And I can tell by the way you’re searching
For something you can’t even name
That you haven’t been able to come to the table
Simply glad that you came
When you feel like this try to imagine
That we’re all like frail boats on the sea
Just scanning the night for that great guiding light
Announcing the jubilee
– Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Jubilee
Second Sunday of Advent (A)
Tucked away among the many commands given in the Law of Moses are two rather interesting ones that would seem downright dangerous to our way of thinking, if we took them seriously. One is the provision for a Sabbath Year – every seventh year. On the sabbath year, the soil was to be given rest and some debts were to be forgiven. The second command is for a Jubilee Year every fiftieth year – in other words, the year coming after seven weeks of years, the “Super Sabbath” year. On the Jubilee Year, all debts were to be forgiven entirely (ponder that one as you finger your credit card or pay your mortgage or student loan) and all slaves were to be freed (how different our history would have been if we had followed such a ‘primitive’ law). These laws, among others, were intended to make Israel a sign for itself and other nations of who their God was and what He intended to do for Israel and, through Israel, for all humanity.
What was this Jubilee Year – this “Super Sabbath” – but a foretaste of the rest that the Lord promised to His people, a rest we are invited to every time we pray Psalm 95? What does this rest involve but freedom from every injustice, every kind of oppression and slavery, everything we call sin?
We do not know for certain how well these provisions were actually followed in ancient Israel. Judging from the words of prophet after prophet, however, they seemed to have been honored in the breach far more than in the actual doing. Therefore, the Lord promised through the prophets that He Himself would act to lead His people to their promised rest. He would come and guide us to our true home. He would refashion His people so that they would not only be following Him themselves, but that they would also be a sign for all the nations o what God’s intention for all humanity really was.
The readings for this Sunday act as a guiding beacon for anyone who seeks just this kind of rest that the Lord promises to His faithful people. Think of a lighthouse and the roles it performs. It has two purposes: it points the way to the desired harbor, and helps sailors avoid hazards that could sink their ships before they reach the harbor.
The reading from Isaiah speaks of a shoot sprouting from the stump of Jesse, upon whom the Lord’s own spirit shall rest. This one shall act with justice, especially for the poor and oppressed. The result? That image that is sometimes called the Peaceable Kingdom, where even those who seemed to be mortal enemies can find peace and, yes, rest. The psalm, taken from Psalm 72, picks up on the theme of justice and stresses it. The King who is to come will be just. Justice will flourish in His reign, and fullness of peace forever. Paul, in the second reading, stresses the hope that the Scriptures are intended to give. All these witness to the role of a lighthouse as a beacon pointing the way to home, to rest.
But the way home is not without dangers. Dangers that could easily sink our ships if we run into them. Enter John the Baptist. His role is to point out the rocks, the shoals, the areas of turbulence, so that we might turn from them, follow the beacon, and be safe and saved. John’s task is urgent. Danger is always near. The goal is too important. The coming King is also near, very near, even at the gate. So John’s language is strong, like a splash of cold water on our faces on a sultry day. He means to wake us up so that we might see the beacon again, turn to follow it, and be led to our rest.
John stresses all this by the mere fact that he is by the Jordan River. That one detail is very significant. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they entered the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan. John, therefore, by his very location, proclaims that the time is at hand, the Promised One is near, that the promises of the Lord are about to be fulfilled in wondrous fashion. The time of waiting is nearly over, he says. Repent and believe in the Good News! Look for the beacon and follow it! This is the acceptable time! This is the day of salvation! The Jubilee is finally here!