3rd Sunday of Advent, Year C
12/13/2015
Ben Fischer
1st Reading Zephaniah 3:14-18a
Psalm Isaiah 12:2-6
2nd Reading Philippians 4:4-7
Gospel Luke 3:10-18
The first reading is from the prophet Zephaniah. Zephaniah was active during the early years of Judean King Josiah. Josiah became king at the age of 8 and at that time, Judah was very corrupt. The previous two kings had allowed and facilitated the worship of idols, even going so far as to install statues of idols in the Temple. The early part of Zephaniah strongly condemns Judah for this idolatry and promises a great chastisement. In fact, Josiah was the last of the “good kings” of Judah. When he became an adult he instructed the priests to clean and renovate the Temple during which effort they found a “book of laws”. He was terrified of the punishments promised to Judah and eliminated idol worship in Judah and set a number of reforms in religious and civic life. But it was too late. He fought with the Egyptians, losing his life in battle and was succeeded by sons who did not walk with the Lord. Within a short period of time, the Babylonians conquered Judah and destroyed the Temple.
The portion of Zephaniah in today’s Mass concerns what happens after the great chastisement. Zephaniah says that a remnant will remain. God will purify them by removing the corrupt elements of society, leaving behind the righteous. Indeed, during the Babylonian Exile, the Babylonians did not forcibly remove ALL of the Judeans, they removed the king and the rulers and the Temple authorities and, in general, the elite. These are the people the Zephaniah was denouncing in the early part of the book. But it’s not just that the bad people are being removed and the good people are left in place. This isn’t an Old Testament version of the Left Behind books. The “remnant” refers to the faithful, whether they are in Jerusalem, Babylon or anyplace else. Zephaniah specifically refers to the remnant being gathered from all over and being restored to their homeland in Israel. Today’s reading is an expression of the joy the remnant will experience when God rewards their faithfulness.
So there’s a distinction that’s made between the judgement on the nation and the judgement on the individual. A nation can be destroyed due to the faithlessness of the society, but that doesn’t condemn all members of the nation. Similarly each person has their own obligation to live a righteous life, regardless of the state of society. God will reward the righteous even as they may suffer from the decay of the society around them. Zephaniah’s condemnation primarily falls on the leaders of Judah as their responsibility is primarily to the nation. The leaders bear the responsibility for those that fall into sin because of the leader’s apostasy. Those that fall into sin are responsible for their own actions but God’s punishment will not be as severe. Those that remain righteous are those that will rejoice in God’s saving action.
The Canticle from Isaiah echos the same theme. The early part of Isaiah goes back and forth between condemnation of Judah’s unfaithfulness and a promise of God’s reward to those who remain faithful. Again we see the distinction between personal salvation and the fate of the nation.
This distinction between salvation on a personal level and a national level is revealed in the Gospel reading. John the Baptist called people to the River Jordan for the forgiveness of sins. Why the River Jordan? In Israel at the time, the forgiveness of sins occurred in only one place: the Temple. John was expressing a judgement on the religious elite of the day in a similar, but less dramatic sense than Zephaniah did. The Temple was the focal point for Israel. The fate of Israel was tied up with the fate of the Temple. Were the Temple to be destroyed then the future of Israel would be in doubt. This is historically accurate. Historically, the fate of Israel was associated with the temple. The Babylonians destroyed the temple after they conquered Judah. The Greeks profaned the Temple during their rule of Israel in the time of the Maccabbees and, looking forward, after the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70AD, Israel as a nation essentially ceased to exist, or at least it barely hung on until the definitive destruction 60 years later. John’s message does not dispute that reverence of the Temple, but he says it is not sufficient. Personal holiness is required. And he called people away from the Temple to emphasize that need for personal holiness.
The people in today’s Gospel have responded to John’s call for personal holiness and are asking how they can prepare the way of the Lord in their own lives. John had just instructed the crowds who came to him that they needed to repent of their sins. They cannot rely on their heritage as the “chosen people” for salvation: 8 Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So the naturally respond: What do we do? What does it mean to “repent” and “bear good fruit?”
John’s responses seem banal. He tells people to share what they have. He tells the tax collectors to only collect the taxes that are owed. He tells the soldiers to not rob people. This doesn’t seem to comport with the almost violent opening line about the need for conversion. Yet there’s a stark demand here.
The economic system the tax collectors found themselves in was fairly simple. Rome decided how much tax Judea would pay and the tax collectors would go out and get it. The system not only allowed them to overcharge the Jews, it assumed that they would. The tax had to be paid. If the tax collectors didn’t get enough, then the shortfall would come out of their pockets. The tax collectors often paid for the license to collect taxes. That license cost plenty of money and they needed to recoup that expense somehow. So tax collection was a complex series of negotiations, fights, extortions and evasions which generally speaking the tax collector always won. And they were rich as a result.
