Last week we looked at Advent as being the anticipation of Christ’s second coming, and not that of his birth 2,000 years ago. The second Sunday of Advent, traditionally the Sunday of Peace and John the Baptist. John, who called all Israel to prepare for the Prince of Peace by preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

The words of Luke 3:6 really struck me this week, “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” The deepest sense of these words is that peace, harmony, health and healing will break out all over the world! “All flesh will see…” means that every human being on earth will see this come to pass. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it?

Try to imagine what it would be like if: war was just a memory, hunger and poverty were things of the past, all human beings could experience loving and caring communities. Sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? And when we look at the state of human affairs these days, it sounds impossible.

Nevertheless, this is a time of year for dreaming. Many children are writing lists of all the things that would fulfill their dreams. All caring people dream of peace in this world, not just the absence of war, but true peace that includes justice, the eradication of hunger and poverty, the elimination of disease and violence – peace that has in it love, joy and grace. In short, a peace like Israel hoped for when they hoped for the promised Messiah.

John the Baptist appears every Advent to remind us that we are part of the mess. That the darkness and wilderness don’t just happen. Our hands are not clean and without responsibility. He reminds us that perhaps we are not as focused on the right priorities as we think we are. So, John shouts to get our attention. He dresses oddly to capture our fascination. He goes up and down the riverbank, telling us that we need to make room for God, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

It’s interesting that John who prepared the way for Jesus by his preaching, didn’t talk about forming groups or political parties. He didn’t talk about writing letters to leaders or newspapers, or about boycotting companies whose practices we disagree with. He didn’t talk about the relationships between nations and groups. Instead, John talked about individuals getting right with God, by repenting, by showing the fruit of repentance through caring and sharing with others.

It’s easy to find our lives so cluttered and busy that there is no room for our relationship with God. It’s ironic and sad that the times we celebrate the central events of the Christian faith (Christmas and Easter) are precisely the times when our lives seem to find little peace.