There is an old rabbinic story about a farmer named Isaac who went to his neighbor and asked to borrow his donkey.\u00a0 The neighbor said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry Isaac, but my donkey is already out on loan to someone else.\u201d\u00a0 But just as he finished speaking, the donkey brayed from inside the stable.\u00a0 So Isaac said, \u201cHow can you tell me that your donkey is on loan to someone else when I can hear him braying inside the stable?\u201d\u00a0 The neighbor shook his head and said, \u201cIsaac, who are you going to believe, the donkey or me<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you going to believe?\u201d\u00a0 That question is posed by today\u2019s gospel.\u00a0 In the gospel today we hear many good things.\u00a0 We hear of the good news of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We hear that God is present in our world.\u00a0 John the Baptist says that Christ is coming, a powerful Christ that will baptize us in the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 All of these things are wonderful.\u00a0 But they are not the only voices in our world.<\/p>\n
There are other voices that tell a very different story:\u00a0 the voices of terrorism and impending war, that tell us we are not safe and that we may need to use violence to protect ourselves; the voices of scandal in business and in our church that undermine the institutions we value and cause us to doubt our connection to them.\u00a0 There may be voices in our own lives, voices of dissension and rejection that we find in our relationships–in our families, in our marriage, in our friendships–voices that tell us that trust and love are no longer possible.\u00a0 There might be the voices of grief, voices that tell us that we have lost something very dear; perhaps a person who has died.\u00a0 These voices tell us that we will never shake that emptiness.\u00a0 We will never be happy again.\u00a0 All these voices resound in our ears.\u00a0 They tell us that there is no good news, only bad news; that there is no reason to rejoice, only reason to weep.\u00a0 Who are we going to believe?<\/p>\n
Both the words of John the Baptist and the words of Advent call us to listen.\u00a0 To listen for the Good News, to listen for the voice from the stable.\u00a0 You and I believe that Jesus Christ was born in a stable, lived his life, died and rose again as our risen Lord.\u00a0 We believe that he is still with us.\u00a0 We believe that if we listen, we can hear his voice.\u00a0 We might hear it in the innocence of children, or in the faithfulness of a friend, or in the goodness of our spouse, or in the kindness of a co-worker.\u00a0 We might hear good news in a ministry that we engage in as part of a Christmas project here at St. Noel, or in generosity from a stranger, or in the beauty of the snow, or in the stillness of our hearts.<\/p>\n
Wherever we hear those voices, those voices of good news, Advent tells us to listen to them and let them in.\u00a0 Advent tells us that the voices of negativity, the voices of gloom and fear should not be the only voices in our lives.\u00a0 They are not the only voices in the world.\u00a0 There are<\/i> voices of good news, if we can hear them.\u00a0 There is<\/i> reason for hope, if we can let it in.<\/p>\n
Shouts of bad news and shouts of good news cry out at the same time.\u00a0 Reasons for hope and reasons for despair coexist within our world.\u00a0 Who are we going to believe?\u00a0 Advent tells us to believe in the voice from the stable, to believe in the voice of Christ.\u00a0 His is a voice we can trust in.\u00a0 His is a voice we can stake our life on.\u00a0 If we listen to that voice, we will not be disappointed.\u00a0 For even though there is darkness and brokenness in our world, his voice will lead us to good news.\u00a0 Even though there are real cries of sadness, in his voice we can hear peace, hope and joy.<\/p>\n
The host for the celebration of Advent is John the Baptist, and what he is serving us is locusts and honey.\u00a0 These are the two foods that the Gospel associates with John. But before we turn up our nose at his menu, we should realize that these foods are more spiritual than gastronomic.\u00a0 These foods are intimately connected with John\u2019s message. Unless we interpret correctly what he ate, we will not be able to understand what he preached.<\/p>\n
Why locusts and honey?\u00a0 Let\u2019s start with the locusts.\u00a0 For the young people here who might not know what a locust is, it is an insect similar to a grasshopper.\u00a0 In the ancient world locusts were a sign of utter destruction, of plague, of complete loss. Locusts would travel in swarms of millions and when they would come to an area or a field they would consume every plant.\u00a0 No green thing was left; no seed was uneaten.\u00a0 Locusts mean destruction.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Honey, of course, is the sign of plenty, of abundance, as in the \u201cland of milk and honey.\u201d\u00a0 Honey was a strong symbol in the ancient world of the bountiful nature of God\u2019s blessings.<\/p>\n
