What is it that we most deeply hope for, long for, or expect in our lives for the present or for the future? If we were to fill in the dots and draw the picture-
if our deepest longings were to be fulfilled-what would the picture look like, of ourselves, of our world, and of ourselves in relation to those around us and to the world in which we live?
At the heart of the lesson from Matthew for Advent 2, and perhaps its overall theme, is the matter of hope. As usual, on this traditional John the Baptist Sunday, John appears as the one who prepares the way with talk of the nearness of the kingdom and a call for repentance (3:2). There is one who is coming, he says, and this expectancy shapes the narrative. In the same way it addresses our own expectations as it questions what dreams shape our images of the future, or even whether we imagine a future at all. Is there any hope left in us?
There will be plenty of time in Matthew to wrestle with issues of law and righteousness, of grace and works, of faith and responsibility. One thing is clear, for Matthew God’s power calls for and enables a transformed new life of discipleship. Repentance then directs our vision not so much to sorrow for the past, but to the promise of a new beginning. The promise of this lesson is that because God’s reign is so near it has the power to bring about this new orientation of life.
