to set our ministry project goals and budget for the coming year.
To become a monthly sustaining partner, go to renewedheartministries.com/donate and sign up for an automated recurring monthly donation of any amount by clicking the “Check this box to make it a monthly recurring donation” option. Or if you are using Paypal, select “Make this a monthly donation.”
We will be starting out the new year by sending out these lovely bowls as our gift to you to thank you for your sustaining support. Look for them to arrive during the months of January and February.
Our prayer is that whether displayed or used these bowls will be reminder of Jesus’ gospel of love, caring and shared table fellowship. They also make a great gift or conversation starter, as well.
If you are already one of our sustaining partners for 2024, we want to honor your existing continued support of Renewed Heart Ministries, too. You’ll also receive one of our Shared Table Pottery Bowls as a thank you.
No matter how you choose to donate to support Renewed Heart Ministries’ work this holiday season, thank you for partnering with us to further Jesus’ vision of a world filled with compassion, love, and people committed to taking care of one another. Together we are working toward a safer, more compassionate, and just world both for today and for eternity.
From each of us here at RHM, thank you!
We wish you so much joy, peace, and blessings as 2023 comes to a close. Your support sustains our ongoing work in the coming year.
You can donate online by going to renewedheartministries.com and clicking “Donate.”
Or you can make a donation by mail at:
Renewed Heart Ministries
PO Box 1211
Lewisburg, WV 24901
In this coming year, together, we will continue to be a light in our world sharing Jesus’ gospel of love, justice and compassion.
Now Available at Renewed Heart Ministries!
Herb’s new book Finding Jesus: A story of a fundamentalist preacher who unexpectedly discovered the social, political, and economic teachings of the Gospels, is available at renewedheartministries.com.
Get your copy today at renewedheartministries.com
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