These two foods, then, represent the two sides of life: the good times and the bad times, the gains and the losses, the joys and the sorrows.\u00a0 What John is telling us by his diet is that the diet of every person consists in these two foods.\u00a0 In each of our lives we have a certain amount of honey, and no one can get through life without having to swallow a few locusts.\u00a0 The food of John the Baptist describes the lives that we live.<\/p>\n
This is how John\u2019s food is connected to his message.\u00a0 John the Baptist has one of the clearest messages in the Scriptures.\u00a0 We heard it today in the Gospel, \u201cPrepare the way of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 John\u2019s message is that God is coming. God is coming, and that is good news.\u00a0 When is God coming?\u00a0 Here\u2019s where the food comes in.\u00a0 God is coming in both the locusts and the honey.\u00a0 This connection makes John\u2019s message a real challenge, for it takes faith to believe that God is coming to us in both the good times and the bad.<\/p>\n
It is easy to believe that God is coming to us in the honey.\u00a0 When we watch our children play and they are healthy and happy, when we look into the eyes of our spouse and realize that we are loved, when we finish a job and know that it is well done and it has made a difference, when we find common ground and reconciliation with an enemy, in those moments it is easy to believe that God is coming. It is easy to see God present in our blessings.<\/p>\n
But dare we believe that God also comes to us in our pain? Can God be with us when we worry about a family member who is struggling with depression or Alzheimer\u2019s, when we have to face divorce, when we lose our job, when the doctor tells us we have six months to live?\u00a0\u00a0 Dare we believe then that God is still coming to us in our lives?\u00a0 Our faith tells us that we must.\u00a0 Our faith does not ask us to pretend that the bad times are somehow good times.\u00a0 It does not ask us to imagine that our curses are actually blessings in disguise.\u00a0 But, it does say that in each and every circumstance we must believe that God is coming and we must prepare God\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
The great Christian mystic Meister Eckhart is known for one peculiar teaching. It is this.\u00a0 Eckhart says, \u201cWhatever happens to you today is the best possible thing.\u201d\u00a0 I repeat, \u201cWhatever happens to you today is the best possible thing.\u201d\u00a0 Now when you first hear this sentence, it sounds like nonsense. Indeed it is nonsense unless you understand it correctly.\u00a0 It is not telling you that being diagnosed with cancer or losing a child in an automobile accident is the best possible thing for you.\u00a0 That would be scandalous and wrong.\u00a0 But what Meister Eckhart is saying is that whatever happens to you today, whatever<\/i> happens to you today, God is still coming.\u00a0 No trouble can keep God away.\u00a0 No blessing is too small, no tragedy is too deep, to stop God\u2019s arrival.\u00a0 And, if God is coming, that is the best possible thing for you.<\/p>\n
This then is the strange and challenging menu for Advent. Such food may be offsetting, but I suggest that we pull up our chairs to the table.\u00a0 If there is honey on your tongue, savor it.\u00a0 Appreciate the sweetness of your relationships, of your successes, of your gifts.\u00a0 Delight in God\u2019s blessings.\u00a0 But if you look down and there are locusts on your plate, do not despair.\u00a0 Even when you wake up to another morning with a heart broken because of the loss of someone that you love, even when your family is in shambles, even when you are weakened by sickness, do not despair.\u00a0 God is still coming. No trouble can keep God away.<\/p>\n
The voice of John the Baptist continues to call out, \u201cPrepare the way of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 How God is coming to you in your pain I cannot say.\u00a0 But that God is coming is the Gospel.\u00a0 In that we must believe.\u00a0 Whether with honey or with locusts, God is coming\u2014and that is the best possible thing.<\/p>\n
In the mid-twentieth century, the Bell Laboratory was famous for the number of inventions that it produced for the modern world.\u00a0 One of the executives at the laboratory was well known for an invention that he kept on his desk.\u00a0 It was a small wooden container, about the size of a cigar box, and on the side of it there was a switch.\u00a0 When you flipped the switch on, a buzzer sounded and a red light began to flash.\u00a0 Then the lid of the container would open, and a mechanical hand would come out and make its way down the side of the box and flip the switch.\u00a0 Thereupon the buzzing would stop and the flashing of the red light would cease. The hand then retreated back into the container and the lid would close.\u00a0 This was the entire operation.\u00a0 This was a machine that was designed to do one thing: to turn itself off.<\/p>\n
