“As You Prepare To Receive Christ…!”

“As You Prepare To Receive Christ…!”(Lk.3:1-18).
We are thankful that the LORD in his mercy has brought us to another day.
When John the Baptist exhorted the people and preached the good news to them this key question was asked: “What should we do?” Prof. Allison Howell calls this, “the key to conduct question.” It is only when a new convert asks this question that the process of conversion is put on motion.
When the crowd heard the hard words of John the Baptist they asked him, “What should we do? John told them that the man with two tunics should give one to the person who does not have, and the person who has food should do the same. This is what it means to be your brother’s keeper.
When the tax collectors came to him to be baptized, they too asked, “Teacher, what should we do?” John told them, “Do not collect any more than you are required.” Tax collectors tend to impoverish the people with high taxes. Impoverished subsistence farmers suffocate under the burden of Value Added Tax (VAT), yet there is no VAT on their farm to market goods. Meanwhile the taxes that are paid are used in enabling the bourgeoisie to swim in ostentation and oppulence. But if we all practice John’s words to the crowd, none amongst us would be in want. From each according his means and to each according his needs. That was how the early Christians lived.
Some soldiers also asked him, “And what should we do?” John told them, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely, – be content with your pay.”
In the present dispensation innocent civilians suffer a lot in the hands of soldiers as innocent youths are arrested, detained and released only after their families have paid certain amounts of money. Soldiers who are placed at strategic places to ensure security tend to be interested in collecting tolls from clandestine vehicles. Shamefully, when you pay, your number is written down. What becomes of all these unreceipted collections? As if that is not enough, we are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. “What shall we do? If only we heed the words of John to the soldiers, there will be no extortion, no false accusations and people will live in contentment.
The coming of the Christ ushers in a reign of love, fairness and justice. When there is justice there is peace.
Dear friend, as we prepare to receive Christ, let us in our various proffesions, occupations and vocations ask, “What should we do?” The simple answer is, “Respect the ethics and mores of your calling, and live by the golden rule.”
Sunday prayer: Holy Spirit help me daily to live by the ethics of my calling. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.