How do you
contribute to the harmony of the kingdom?
Advent is a time
when we are called to rethink our relationship with God, to examine our lives,
to take stock of our commitment, our devotion to the Lord, and to focus on producing good fruit, as John the Baptist
tells the Pharisees and Sadducees who come to him for baptism in Matthew’s
Gospel. John is preparing Jesus’
ministry by inviting people to repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Repentance is meant to be life-changing; it
signals a willingness to transform the self, to amend one’s behavior, to listen
to God in a posture of obedience.
Baptism will allow those in attendance to demonstrate the seriousness of
their intent; John’s preaching will make them aware that they are in for much,
much more once Jesus himself arrives on the scene with the Holy Spirit and fire, clearing
the way for harmony and peace.
The Jews of
Matthew’s time had long been waiting for God’s kingdom to come, and the Book of the Prophet Isaiah offered them one vision of what that future kingdom might
look like. Isaiah prophesies the rise of
a new Davidic king, a king sent by God, blessed by God with a multitude of gifts: a spirit
of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, and more!
And this king will use his gifts to ensure that justice and faithfulness
are the rule of the land, such that the most vulnerable will be cared for, the
result being an extraordinary state of peace and harmony in which the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid.
Psalm 72 echos the description of this remarkable kingdom: Justice
shall flower in his days, and profound peace. It is a vision that should inspire hope, a
desire for its fulfillment.
The harmony championed
by Isaiah is also found in Paul’s Letter to the Romans: May the
God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another… Remember that harmony is not one note sung by
two people, but two or more notes that resonate with each other. And so harmony is constitutive of the fullness
of the kingdom of heaven, wherein each welcomes
the other, embracing them and their ideas, recognizing differences (remember the wolf and the lamb) without letting those differences get in the way of unity. As Christ welcomes all, we too need to use
our gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
to turn to love, to be love for other, to let love inscribe our existence. We can only do this if we begin with repentance,
transforming our very selves, that we might contribute to that harmony that is
the kingdom of heaven.
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