Soldiers were in a similar situation. Soldiers were not rich. They and their families were often very poor and in debt. The pay of a Roman Soldier was very low – probably at least in part because Rome assumed the soldiers would steal the rest. They could look forward to a plot of land to farm upon retirement but the life of a soldier was hard and the punishments were severe and there was no guarantee that they would make it the twenty-five years before retirement. So if they needed some money, a soldier had every incentive to try to get it as soon as possible. A soldier, after all, is a well trained strong man armed and shielded with a number of similarly well trained strong and well-armed men behind him. Roman soldiers were constantly being called out to deal with some petty uprising or major insurrection and no police force was going to arrest the soldier if he looted a few more homes than justice required in quelling the riots.
A current example may shed light on the situation. In the 1990s a comedy called Liar Liar hit the movie theaters. The basic premise was that a lawyer played by Jim Carrey could not tell a lie for a day. The comedic point was that it would not only be very difficult for a lawyer to function without lying, but that indeed a man might get into law because he was a skilled liar. Liars sought out the legal profession because it enabled good liars to perfect their craft and make good money from their skillset, such as it is. The situation would be similar for tax collectors and soldiers. Conniving thieves would naturally gravitate toward tax collection as a profession and thugs and bullies would naturally gravitate towards soldiering. Those were the professions that rewarded their talents.
John is saying that the Ten Commandments apply in every situation. The command to “not steal” applies even if you’re in a profession that accepts or even demands theft. We might wonder what John was say about some lawyers, politicians and actors we see on TV today.
John’s instruction has a double edge to it. He is not only saying that it’s possible for a tax collector to conduct his business honestly, but he’s saying that tax collection is an honorable profession. The unsavory reputation it has is due to those who misuse their position of power, not to the profession itself. In a similar way, being a soldier is an honorable profession. It is those who misuse their authority that taint its image. John did not tell the tax collectors to quit collecting taxes, nor did he tell the soldiers to put down their swords. The jobs are fine. It’s they way they are conducting their jobs that is the problem.
I want to emphasize this a little more. Two great saints of the twentieth century spoke often about this idea. One the one hand, when the day of judgement comes, God will not ask “were you a tax collector” or “were you a businessman” or “were you a social worker”. He is going to want to know how you lived out your Christian faith: how you loved your neighbors. But on the other hand, our professions can be avenues for holiness. Saint Josemaria Escriva often wrote about how work, performed with the love of Jesus, can sanctify the world. Saint Therese, the Little Flower, similarly spoke of doing small things with great love.
Of course, not all jobs are inherently good. It’s hard to imagine John the Baptist telling an abortionist, or a pornographer or a pimp to do his work with honesty and integrity. Each profession has to be judged for it’s compatibility with the demands of Christian ethics. Some professions are inherently inimical to Christian values. But some are not. Discerning the difference requires a conscience that is formed in light of scripture and Church teaching.
The Gospel ends by saying that the multitudes were excited by John and wondered if he might be the long-awaited messiah. John followed in the pattern of the prophets: calling people to repent of their sins and promising salvation if they do. Messianic fervor was at a peak at this time: the prophecies of Daniel pointed to this age as the time of the Messiah and the Jews were in need of a savior, living under a foreign power. Many of the faithful Jews were skeptical of some of their leaders, who they saw as in collusion with the Romans. The High Priest who was supposed to be the spiritual leader of the Jews was a political appointment and was subject to the pagan Romans. The faithful Jews probably felt very much like the remnant described by the prophets. How they must have longed to sing those songs of joy in the first reading and the canticle.
If the Jews were looking for a political or military leader to overthrow the Romans, they were looking in an odd place. John is described in the Gospels has a half-crazed man with a wild appearance and ascetic diet. John had no obvious military or organizational skills with which to lead a rebellion against the Romans. In fact, John did not speak against the Romans at all, but against the Jewish leaders. What kind of savior was this?
Would John be the one to free the Jews? In a sense he was. He prepared the way for Jesus. But he definitely had a sense of proportion. He knew who he was and he knew how God is. John accumulated a large number of followers. That must have been a temptation: Perhaps they were right: he was meant to lead them against the Romans. They would follow. Perhaps they would win? Perhaps the crowds are a sign of God’s favor? But John never lost sight of his mission. He did not seek glory for himself, but rather sought the glory of God.
If John did not have the skills to unseat the Romans, he had one trait that was greatest of all. He was humble. He didn’t see his followers as a willing army waiting for him to give marching orders. He didn’t see them as a mob that he could unleash or call back as he wished. He didn’t see them as a means to his own aggrandizement. He saw them as a flock in need of a shepherd. He saw them as children of God who longed to be reunited with their Father.
Closing Prayer
Grant, almighty God, that looking forward in faith to the feast of our Lord’s birth, we may feel all the happiness our Saviour brings and celebrate his coming with unfailing joy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Lord bless us, and keep us from all evil, and bring us to everlasting life.
AMEN
