To make the music our world longs to hear

Homily for December 4, 2016 (2nd Sunday of Advent)
Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12

This is a season of traditions.  Some, like displaying Nativity scenes and Christmas trees, going to holiday parties, and of course shopping (only 21 days left!), have been with us for a long time.  One that is relatively more recent is the “Do It Yourself Messiah.”  The International Music Foundation has been sponsoring this event in Chicago for 40 years, and it is popular elsewhere.

The “DIY Messiah” is a unique performance.  The chorus is formed by members of the audience who self-select into four sections—soprano, alto, tenor and bass—and sing the score of Handel’s classic oratorio with the help of an orchestra and professional soloists.  Over 1000 people are expected to participate in each of this year’s performances at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.  I’ve talked with people who’ve participated in the past and they’ve found this version of the Messiah particularly moving.  While they understandably expect the music to be beautiful and uplifting, what they really find amazing is how so many people from so many places can so quickly be brought together to sing in harmony.  It’s like an annual Christmas miracle.

This shouldn’t be too surprising for us as people of faith.  Bringing harmony out of difference and even dissonance is what our God does, and it is what God invites us to do with others and even within ourselves.  This is a task especially suited for Advent as we reflect on the three-fold coming of Christ: (1) in history (through his Incarnation); (2) in mystery (word and sacrament); and (3) at the end of time.

Writing more than seven centuries before the time of Jesus the prophet Isaiah provides us with a memorable vision of the peaceable kingdom brought about by the coming of a savior from Israel who would “sprout from the stump of Jesse,” i.e. from what was left of the ruined house of David.  This leader would possess the complete package of spiritual gifts:  wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and “fear of the Lord,” i.e. a combination of deep reverence and intimacy that would enable him to know and follow God’s will completely. With such a leader, people would know real justice and there would be so much harmony in the community that even among the animals predator and prey would be able to dwell together.

Reflecting on Isaiah in the light of their experiences, the disciples of Jesus and those who came after them saw him as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.  With that encouragement and their endurance in faith, the members of the early church, Jew and gentile alike, would be able to stand together in hope.  Living in that same hope, we their descendants in faith are called to make ourselves ready for God’s coming.  As John the Baptist reminds us, however, we can’t rest on our baptismal laurels.  Each day is a fresh opportunity to live what we believe and especially in times like these to bring harmony out of dissonance, peace out of conflict, justice out of injustice, and life out of death—to make the music our world longs to hear. +