The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Luke 3:15-16
“John the Baptizer bursts upon the Gospel of Luke. That is because it is Advent time. And whenever it is Advent time, we get John. It is not yet time for Jesus. This is still the time for getting ready. Getting ready time is not mainly about busy activity, entertaining, and fatigue. Getting ready time is mainly abrasive…asking, thinking, pondering, and redeciding.
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (v. 16). Now I imagine that sounds as weird to you as it does to me. We who are relatively affluent and relatively sophisticated do not talk that way and do not welcome it. In truth, however, being baptized with God’s Holy Spirit does not mean charismatic acting out.
It means, I take it, we may be visited by a spirit of openness, generosity, that “the force” may come over us, carry us to do obedient things we have not yet done, kingdom things we did not think we had in us, neighborly things from which we cringe. The whole tenor of Advent is that God may act in us, through us, beyond us, more than we imagined, because newness is on its way among us.
John is not the newness. He prepares us for the newness. And his word is that if we want to be immersed in the life-giving power of God, then we must do as john says: Share your coat and shoes and goods…Manage money in neighborly ways…Quit being the heavy in social transitions…
Advent is not the kind of “preparation” that involves shopping and parties and cards. Such illusions of abundance disguise the true cravings of our weary souls. Advent is preparation for the demands of newness that will break the tired patterns of fear in our lives.”
Walter Brueggemann in Celebrating Abundance: Devotions for Advent (Louisville: WJKP, 2017) 4-5.
Advent is a time of waiting expectantly. That waiting time, as Brueggemann notes, is “getting ready time” because soon, Jesus will be here. Are you ready for Jesus?
On the Advent journey, we find that getting ready is not so much about doing generous acts but about submitting to God’s work in us which produces obedient, kingdom, and neighborly fruit.
In a word, all this is the “newness” that the Holy Spirit brings. Use your “getting ready time” to ponder (like Mary in Luke 2:19), and then step into the “newness” following God’s leading!