John the Baptist is one of the central characters of Advent.\u00a0 It is by looking at John that we discover the message of Advent.\u00a0 The role of John the Baptist is to turn himself off.\u00a0 Now John does not do this because he wants to negate himself, implying that he is useless or unimportant.\u00a0 John turns himself off because he sees someone greater.\u00a0 He says in today\u2019s gospel, \u201cOne who is mightier than I is coming after me.\u201d\u00a0 So John turns himself off by deferring to another, by pointing out what God is doing in the world.<\/p>\n
The example of John, then, provides us with the virtue of Advent.\u00a0 It is the virtue of deference\u2014deferring away from self toward something greater.\u00a0 We follow this virtue of deference every time we move the focus from ourselves, from our own wants and needs, our own opinions and our own future, to something larger.\u00a0 We defer from self when we point to what God is doing in the world.<\/p>\n
Now this virtue of deference is not easy, because all of us are naturally inclined to focus on ourselves.\u00a0 We live our lives always concerned about my homework, my basketball game, my job, my money, my retirement.\u00a0 All of these things are important, and we have responsibilities towards them.\u00a0 But what Advent asks us to do is to defer to something larger, to move beyond our simple personal concerns.\u00a0 Advent asks us, \u201cHow does the emphasis on my homework or my basketball game upset the running of our family, disturb the peace at home?\u00a0 How does my preoccupation with my job blind me to the work and the needs of others who work with me?\u00a0 How does the focus on my money distract me from the needs of those around me, especially the poor and the vulnerable?\u00a0 How does my preoccupation with my retirement deaden me to the joy and the goodness of my life today?\u201d<\/p>\n
We can even extend this virtue of deference to our celebration of Christmas. It asks me, \u201cAm I too preoccupied with my Christmas, with what I want out of these upcoming holidays?\u201d\u00a0 We all want time with our families, but our family life is complex.\u00a0 There are schedules that have to be negotiated between parents and children and grandparents and grandchildren.\u00a0 If my focus is simply having my time with my family, am I in fact increasing the pressure on others?\u00a0 Is my desire to spend time with those I love in fact pushing some of those I love to the breaking point?\u00a0 The virtue of deference asks us to defer some of my desires for the sake of the peace, to make the holidays for others easier.<\/p>\n
Now let\u2019s be clear that this virtue of deference is not simply a matter of being nice.\u00a0 It is not simply thinking of others before ourselves.\u00a0 There is something bigger that is going on here, for we believe that God is active in our world, working through Jesus Christ to bring about God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 We believe that God is always active, fostering peace and justice and love and reconciliation.\u00a0 Our acts of deference open us to serve God\u2019s action.\u00a0 When we defer our own self-interest, it gives God the opportunity to use us for a greater purpose.\u00a0 We can then become agents of what God is doing in the world.<\/p>\n
We, like John the Baptist, are asked to prepare the way of the Lord by turning ourselves off and turning on to God\u2019s action.\u00a0 As long as we remain focused only on our own needs, we cannot see the larger thing that God is doing in the world. We stand in the road, blocking God\u2019s arrival.\u00a0 But when we are willing to defer to the larger action of God among us, then we hasten Christ\u2019s coming.\u00a0 We make straight his path.\u00a0 So let us this Advent season practice the virtue of deference.\u00a0 Let us give way to someone who is greater.\u00a0 Let us get out of the road, out of the way, and let Christ come.<\/p>\n
The upcoming holiday season is a special time. It is a time of gifts and parties, a time of carols and special foods. It is also a time for lists. I very seldom make a list for myself but this time of the year I need to put one together. There is simply too much going on, so many things to be done. Unless I write down what I plan to do some very important things can slip through the cracks.\u00a0Now some of you who are listening carefully might be saying to yourself, \u201cI know where he\u2019s going to go with this homily. He is going to tell us, \u2018Make sure that you include God on your list.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 This is a insightful guess, but it is not the direction of this homily. In fact, I am about to warn you not<\/i> to put God on your list. Let me tell you why.<\/p>\n
The center of the gospel and the particular announcement of Advent is that God is coming. Isaiah cries out in the first reading, \u201cHere comes with power, the Lord God.\u201d John the Baptist announces in the Gospel, \u201cPrepare the way of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 The message of salvation, then, is not that we are coming to God but that God is coming to us. This is why we cannot put God on a list. We enumerate things on a list because they are the things that we<\/i> plan to do. But salvation is what God<\/i> plans to do. We write things down because they are things over which we have control. But the most important things are the things over which God has control.<\/p>\n
