Preaching the Second Sunday of Advent (B)

Below are three possible preaching directions for the Second Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8

Why are we in the wilderness?

With all the doom and gloom from last week and this week’s wilderness talk, it might feel more like Lent than Advent right now. Maybe, though, it just feels more like Advent than Christmas–which is as it should be.

The Advent wilderness is the place we go to hear the voices of the prophets: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” “Repent!” It is the place we go not to hear a nice sermon, but to be called to action. The place where we encounter our humanity and our sin. And a place where we experience God’s leading and embrace.

  • What aspects of life feel like wilderness to you and your people in this Advent season?
  • In what ways are you preparing the way for God’s peace, love, and justice to grow in the world?
  • What prophets do you hear?
  • How is God’s glory being revealed?
  • How are you experiencing God’s care?

Let’s Talk About Sin

I know you don’t want to, especially not during Advent. But it’s hard to get away from sin in this week’s lectionary texts.

Isaiah seems to attribute the Babylonian exile to the sins of the Israelites. Fortunately, the time of God’s judgment and punishment have passed. The psalmist echoes this sentiment from Isaiah: that God has forgiven the sins of the people. It is because of this forgiveness that the people will now receive what is good from the hand of God. What do we do with this idea that God punishes sin and rewards righteousness? When bad things happen because of human sin (whether at the personal or societal level), is our suffering just a natural consequence of poor decisions, or is it punishment from God? (Why) does it matter how we think about sin and suffering?

Then, of course, we have John the Baptist traipsing around the wilderness “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” What is astonishing to me is that people actually come to the wilderness to hear this proclamation. They let John baptize them in the Jordan–maybe even share some locust and honey with the guy. What can possibly be appealing about being told we are sinners? What is our proper, faithful response when we realize that we have not been living our lives the way God would want? What voices call us to repentance today? And how are we responding?

Lean Into Peace

This week (like any week) might be a good time to lean into the candle theme of peace. You can connect this week’s texts to ideas of peace:
–Isaiah’s words of comfort
–the vision of a level (peaceful?) path
–the strange peace of knowing that we, like grass and flowers, will fade
–the promise of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness
–the promise of a new heaven and a new earth
–the peace brought to us by “the one who is more powerful”

Honestly, though, this week’s Revised Common Lectionary texts are not terribly exciting to me. So I’m here to remind you that you’re allowed to veer away from the lectionary every now and then–you have mastered divinity after all!

How can you truly ignite the light of peace for your people this week? What do they need to understand about experiencing peace within themselves? How can we more faithfully live out God’s call to live in peace with our neighbors? How can we more deeply experience peace with God? And how can we be more fully a part of God’s movement for peace in the world?