The Rev. Richard W. Budd, Ph.D., Rector
The Church of the Good Shepherd, Richmond, VA
Christ With, In and Through
Advent is a time in which we prepare for the coming of the Lord: his coming to us sacramentally at Christmas, his coming to us individually at the end of our lives, and his coming to us collectively at the end of time. Now, suppose we are told that the Christ for whom we are waiting is already here . . . in our midst as one of us. What difference would that make? Here is a story of the enormous difference that the awareness of the presence of Christ among us could make in our lives as individuals and as communities.
A certain monastery discovered that it was going through a crisis. Some of the monks left, no new candidates joined them, and people were no longer coming for prayer and consultation as they once used to. The few monks that remained were becoming old and depressed and bitter in their relationship with one another. The abbot heard about a holy man, a hermit living alone deep in the woods, and so decided to consult him. It took him nearly a half-day, following winding paths, often nearly obscured from view by a heavy growth of vines, to reach the hermits abode.
Finally settled with a mug of hot, mulled wine, he told the hermit how the monastery had dwindled and diminished and how it is now a mere shadow of what it once was. Only seven old monks remained. The hermit told the abbot that he has a secret for him. One of the monks now living in his monastery is actually the Messiah, but he is living in such a way that no one could recognize him.
With this revelation the abbot goes back to his monastery, summons a community meeting and recounts what the holy hermit told him. The aging monks look at each other in unbelief, trying to discern who among them could be the Christ. Could it be Brother Mark who prays all the time? But he has this holier-than-thou attitude toward others. Could it be Bother Joseph who is always ready to help? But he is always eating and drinking and cannot fast. Perhaps Brother Jonathan, who is always late to Matins and Lauds, and seems to daydream all during the devotions.
The abbot reminded them that the Messiah has adopted some bad habits as a way of camouflaging his real identity. This only made the Brothers more confused and they could not make any headway figuring out who was the Christ among them. At the end of the meeting, what each one of the monks knew for sure was that any of the monks, excepting himself, could be the Christ.
From that day, however, the monks began to treat one another with greater respect and humility, knowing that the person they are speaking to could be the very Christ. They began to show more love for one another, their common life became more brotherly and their prayer life more fervent. Slowly people began to take notice of the new spirit in the monastery and began coming back for retreats and spiritual direction.
Word began to spread and, before you know it, candidates began to show up and the monastery began to grow again in number as the monks grew in zeal and holiness. All this because a man of God drew their attention to the truth that Christ was living in their midst as one of them.
In today’s gospel John the Baptist tries to announce the same powerful message to the Jews of his time who were anxiously waiting for the coming of the Messiah. John tells them: “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal” (John 1:26-27).
The reason the Jews of Jesus’ time could not recognize him as the Messiah is that they had definite ideas on how the Messiah was going to come. The Messiah would suddenly descend from heaven in his divine power and majesty and establish his reign by destroying the enemies of Israel. No one would know where he came from, humanly speaking, because he was to come from God (John 7:27). So when finally Jesus came, born of a woman like every other person, they could not recognize them. He was too ordinary, too unimpressive.
After 2000 years, are we now better able to recognize Christ in the persons of the ordinary men and women in our midst together with their unimpressive attitudes, habits and appearances? Advent is a season for warnings; Advent is a season for expectation and longing; Advent is a season of preparation for things to come. It is a time to pay attention to signs. Some Advent signs come from Holy Scripture with words of warning and hope about things to come.
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.”
Each Advent sign points to the one who first came in the obscurity of a stable behind an inn in Bethlehem, and to the same one who is now to come “in great glory to judge the living and the dead.” Each Advent sign points to Jesus. AMEN