Whar Are We To Do?

 

 ^{John 1: 1-6}

^{From the Prologue}

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

John 1:19-28

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

¹⁹ Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ 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.’”

²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday (from the Latin "to rejoice"), brings us to the "half-way" point in
Advent.  We cannot restrain from anticipating the joy of Christmas, so we begin with Gaudete, Rejoice, and the purple vestments, while not going totally white, are an intermediate rose color, Hence, the name, "Rose Sunday" is often attributed to this day.  While often the sun is not shining in the sky in December, our hearts can be filled with "Son-shine" as we are less than two weeks away from Christmas...(This might not be a cause for joy for shoppers or Christmas card writers, but it is a cause of inner spiritual joy). We still have time to drink in the rich flavors given to us by Isaiah and the witness of John the Baptist who was clearly focused on the Messiah, not himself.  Perhaps shifting our focus similarly these days might better ready us for our Christmas celebration, as "muted" as it might be this year.

Bro. Rene