God is in it. We can trust it.
Advent 2C: Baruch 5:1-9, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6
In this country, people with disabilities rely on the concept of “reasonable accommodation” for access and the ability to participate, even though what constitutes a “reasonable accommodation” may not be what they actually need.1
The vision in the reading from Baruch2 is different. There, God’s concern is that all God’s people are truly able to be present and participate.
Is that mountain in their way? Level it. Is the road crooked? Straighten it out. Is the way too bumpy or have stairs? Make it smooth. In order that all of God’s people can return to the Holy City, God wants everyone to have what they need.
In his ministry, Jesus healed people, fed people and taught them. Simple things which also enable people to show up and participate. I don’t remember Jesus flattening mountains, but there was that story about the paralyzed man whose friends ripped up someone’s roof to get their friend closer to Jesus. (Luke 5:18-20) I suspect the homeowner thought that was an unreasonable accommodation. Jesus seemed to like it.
In Advent we can take some time to reflect on what we need to fully participate. It’s probably not the stuff we see in the store circulars. Getting in touch with what it is may take a little time: some listening, some talking, some prayer. It’s a process. Sometimes what we discover comes with fanfare, and sometimes “the reveal” is more subtle. We get a hint or an inkling. Or maybe it is something we had seen before but not recognized. It’s a process. God is in it. We can trust it.
This Sunday’s gospel says that in a difficult and treacherous time, a guy named John lived out in the wilderness but came to trust the vision of a God of who makes unreasonable accommodations so that everyone can be present and participate.
It’s a beautiful vision. God is in it. We can trust it.
Peace.
Photo by JPlenio on Pixabay
Whether a seat, sidewalk, view or service is adequate under the Americans with Disabilities Act is determined by people who do not actually have to sit there, walk there, see, hear or otherwise participate from there.
The first reading from Baruch, like the Isaiah passage found in Luke, is poetry written in the voice of the personified Holy City. Most of the Holy City’s people had been carried off into exile, and the City longs for their return. For the feeling, think of a homecoming or return you have ardently hoped for and without which nothing is right. In the Bible, the Holy City is Jerusalem. But it might help to think of the Holy City less as a particular municipality in the Middle East, and more as a community capable of many locations. In Hebrew, “Jerusalem” can be said to mean “City of Peace.” Going farther back etymologically, it means the place in which God will act so as to restore the Beloved Community to wholeness.
Thank you!