The Question Answered

The Gospel for the Third Sunday in Advent

St. Matthew xi. 2.

NOW when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 

Early 19th Century Icon enthroned at St. Simeon Skete, Taylorsville, Kentucky 

As we prepare for Christmas, today’s Gospel seems out of place - seeing that John is in prison and Jesus is an adult.  John is waiting to be executed.  He is in pain, suffering.  He is  the man who recognized his savior from the womb. Later as John Baptized Jesus, the Heavens open up,  he heard God exclaim his pleasure in His Son and he witnessed the Holy Spirit descending, leading into the desert.  And yet, he now sends his disciples to ask “Are you the one?”  Our troubles touch us, sometimes pain is so great it leads us to questions for which only Jesus is the answer.    A great answer doesn’t necessarily get you out of the question, the journey, or the pain but sends you back into it all to find Jesus to be that answer.  We must stay in the pain long enough to answer the questions that the pain is asking.  Make sure the answer is NOT a way of getting out of the pain (running away, denying, buying new shoes or taking a happy pill) but a real answer.  I can always tell more about a person by the questions they ask rather than the answers they give.  John was asking good questions that demanded only one answer: Jesus.    

Much of our religion these days leads us to living a prophylactic existence; preventing us from ever becoming pregnant with life and infected with what it brings - sorrows and difficulties.  They are a part of life.   Our purity must not be the result of NOT being touched by our troubles.  “In the world you will have troubles”.  That’s the truth.  Yet we hear so much from the world that uses belief in God as a shield from difficulty.  They hold that being with God means no loneliness, no hassles, no suffering.   I remember a lady years ago storming off after a sermon in which we were lead to examine ourselves.  The woman shouted as she left, “I don’t come to church to be instructed or made to critique my life.  I come to church to feel good, be happy and be comforted.”  Before you can be comforted you first have to be confronted.  John suffered, Jesus suffered, they had troubles and so do we.  I remember seeing the hand-written sign in a hermitage “Pain is the Kiss of Christ”.    God is in our pain with us, therefore, you might say our sorrows are a sign of the presence of God.   We are not alone.  

John sits confined in prison, alone, waiting to be executed.  His question really has three parts. 

1. Are you the one?  (see also NHA Blog "Are you the one?")
2. Is it real? 
3. Is it enough? 
   
   

And Jesus answers  “Yes, Yes, Yes”  He is the one, He is real and He is enough. 

THE ADVENT WREATH

In Sierra Leone, James and family are making their way back to Kabala after spending a week in Freetown, 

braving the busyness of the city to seek medical attention for Roo, 

receive packages from the post and stock up on supplies.  They are excited to return to the peacefulness of Kabala, especially as they prepare their hearts during this penitential season of Advent. 

As I type this post, the rain is falling hard and Seraphim is outside rebuilding and repairing the newly developed ditches in the gravel road at the skete.  He is drenched. 

In order to prepare for the cold Winter, we are filling the gas tanks for the buildings in use at the Skete. 


Preventative measures and preparedness are imperative to maintain our buildings, our properties and daily life.  Advent calls to attention the fact that as we give attention to the physical preparations - things that are temporary, it is even more important that we prepare our hearts and souls which are eternal.  

Nazareth House Apostolate began the Advent Season as we begin everything - in prayer.  

As the first Advent candle was lit in The Chapel of the Presentation, the Liturgy began.  It is the custom of NHA at St. Simeon Skete to place the Nativity Scene in the chapel on the first Sunday of Advent, highlighting the empty creche - signifying the Season’s reason for preparation and expectation -  the coming of Christ.  

The Wisemen are placed far to the East in the Chapel ... journeying closer each Sunday of Advent, finally making their way to the site of our Lord’s Nativity after Christmas.  

After the Liturgy on this first Sunday in Advent, 

we had a wonderful time of fellowship 

at Anna House, 

a sharing and celebration as we begin the fasting and penitential observations the next day.  

The materialistic “Santa Season” serves to distract us from having a meaningful, preparatory Advent.   Consumerism, Self indulgence, Keeping up with the ‘Jones’ (people haven’t realized that the “Jones”  aren’t happy, but they still want to be like them), mammon illness - all these things take away from having a real Christmas.   There are many traditions and customs that help us to ignore these distractions and put them in proper perspective.  

One tradition, the Advent Wreath, serves to keep us focused on The Important. Each night at the dinner table one candle for each week of Advent is lit, ending with all four candles lit by the week leading into Christmas.  Usually the youngest child of the family lights the first candle.   There are many prayers that can be found on the internet search engines to be said at the lighting of the candle, but it can be more personal and meaningful (especially to the children) to incorporate your own prayers. 

The first candle is the candle of Hope (expectation). This points attention to the anticipation of the coming of Christ.  As God’s people were exploited by power hungry kings, led astray by self-centered prophets, and assuaged into apathy by half-hearted religious leaders, people began to crave a new king who would teach them how to be people of God and not of the world. They longed for the return of God in their midst. 

So, God revealed to some of the prophets that He would not leave His flock without a true Shepherd. While they expected a new earthly king, their expectations fell far short of God’s revelation of Himself in Christ. The world continues to be lead by dominative powers.  We remain in expectation, with hope, for the coming of Christ.  Our hope starts with the birthing of Christ in our own hearts.  

The sequence of lighting the candles for the remaining Sundays of Advent are that of Love, Joy, and Peace.