Gnarly Dude | December 10, 2015

December 10, 2015

I picture John the Baptist kind of like a surfer dude at the beach with wild unkempt sun bleached hair, and a scrawny body because in the same way that some surfers only care about catching waves and eating is secondary, John the Baptist was all about announcing Messiah and eating was secondary. His fashion? Well, honestly, I see a Chewbacca suit with arm and leg holes. The description of John the Baptist seems gnarly dude, but there must have been something about him that made people not just pay attention to his motely appearance, but to hear his words and to open their hearts to them. I bet there was a depth in his eyes, authenticity in his voice, and his eloquence captured something in them that stirred their souls to listen. Engaging story tellers are powerful people and John the Baptist seems like that kind of guy, in fact, Jesus, the Savior of the World, God incarnate, said this about him, “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist.” Jesus literally calls John the Baptist out as the best dude ever created by God and rightly so, because God the Father needed a dynamic gnarly dude to be his beloved son’s herald! I know John the Baptist doesn’t drink (because he was a vowed Nazarite), but I would love to have a beer with him someday. Just sayin’.

Advent is a time for each one of us to pull out our noisemakers, our eloquence, our party clothes, and our best selves so that we can also announce the gospel with our lives. Advent is a time of communion, giving, preparing, singing, rejoicing, renewing, and getting ourselves right with God and each other by ushering in or giving birth to Christ in our lives. We are indeed pregnant with hope, pregnant with love, pregnant with faith and pregnancy fills us with expectant joy, a little nervousness, and a lot of time to ponder, but eventually there will be new life. Let’s listen to the ever so gnarly but dynamic John the Baptist today and prepare the way of the Lord, making straight the path so that when we see Jesus on that path waiting for us, we can sprint into his arms without anything standing in our way.

My dad is still in the hospital and 4 days in the hospital can start to mess with your mind and heart, even if progress is being made. Last night, some friends and family spontaneously helped Mikey and I decorate my parent’s house for Christmas. If you really knew my dad, you would know that Christmas is his favorite time of year and every inch of his entire house is decorated. Every room has it’s own theme from nautical to classic Coke, It’s A Wonderful Life to the every popular teddy bear room. He has the entire town of Bedford Falls from the movie It’s A Wonderful Life built in the living room complete with the actual movie playing on a DVD player in the middle of it. My dad loves Christmas because it brings out the giving and the loving and the sharing in people. It is a season of goodness and it brings joy into the world. With him being sick and in the hospital, we thought that we might not be able to decorate this year, but Ohana came to the rescue and while it is a meager attempt at recreating my dad’s magic, it was a true example of a bunch of gnarly heralds preparing the way of the Lord. To say that we had fun doing it is an understatement for sure. Here’s a little glimpse into the gnarly-ness (and yes we are singing badly on purpose!!). Be shiny today and announce the gospel with your life.https://youtu.be/N_Sz1JbHzRc

Reading 1 IS 41:13-20

I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”
Fear not, O worm Jacob,
O maggot Israel;
I will help you, says the LORD;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I will make of you a threshing sledge,
sharp, new, and double-edged,
To thresh the mountains and crush them,
to make the hills like chaff.
When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off
and the storm shall scatter them.
But you shall rejoice in the LORD,
and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain,
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I, the LORD, will answer them;
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
I will open up rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the broad valleys;
I will turn the desert into a marshland,
and the dry ground into springs of water.
I will plant in the desert the cedar,
acacia, myrtle, and olive;
I will set in the wasteland the cypress,
together with the plane tree and the pine,
That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Responsorial Psalm PS 145:1 AND 9, 10-11, 12-13AB

R. (8) The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
I will extol you, O my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger, and of great kindness.

Alleluia SEE IS 45:8

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the clouds rain down the Just One,
and the earth bring forth a Savior.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 11:11-15

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 
From the days of John the Baptist until now, 
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force. 
All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John. 
And if you are willing to accept it,
he is Elijah, the one who is to come. 
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”