Guess Who?

Luke 3: 1-6

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.”

In introducing us to a man called John, Luke begins by presenting us with a rather impressive list of “who’s who” in ancient Palestine. A list of the movers and shakers - the decision makers and the opinion shapers of the day. Quite an impressive list indeed.

Having presented the names of all those leading personalities, it is what comes next that is quite interesting.  Luke goes on to say that: “the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness”. 

Let’s go over that list again:

Tiberius – Emperor
Pontius Pilate – governor of Judea
Herod – ruler of Galilee
Philip – ruler of Ituraea and Traconitis
Lysanias – ruler of Abilene
Annas and Caiaphas -  High-Priests

And then there is mention of John, the son of Zechariah, to whom the word of the Lord came.

Who was John? What were his credentials? What was his designation? Luke does not say, and that is because John did not occupy any prominent office or position in society.

In fact, what we know about John may lead us to believe that he was a rather unusual individual; we may even think he was eccentric. He made his home in the wilderness; he wore camel’s skin for clothing, and he ate locusts and wild honey for food. He was the kind of character that persons today would be inclined to stare at, make fun of, and dismiss as crazy.

But in spite of that lineup of top influential people, the word of God came to John, not to any of the who’s who.

John was not in the same league with the people on that list; he did not qualify for a place among them. But when God chose to make known God’s mind, God did not speak through the Emperor, the governor, other rulers, or the high priests of the day, but through John, one who was among the least of society.

God did not choose those who sat in the seats of power, whether that power was political or religious; he chose a simple man who made his home in the wilderness - a place nobody goes to, at least not by choice.

In choosing John, God chose a “nobody”, as it were, to prepare the way for God’s Son to come among us.

It may appear to be a surprising choice, but when you look at it, it is consistent with the entire story of the advent - the coming of Christ as a baby in Bethlehem, and it is very consistent with how God often works among people.

For God regularly chooses people whom the world sees as insignificant, through whom to do marvellous things. People like John, whose only claim to fame was that he was a somewhat eccentric preacher. People like Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was an unwed, scared teenage girl. People like the shepherds who were at the very bottom of the economic ladder whom God chose to be the first to receive the news of Christ’s birth. All ordinary people.

Again and again, God chooses people the world can easily ignore, to participate in God’s world-changing, life-saving activity. That is the story of advent.

The truly marvellous thing about advent - in fact, the real miracle of advent, is that God has made himself accessible to all. In bypassing the who’s who of society and working through John the eccentric preacher and Mary, the frightened teenager, God is making it known that he is accessible to all and that all can participate in God’s world-changing, life-saving activities.

Maybe you are sitting there thinking to yourself that you don’t hold any particularly important position that would warrant you being included in anyone’s “who’s who list”. That may be so, but guess whom God is eager to use to do God’s work of salvation? YOU.

God is eager to use you to help fill the valleys in people’s lives, make low the mountains and hills that they face. God is ready to use you to help straighten and make smooth the path they others to take. 

You don’t have to be influential or be among the rich and powerful to be used by God. God is eager to use you, even in what may seem like small ways, to point people to the path of hope and peace.

And often, it does not take much. God speaks through you when you offer that simple, sincere word of encouragement. The compassion of God is experienced when you share the pain of those who weep. The love of God is made known when you help those who are in need. And when you point someone to the life Christ calls us unto, you are helping to make it possible for “all flesh shall see the salvation of God”.

Going back to Luke’s list of who’s who, it is worth noting that by the time Luke writes the gospel, all of those seven powerful and influential men who dominated the people’s lives, exploiting and oppressing them, were but footnotes to the story of Christ.

In the same way, advent promises that those issues and challenges that get us down that dominate our lives and our world will one day become mere footnotes to a larger, grander, and more beautiful story of acceptance, grace, and new life. But for that to happen, the way has to be prepared for God to enter and change lives and change those structures and systems that deform and deprive.

And guess who God invites to help make that a reality? You and me.

The word of God comes to you and to me, right where we are in life, amid our uncertainties and anxieties and our search for answers; in our brokenness and pain, in our grief and loss - in our wilderness. It comes in our celebrations and in our times of thankfulness.

In our daily encounters with family and friends, strangers and colleagues, the word of God comes to us and to others through us. It is a word of love and hope, peace and joy. It is a word of forgiveness and freedom, justice and right relationships, a word of new beginning and wholeness. It is a word of salvation. It is a word that draws all humanity to God and the new life that God offers in Christ.

It is for us to hear that word and share that word. And Advent calls us to step back, to listen, to hear as God speaks to us as God spoke to John, the son of Zechariah.

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness”. 

How might God be speaking to you so that you can help to make the way of God straight? So that you can help to fill the valleys in people’s lives and make low the mountains and hills that they have to overcome? So that you can help to straighten and make smooth the path they have to take? So that all flesh can see the salvation of God?

How might God be speaking to you? I invite all of us during this season of Advent, this time of reflection, to step back, pause, listen and hear God as God speaks.