3rd Sunday of Advent- Get Going!

There is that saying: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”   How do we hear this?

I think there are two ways. First, it can be interpreted as when situations become difficult we run away, we get going away.  Another interpretation is that we get going to work on it. We engage the situation and grow.

In the book “Prizzi’s Honor” the main character Charlie Partanna had a woman issue. He placed women on such high pedestals and fall in love with the woman, or that ideal of woman he had formed in his head. Inevitably women failed to live up to his ideals and he immediately fell out of love. That failure could be as simple as a little burp at a meal.  

People believe they have the perfect romance, then something happens contrary to their ideal and there is disarray.

People believe they are the smartest person, then that is demonstrated not true: devastation.

People believe that this country is the greatest, and when shown the racism, the corruption, anything to the contrary, such anger results.

People believe that the institution of the church was holy, and that has been shown to be true and NOT true.

People form ideals around their parents, their children, their friends, and ….

Disillusionment exists. We will all form an image, a reality in our minds of how we want the world, our lives to be. And inevitably, it will not live up to our image.

What do we do? Get going or get going?

Last week, John the Baptist was on display, full of confidence, on fire! He stood up to the powers that be and called them on their hypocrisy. He is the prophet declaring the coming of the anointed one.  Now, he sits in a jail. All that fervor got him arrested. Disillusionment sets in. He is unsure now about Jesus. What was he expecting from Jesus? A political change? An uprising?

What does he do?

God created us for life. God created us to be alive, to love others and let others love us. God created us to build the kingdom of heaven on earth. As children of God this is who we are.  At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of the Son of God as human.  We celebrate this great revelation that God created us to be with God; Divinity and humanity to be one.  We remember our very core of who we are, and what we are to birth into this world: Love.

Hope comes from this. When we hold onto this very core of our being, that Love remains, when the disillusionment comes, we can still move forward and be who we are are persons.  

John, disillusioned now. What does John do? He gets going, into action. He asks questions, he investigates, he searched for meaning. He does what he can, and not sit and rot in a jail.  

I love Jesus’ response. He restores hope. 

See, this is never about Jesus the person. Jesus directs John to look at the fruits of his actions. Jesus says look at the good that is being accomplished; People are being cured, people are being helped and shown love, People’s lives are being improved.  This is the Kingdom of Heaven being made real

Jesus tells John to look beyond himself and see the larger picture.  Don't sit in your jail ferment your disillusionment, look up, see more.

I think the trap of our society these days is we get to immersed in our own ideas of how it needs to be. We form an image of who we want people to be and we “idolize” that image. And we expect everyone to have the same image, the same belief, the same concept.  It will disappoint us.

Life will challenge us. God wants us to grow. This means we need to not be attached to our images, our concepts, our egos.  And yet people will get going...into anger, when they become disillusioned, and people get going by leaving, relationships, communities, church…

This does no good. Look at the divisive conditions.  This will not fulfill us as persons.

We are called to get Going, into the situation. To sit, ask ourselves where am I? What am I wanting? What am I attached to? To contemplate our anger, to contemplate our fears, and then we can act.

Act with Love.   Act by forgiving. Act with generosity. Act with mercy. Act with Humility.  

And then the blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear...and it will be great.