Time To Clean Up The Closet 

Rev. Marcel E. Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Before the emergence of John the Baptist, the desert preacher and prophet, the Jews had gone for four hundred years without a prophet. As a result of that people began to complain about the seeming silence of God. They wondered why the voice of God do not sound anymore. As this line of thinking was becoming prevalent among the people, John the Baptist appeared appeared with an earth shaking message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 

John was a fearless preacher who denounced evil deeds wherever he saw them. When Herod entered into illicit and unlawful marriage with his brother’s wife, Herodias, John rebuked him and reminded him that the Jewish Law did not permit such a behavior. When he saw that the Sadducees and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day were stuck in the letters of the law and paid no attention to the spirit of the law, he berated their hypocrisy. When he saw that the ordinary folks of his time were living lives that were not consistent with the professed faith, he called them out. Wherever he saw anything bad- in the state, in the Temple, on the street, in the marketplace, John fearlessly spoke out. His emergence became a light that lit up dark places. As he preached his strange clothing, nasty diet, and challenging message rather than turn people away, attracted them in large numbers to him. Why? Because his voice was considered as the voice of uprightness, holiness, and the voice of God.

Now, John the Baptist was not a prophet of doom. His message wasn’t only about denunciation and repudiation of evil, he also challenged the people to become what they ought to be and what they could be. He forcefully called them to repentance (metanoia)— to have a change of thinking, attitude, behavior and relationships. His call to repent is a call for us to become the best version of ourselves, that is, to move away from where we are right now that is not serving our relationship with God and others well enough. It is an invitation to shred our old selves—which is self-centered, move intentionally closer to God and to those around us. This call is a call to become more like Christ Jesus, the reason we are here today. Metanoia or repentance invites us to enter the closet or the garage of our lives, and clean up all the junks that have taken up the space meant for God and our brothers and sisters. It is an invitation to declutter. 

Just as John warned his first listeners that claiming Abraham as their father is not enough, we are also warned that being called Christians isn’t going to be enough. We must produce good fruit as evidence of who we are. The fruit we bear must be harvested from the garden of the Lord. Jesus is not looking for fans, but disciples. Fans only admire him but may not follow him or listen to him. Fans may cheer him but may not produce the kind of fruit that pleases him. 

The call to repentance is something we have heard time and again. But have we ever done anything about it? Have we ever taken the time to consider if there are things in our lives that we need to get rid of? John prophesied that the nearness of God’s kingdom requires appropriate action- repent, be converted, have a change of heart and mind, and be born again.  What do I mean by born again? When you stop following your own will, rather live according to the will of God, you are born again. When nothing matters to you more than God, you are born again. If at the very center of your life you are linked to God, you are born again. If you are rooted in God in such a manner that your heart longs for him daily, you are born again. When you resolve to leave sin behind and allow yourself to be led by the Spirit of God, you are born again. If you have spent years living selfishly but now wants to live for God and others, you are born again. If you kept a long list of folks who offended you that you are not willing to forgave but eventually allowed the grace of God to open you up to forgive and receive forgiveness, you are born again. If your god is fame, pleasure, wealth and control, but eventually found and fell in love with the true and living God, you are born again. When your heart is healed of bitterness, anger, jealousy, hatred, you are born again. You are born again when you focus less on avoidance of sin and focus more on doing something good, being lovely and lovable, being hospitable, being kind, being compassionate, being merciful, being generous, being inclusive, being tolerant, being gentle, being humble, being truthful, being sacrificial, being understandable, being less difficult, being holy and above all, being Christ.