Mora Naba, a Mossi emperor in Burkina Faso, had conquered a powerful ethnic group in the south called the Kaesena. He extracted tribute from them once each year. One year, at tribute collecting time, the emperor made the mistake of sending his son, Nabiiga, a prince and his heir apparent. When the Kaesena saw Nabiiga with only a very small entourage of guardians, they overpowered the group and took the prince hostage.
His kingly robes were stripped from him, and he was forced to walk around in only a loincloth. The prisoner received only one meal per day and was forced out into the fields each morning to work. Normally, manual labor would be beneath the dignity of royalty, so the Kaesena made great sport of him. The women would pass by and belittle him. While he was working in the fields, the children would throw pebbles and stones at him.
But, to the great surprise of all those watching from day to day, the Mossi prince would work and sing. He sang cheerfully with a loud voice as he worked from sun up to sun down. At first his soft hands blistered and then bled as he was unaccustomed to using farm equipment. He lost significant weight, but he continued to be cheerful and to sing.
The elders of the Kaesena were much troubled by his singing and buoyant attitude. “How can he possibly sing,” they would continually ask, “since we make him sleep on the ground and make sport of him each day? We give him very little food, and he is forced to labor from sun up to sun down. Our women and our children mock him, but he continues to sing!”
After a month of watching, they finally called him before a council. He stood in his loincloth straight and proud in their midst. The elder spokesperson for the Kaesena people asked the Mossi prince about his behavior: “Why do you sing?” Nabiiga answered, “It is true. You’ve taken away my fine clothes. You have made me work, you give me very little food to eat, and you make me sleep on the ground in a common hut. You have tried to take away all my pride and all my earthly possessions. You have brought great shame upon me. Now you ask me why, in spite of all this, I can sing. I can sing because you cannot take away my title and who I am. I am Moro Naba’s first son. I am proud of that and will never react to your shameful behavior!”
The Kaesena people learned that they could not bring shame upon the Mossi prince because he was at peace and, therefore, could continue to sing. The peace that the prince felt inside was an active virtue manifest in his behavior; peace was not simply the absence of violence and war in his life. To become peacemakers, as the story suggests, we must proactively act and speak. As we light the third candle on the Advent wreath and know by the calendar, as well as Saint Paul’s words, that Jesus is near, we must consider our response to the challenge to rejoice and, thereby, bring peace.
The Advent journey we have been traveling the last three weeks, a time of expectation and waiting, has concentrated on the second coming of Jesus and the ministry of John the Baptist. Today, however, we start to concentrate on the arrival of Jesus in time — the Incarnation. The Jews had waited many centuries since the prophecy of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and their predictions of a messiah. The Jews fully expected a great king who would restore the greatness of Israel as during the time of David. The Roman occupation of the land would end; the greatness of Israel would once again shine to all nations.
While we realize that the messiahship and kingdom that Jesus brought were far different from what the Jews expected, it is still a time of great rejoicing that the Lord is near. What Jesus brought is far more important than expectations of power and greatness, which dominated the thinking and hopes of the Jews. We must rejoice because we know, based on many factors, of the close proximity of Jesus. First, the calendar tells us that December 25 is not far off. We cannot go very far in any mode of transportation without encountering some physical manifestation of Christmas — decorations, traffic at the malls, and billboards that announce sales. We hear Christmas carols on the radio, our mailboxes are filled with cards and other greetings from friends and family, and we are bombarded by commercials on television for all the latest things that various stories and retailers want us to buy for our friends and loved ones.
Scripture, too, informs us of the Lord’s proximate arrival. Yes, we have the words of John the Baptist who speaks of the need to prepare for this great event. In today’s second lesson Paul, writing to the Christian community at Philippi, suggests our preparation must include great rejoicing, because the Lord is near.
We all know how to rejoice with great fervor when things go right, and we are in control and on top of the situation. This is a rather natural reaction when our success is personal, that of one we know and love, or even that of an organization to which we have loyalty. We rejoice in our personal and family successes, the triumph of a friend over obstacles or disease. We rejoice when our favorite college or professional sports team wins the big game or even a championship.
Saint Paul tells us today that there is another element of rejoicing. He suggests we need to eliminate our propensity to worry and replace our anxiety with prayer and supplications to God. As a society we like to worry. In fact, we have a whole industry associated with it. When we worry we seek resolution through medications and various professionals. Certainly what medical science collectively has done for us with respect to our penchant to worry is laudable and generally helpful, but we worry far too much. Naturally we worry about our family: our children, our finances, our health, and our future. But, as we know, there are some people who prefer to worry; they do not seem content under any other mode of operation.
Paul suggests we must cast our cares on the Lord by substituting prayer and supplication to God instead of manifesting our worries and concerns. This sounds good, but we know it is not easy to accomplish. We want, like the Kaesena people, to find some answer to our concerns, to our lack of peace, but Paul suggests that if we trust God and let our prayer take the place of our worry, the elusive peace we ultimately seek will be ours. The author of the book of Proverbs was correct when he wrote: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight” (Proverbs 3:5). Paul says that the peace of God, which surpasses all our understanding, will guard our hearts and minds. This peace is certainly a reality we all seek — to feel at peace and know that God will guard our hearts and minds to the attainment of this goal.
Scripture and tradition have provided Jesus with numerous titles, each of which resonates with certain people at different times. The image of Jesus as the good shepherd presents the Lord as the compassionate one who seeks out the lost, even going so far as to leave 99 perfectly good sheep to fend for themselves while he searches for us, the one who is lost. When Jesus describes himself as “the way, the truth, and the life,” he helps us understand that he is the guide to all that we need, all that will sustain us. Jesus’ description of himself as the vine and we as the branches, expressing our need to always remain connected to him, brings us both consolation and challenge. It is a challenge for we must follow and stay connected, but if we do, we have the promise that where Jesus resides we will one day be. The image of Jesus as the “Bread of Life” (John 6) helps us to know that he is our spiritual sustenance. We can always go to him with any and all needs.
Isaiah’s image of the Messiah as the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:5), is especially relevant as we draw closer to Christmas. Our troubled world, with so much hatred, violence, and armed conflict, badly needs the peace that only Christ can bring. This peace must be active, however; it is never passive. Pope Paul VI put it so succinctly, “If you want peace, work for justice.” Peace will only come when we actively seek it. Thus, we must cooperate with Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to assure that Christ’s peace will be manifest in the world. The apostle suggests that the way we can bring peace is by being joyful people. Rejoicing truly can bring peace.
Rejoicing must become a way of life, not simply a momentary respite from our general worrisome and dour countenance. We cannot win every game; we don’t always hit home runs. But, if we continue to play the game, if we never give up, we can rejoice that God is with us. As we draw closer to our Advent goal, as the signs, smells, and sounds of Christmas draw near, let us as Paul suggests, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (v. 4a). Our spirit will bring us peace, and peace will bring us and our world one step closer to God and life eternal. Amen.