Rejoice in Hope

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah is 66 chapters long. Scripture scholars have determined by examining the vocabulary and syntax of this long book of prophecy that there were almost certainly three different writers involved. Many of our Advent readings have come from the second part of Isaiah, the verses that are preached to the people who are held in captivity by the Assyrians in Babylon. The verses that we proclaim today come from the third writer, referred to by scholars as Trito-Isaiah. These verses were probably written after the Israelites had been freed from captivity and were in the process of rebuilding Jerusalem. While slavery was obviously difficult, rebuilding Jerusalem and restoring Israel to its former prominence in the world was also a daunting task.

Isaiah’s blossoms and flowers do not fall onto the earth from heaven; they are brought forth out of the earth by God’s power. The garden bushes burst into flower from what is already growing within them by the marvelous providence of God. Isaiah is insistent that in spite of hardships and discouragement, God’s bringing the people back into the Promised Land was not done in vain. What God has planted will flourish and bear fruit, and there is reason to rejoice in hope. The justice of God will be reestablished and the mercy of God will be evident to all. It is a different, better, more just society that is to emerge.

The well-known verses at the beginning of this reading inevitably stir the Christian memory with the synagogue sermon of Jesus in St. Luke’s Gospel which formally inaugurates his public ministry. To us the one anointed to preach good news to the poor, the humble, the prisoners and the broken victims, will always be in the first place, Jesus himself. Yet today’s readings refer this vocation of being good news to Isaiah, to John the Baptist, and, by extension, to all Christians. The essential task is to dare to hope and to spark hope in others – hope that the Reign of God can be restored in human affairs, hope that the vision of Jesus can be realized, and hope that it can begin now, in this year, in our society, that there can be a new beginning.

What is to be restored is the justice of God’s reign in human society. This means good news for the poor and the oppressed. It means practical consolation to those who have given up all hope. It means freedom to prisoners of every kind, and most of all it means justice and a decent way of life for all. Therefore, it envisages a re-structuring of society according to the will of God – a restructuring in which no one is excluded and held of less account. This is certainly cause for rejoicing and wonder.

That is the burden of Paul’s injunction to the Thessalonians to be joyful always, praying continually, giving thanks, not stifling inspiration but trying them in faith and hope because the power of God encompasses all. God will fulfill the promises in us and among us. Paul writes of something that is already happening among believers.

This seems to be the reason for which the Baptist continues to accompany us in the Advent liturgy. John continues to point to the coming Savior and to invite all to a baptism of repentance that allows people really to see Christ coming. The problem is not that Jesus does not come, but that year after year we do not see him coming. For us, as for Israel in third Isaiah’s time, there is a certain sense that so many centuries have gone by with so little change. There is an inclination to weariness, to settling down to compromises. The message of Advent is to look forward in hope and confidence in the saving power of God and to be always joyful.