Advent Gives Us the Finger

Matthew 3:1-12

Karl Barth kept a picture of the Isenheim Altarpiece over his desk most of his life. What most captured Barth’s attention was the long, bony finger of John the Baptist pointing to the crucified Jesus Christ hanging agonizingly on the cross. That long, bony finger of the Baptist’s witness to Christ became the central theme for Barth of Christian vocation – witness. I call it Advent giving us the finger!

Yes, Advent gives us the finger – the finger of witness. It witnesses to us of Jesus Messiah and his coming to gather and reconstitute Abrahamic Israel from ethnic Israel and calls us to witness to our world of the work of Jesus Messiah through this reconstituted Jewish and then Gentile Abrahamic people. Advent equips us to give the finger (of witness) to the world.

We witness

-to the darkness of the world in which each Advent dawns,

-to the darkness in each of us in whom Advent dawns,

-to the new life for Abrahamic Israel – and through it the world – Advent heralds, and

-to the new world Messiah’s coming inaugurates and promises to all God’s creation.

Advent plumbs the depths, scales the heights, and outlasts the bounds of time to bring humanity and history from where they never should have been to where they never imagined they would be – the reality we celebrate at Christmas!

Our world needs us to give it the finger. Of witness. And we need to give it. It’s who we are and what we are here to do. Nobody else is going to do it for us. So let’s get to it!