Third Sunday of Advent: Are you the one?

Elijah versus the Priests of Baal
Elijah was a great prophet who lived at the time of Ahab and Jezebel. He opposed the corruption of religion by those who worshipped Baal. Ahab and Jezebel used Baal worship for their own purposes. For the most part, people just went along with whatever King Ahab and Queen Jezebel wanted because it was easier.
What was the difference between Baal and Yahweh?
Both religions offered sacrifices on altars. Both religions had priests. Both religions believed their god could bring fire from the sky. Baal required temple prostitution. Yahweh required men to respect women. The differences increased from that point.
The Big Showdown
The people of Israel were not necessarily opposed to Yahweh, but the path of least resistance is always tempting. Not Elijah. He spoke out boldly and suffered for it. In one great confrontation with the false gods, he challenged the priests of Baal to a duel. He didn’t challenge them to a debate, he challenged them to a showdown. Two altars would be constructed one for Yahweh and one for Baal. A bull would be placed on each altar. The trick was, neither Elijah nor the priests of Baal could light the fire. They had to pray for Yahweh or Baal to send fire from the sky. Baal was the god of lightning and supposedly he controlled that power. Elijah was challenging Baal on his own turf.
When the time came for the showdown, Elijah let the priests of Baal go first. There were 450 priests of Baal to only one Elijah. The priests of Baal danced around their altar and pleaded with Baal, the god of thunder, to light the fire. Nothing happened. They slashed themselves until blood ran out, still nothing. After a long time had passed, Elijah poured water on the altar to Yahweh, just to make it harder to light. He looked up to heaven and asked the Lord to light the fire of sacrifice. Immediately, lightning came from the sky and consumed the sacrifice. The people fell down in worship. Were the King and Queen converted? No, they chased Elijah out of the country. In Israel, not everyone was Yahweh’s enemy, but some were.
John the Baptist’s question: Are you the one?
In today’s gospel, John the Baptist, the Elijah prophet to prepare the way of the Messiah, asked Jesus the big question, “Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?” Many in Israel thought the Messiah would be a great military leader. Others thought that the Messiah would restore the Kingdom of David. Others thought the Messiah would be a new high priest and cleanse the Temple.
The difference between what was expected and Jesus
Isaiah, the prophet said that when the Messiah came, “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song” and that he would “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak … then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.” So, when Jesus is asked by the followers of John the Baptist whether he is the Messiah, like Elijah he didn’t debate, instead he pointed to his actions; ““Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Jesus was not a military leader, but he had courage. His Father’s kingdom is more than an earthly kingdom like the kingdom of David. Jesus didn’t just cleanse the Temple, he revealed himself as the true temple.
Christ and Culture
Elijah saw people confused by something that looked like God. We know God by what he does. Whether it is lighting, a fire with a bull on it during a big showdown or in healing the blind, the deaf and the lame.  When we look out into secular culture we see values that look like an imitations of Christian values. Secular culture, on its best day, seeks to address economic inequality through creation of jobs, opposes the violation of human rights, war, racism, sexism, and the ravaging of Mother Nature for short-term gain. The voice of God is inside secular culture just as the need for God was in the people of Israel who had followed the priests of Baal. In Elijah’s showdown with the priests of Baal, the people were won over from a pale imitation of Yahweh. We need to affirm what is good in the world, although a pale imitation. Secular culture is rooted in Judeo-Christian values and has embedded within it many central values of Judeo-Christianity. We cannot blindly oppose every proposal for justice for the poor, addressing racial inequality, and the protection of creation even if the way they are proposed seems stunted. They may be a step in the right direction. There are false gods in the world around us. Not everything proposed by secularism is good. But, directing people towards the good of God is rooted in what is truly the common good.