Now of course, we can put down on our list certain things with God in mind. It would be very smart for you to figure out at what Mass you plan to worship this Christmas. It would be wise for you to set aside some time for quiet prayer and reflection during these busy days. Your family would be thankful if you planned the holidays in such a way that there will be an opportunity for quality time with one another. But planning these things is no guarantee that God will arrive because we have scheduled them. God is planning to come when God plans to come. God\u2019s schedule may not match our list.<\/p>\n
God could be strangely silent in the times that we have set aside for prayer and reflection but speak with thunder in the supermarket as we talk to Mrs. Dillon about the death of her husband. God could be somehow missing from our Christmas dinner table but become almost tangible one night as we put our children to sleep. God could be elusive during Midnight Mass but appear in glory when Uncle Henry tells yet again one of his stories about the old neighborhood.<\/p>\n
God could come at any time. That is why what we need is not a list but an openness, not a plan but a sense of expectation. That is why, during the next few weeks and, indeed, every week of our lives, we should be people of anticipation. In any comment, in any action, in any event, it is possible for God to come. We do ourselves a disservice by limiting our anticipation only to the events we have planned.<\/p>\n
God is not an item we can check off our list. God is the Lord. Jesus is the reason for the season. Watch then, for his coming.<\/p>\n
John the Baptist appears in today\u2019s gospel proclaiming the coming kingdom of God. But John does not just tell us about the kingdom, he shows us how to live it. This is why every detail of this gospel is important. Today I would like to focus on two of them. I would like to ask why this text goes out of its way to tell us that John wore camel\u2019s hair and a leather belt around his waist.<\/p>\n
To answer these questions we can look at other places in the scriptures where these details occur. So let\u2019s take the first. Where else in the New Testament do we find camels? You might say, \u201cAren\u2019t there camels in the story about the magi who come to visit the Christ child?\u201d There are not. The scriptures never tell us how the magi traveled. Camels were a later development of the tradition. So we do not find camels in the stories of Jesus\u2019 birth. But we do find them during Jesus\u2019 ministry. They are a part of Jesus\u2019 encounter with a rich man who wished to follow him. When the man walks away because he had too many possessions, Jesus says that through our possessions and through ourselves we are not able to enter the kingdom of God: \u201cIt is like a camel trying to pass through the eye of a needle.\u201d So camels are about us, about what we cannot do. We are unable on our own to enter the kingdom of God. Only God can bring us in. Only God can allow a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. This is why John wears camel\u2019s hair, to remind us of our inability. We cannot on our own bring about the kingdom of God. Our relationship to God is all God\u2019s work, all grace.<\/p>\n
So why does John wear a belt. The detail of the belt connects to Jesus\u2019 words in the 12th<\/sup> Chapter of Luke\u2019s gospel. He says, \u201cFasten your belts, and light your lamps. Be like those awaiting their master\u2019s return from a wedding banquet so you can open the door for him when he comes and knocks.\u201d Wearing a belt is being prepared for action, being ready to serve. Camel\u2019s hair tells us what we cannot do. The belt tells us what we can. We cannot make Christ come, but we can open the door for him when he knocks.<\/p>\n Camel\u2019s hair and belts should be worn together. One tells us that there are some things that only God can do. The other shows us that we still have a role to play. We cannot guarantee that our marriage will always be happy or even successful, but we can tighten our belts and roll up our sleeves to work on communication and when necessary open our hearts in forgiveness. We cannot assure that our children or our friends will always make good decisions. We cannot protect them from all harm. But we can walk with them, hear their pain, and when necessary help them pick up the pieces of their lives. We cannot bring about a world of justice and peace. But when Christ asks us to speak out against a prejudice, help fix a broken law, or teach a child to read, we can be ready to act.