← Back to the List

December 4, 2005
The Rev. Canon James Richardson
2nd Sunday in Advent - Year B

To read the lessons for the day click here

In the name of...

If you have ever been to other churches this time of year, you may have noticed something a little different here at Trinity Cathedral. Many churches this time of year use purple. But, here, we use this blue color to mark the season of Advent - the four weeks before Christmas.

Have a look around you at the banners on the walls, and the cloth on the altar and the pulpit and the vestments we wear. I think it is a feast for the eyes. Even the blue in the stained glass windows seems a little more blue and bright this time of year.

I must confess - this blue is my favorite color of the church year. And we have Canon Carey to thank for the blue of Advent. Canon Carey tells me that several years ago while he was traveling in England he came across the color at Salisbury Cathedral. The color is actually called "Salisbury Blue," or "Sarum Blue" - Sarum is the Latin name for Salisbury. When Canon Carey saw the blue, he just knew we had to have it here, so thank you Canon Carey for bringing us this wonderful blue of Advent.

Blue has been used for Advent at Salisbury Cathedral since the 11th century. No one is quite sure why this blue came to be used at Salisbury - some think it is the color of Mary, and that is probably as plausible an explanation as any, and others say it is "royal" blue - the color of Norman kings. I like to think of this blue as the color of the winter sky just before the dawn. To me, it symbolizes what Advent is all about - the moment of waiting just before the dawn at the birth of Christ.

The color, I think, marks a subtle but important distinction between Advent and Lent, and that is why we don't use purple.

Lent, the time before Easter, is a time of confession and looking inward for the God within us. Advent, the time before Christmas, is a time of looking outward for the God around us. That is a bit of an oversimplification, but consider this more a degree of emphasis, just as purple and blue are similar colors. Lent is a time of looking inward, and Advent is a time for looking outward.

Looking outward for God brings us to the gospel lesson we hear today, and really it is central to the message of Advent. In this brief lesson from Mark - it is the opening stanzas of Mark's gospel - we get this vivid picture of John the baptizer standing in the river proclaiming that God's kingdom has arrived, so wake up, look around and see it.

Sometimes I think John the baptizer gets a bum rap in our culture. Usually we hear John the baptizer as this scold who calling everyone a brood of vipers and practically throwing thunder bolts.

But in Mark, he is standing in the river, waiting, waiting for the One he knows will arrive to usher in God's kingdom. He isn't calling anyone any names. Rather, we hear the John who is captivating people, for the gospel tells us that people came from the whole Judean countryside and Jerusalem to hear him and cleanse themselves with this ritual washing in the river - baptism. John the baptizer is dressed as a Holy Man, and he is standing in the river just like the prophet Ezekiel. Something very, very powerful is happening, and people have come from far and wide to be part of it. They are looking for something - for God - and they have trudged a long way to find God.

Those people may dress and speak differently than we do. But I would also guess they have much in common with us. They have experienced the ups and downs of life, and they are searching for the same things we are. Some probably walked for days to reach the river Jordan and John the baptizer.

When they get there, John tells them to look around, open your eyes, God is everywhere. The word repent means to "turn around," and that is the great and wonderful irony of this story. John the baptizer tells the people who have come so far that what they are looking for has been there with them all along. God is all around them, all they need do is turn around to see God.

Then John the Baptizer does this powerful thing with them - he washes them - baptizes them - in the river as a symbol that their life has begun again, that it is never too late to see God.

And John tells them something more awesome, that God will soon walk among them as a human being and will wash them in Holy Spirit.

John the baptizer gives them and us the message of Advent: Jesus will be with us. Be awake - it is almost dawn before a new day. Christ will soon be here with us. You really don't have to travel far to find what you seek. Look around you - look for the dawn of Christ's light in all you do.

My prayer for each of you this Advent is that you will look for God's amazing grace everywhere you go and in everything you do. Look for Christ in the people you know, in the work that you do, and in the food at your table. God's kingdom is right here among us, all around us, and the One who is with us fills the world with love and grace and salvation. Have a wonderful Advent!