What Kind of People Are We?

Second Sunday of Advent

Year B

Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalm 85; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8

… what sort of persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion…
2 Peter 3:11

I don’t often do this.  But I want to share with you a portion of my meditation in prayer recently.  My hunger is always to know God more.  As I was expressing this desire I began to ponder the notion that I will never have an experience of God on this earth like it will in be heaven.  Not exactly profound, I realize.  However, I think I often live as if this world is so much more important than it is.  I was being challenged to let it all go and only desire God.  It was then that I began to ponder that all that I truly yearn for can only be found in heaven.  The most spiritual saint has never lived on earth as they will in heaven.

Think about it, you or I may be blessed with heavenly visions or locutions- to audibly hear the voice of the Lord.  Perhaps we may be so lost in contemplation that we are immersed in the warmth of His love.  But all of these experiences would be temporary and momentary.  We can only truly live in such when we are in heaven.  That’s when I began to truly long for heaven. 

Take a moment and allow yourself a similar meditation.  Are you filled with an ache that borders on homesickness?  Hopefully!  And if so, then you will begin to be able to enter into the true spirit of Advent.  For Advent is the waiting for the coming of our Lord.  There should be an ache to it.  If heaven is our true home, then there is a certain level of agony we feel in our gut until we are there.  I believe this is what many of the saints experienced and it was the vision that propelled many of them to a joyful martyrdom.

Isaiah’s message to us in today’s first reading begins to lay out what such an experience might look like.  Further, it invites us to make the needed preparations in our lives now so we can experience the eternal beatitude that awaits us.

In our Gospel we hear the voice of John the Baptist echoing Isaiah’s call.  We are to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

But it’s in Peter’s second letter that we get a picture of our situation as it currently is.  First, don’t be discouraged as if God has reneged on His promise.  Our Lord will come.  His delay is not a delinquency on His part but a manifestation of His patience as He awaits our repentance. 

But then he asks the question that’s key: “What sort of persons ought you to be?”  And then he answers his own question as he notes that we are to be “conducting yourselves in holiness and godliness.”

First of all, consider Peter’s perspective.  “Since everything is to be dissolved…” he says.  The things of this world are temporary.  They are passing.  In fact, we are temporary and passing as far as this life goes.  Then why make our investments here?  Why do we insist on acting as if it’s all about this life?

Have you ever gone to a high school class reunion and there’s always at least one person that you wonder if they are still living as if they are still in high school?  When we were in high school that seemed like it was so important.  Who was cool?  Who was popular?  Who made the football team, the band, or the lead in the school play?  It was our world.  But then we graduated.  Some of us perpetuated this same attitude into college.  But then we moved on and began to realize that there was so much more.  Not many of us would vote for a return to high school after experiencing things like love, marriage, and family.

The same principle applies to our current life in this world.  We are living like this is all that matters.  But that’s not true.  We are here for a mere 70-100 years at best.  That’s nothing compared to eternity.  Shouldn’t we be investing in that which has the most long term payoff? 

So then, what kind of people are we to be?  Peter tells us we are to be holy and godly.  Those are not synonyms.  But they are similar.

To be holy is to be set apart for God’s purposes.  To be godly is to be like God.  Holiness has a twofold perspective.  We are separated from the elementary things of this world so that we can be separated for the things God has for us.  Think of it like the fine china.  It’s not kept with the rest of the dishes.  It’s set apart some place so that it can be brought out on special occasions to enhance the setting.  God does the same thing with us.  He separates us from so many common things in this world so that we can be the means by which people are drawn to Him.

Godliness is to be like God; both inside and out.  It is to have our spirit and disposition shaped by Him to such an extent that we are entirely conformed to Him.  Outwardly, people can recognize this godliness as they find that encounters with you have the effect of bringing them closer to God.

These are the characteristics that Peter says ought to be present in our lives.  Then look what he says: “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God.”  How do we hasten the day of God?  Is it really true that God is waiting on us to determine when our Lord will return?  Perhaps!  It’s not clear.  Peter could mean that we are hastening “towards” the day of God as if it is something to which we are eagerly anticipating.  But it could have the former meaning.  Maybe the Lord is waiting for us to come to a place where we want to be with Him more than anything else.  Then He will return for us as a bridegroom comes to receive his bride.

This is the kind of people we ought to be.  But the question now for us is “What kind of people are we?”  Are we people characterized by holiness and godliness, or at least striving to be so?  Or are we people who really don’t care about such things?  Are we still living like we’re in high school and this is all there is?

Advent is a gift from the Church to reacquaint our perspective.  Holy Church calls us to remember the things Peter is telling us.  Don’t wait and miss this opportunity.  Take a few moments to meditate again on the things of heaven.  Let God put a holy ache in your belly.  Then arise with the acclamation of the true lover of God on your lips: “Lord, come quickly!”