<\/p>\n We cannot change people\u2019s hearts or bring about a new creation. Only Christ can do that. But Christ is coming, and it is our role to open the door for him whenever he arrives in the circumstances of our lives. Camel hair tells us what we cannot do. The belt tells us that we are to act, nevertheless. And that is why wearing camel hair with a belt around the waste is not only suitable for John the Baptist at the Jordan. It is the proper attire for anyone who would serve the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n John the Baptist appears to us in today\u2019s gospel calling for repentance from sin. But what is the sin from which John would have us repent? To answer this question it might be helpful for us to pay attention to John\u2019s attire. The text tells us that John was clothed in camel\u2019s hair. Now, why would you dress yourself in camel\u2019s skin? Some people suggest that John was imitating the dress of the prophet Elijah and thereby showing that he was following in Elijah\u2019s footsteps. Others suggest that camel\u2019s hair is coarse and ordinary, so John was calling his hearers to live lives of simplicity and poverty rather than luxury. These are all valid interpretations. But for us who read today\u2019s gospel in light of the whole Bible, there is another possibility. This is because the word \u201ccamel\u201d is a rare word in the New Testament. There are only three occurrences of the term. One is to describe John\u2019s attire. But, there is a second occurrence that might explain John\u2019s message.<\/p>\n The word \u201ccamel\u201d appears in the 23rd<\/sup> chapter of Matthew\u2019s gospel as part of a proverb that Jesus uses to criticize his contemporaries. Here is the proverb: \u201cYou strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel.\u201d Again, \u201cYou strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel.\u201d Now, to understand this proverb, you must understand two things about gnats. First, gnats, much like fruit flies of our own time, love wine. So in the ancient Near East, as you picked up a cup of wine, it was very possible that you would find a few dead gnats floating around in it. Because of this, the practice developed to strain the wine before drinking it to avoid swallowing any gnats. The second thing you should know about gnats is, again like fruit flies, they were very small, perhaps the smallest animal you could see. This makes gnats a striking contrast in the proverb to the camel, which was the largest animal of the ancient Near East.<\/p>\n By using this proverb, Jesus is pointing out how often we pay careful attention to very small things, like swallowing gnats, but we do not pay enough attention to things that have significance, such as swallowing a camel. Seen in this light, the attire of John the Baptist tells us to attend to the big things. John calls us to repent of the attention that we too often give to things of only relative importance while we ignoring what is essential.<\/p>\n This time of year we are all worried about germs. We cover our faces when we sneeze. We refuse to shake peoples\u2019 hands, if we have a cold. Hygiene is important, but it is not the most important thing. The way we speak about others is more important. If we spread rumors or stories about others that demean them or mock them, we can harm their reputation. Physical germs are the gnats. Spiritual germs of slander and dishonesty are the camels.<\/p>\n Most of us pay close attention to the legislation that is pending in Washington or Columbus. We all have our own beliefs of what would be the best law to pass regarding taxes, environment, and national defense. But how much attention do we give to the quality of the people we send to Washington to represent us? Should it become normal to accept moral flaws, sexual improprieties, and mistreatment of others as long as it allows us to pass the laws we desire? Laws can be passed, and laws can be repealed. But the moral tone we set for our country will determine the quality of our nation\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n We might have a spouse or a close friend who has qualities that irritate us\u2014a certain kind of humor, not being on time, or a casual approach to spending money. These flaws can cause arguments and resentment. How often do we situate those flaws amid the larger blessings that people so often bring to our lives: years of faithfulness in a relationship, an attitude of generosity in service, the willingness to stand by us in our need. How foolish we would look if we pay careful attention to the gnats but forget the camel.<\/p>\n John the Baptist comes to us clothed in camel\u2019s hair to draw our focus to the big things, to the things that matter. John understands that placing first things first is the only way to find happiness and the only way to see the kingdom of God. Now, this, of course, does not mean that we should ignore smaller matters. Nobody wants to swallow gnats. But, if you do, they will not kill you. Swallowing a camel? . . . Well, that\u2019s a different animal.<\/p>\n The words in today\u2019s first reading come to us as a soothing ointment: \u201cComfort, comfort my people, says your God.\u201d All of us need comfort at one time or another. Perhaps you need comfort today. Perhaps you need comfort from the fear and the frustration of the coronavirus. Maybe you need relief from the anger you feel about our country\u2019s political situation. Perhaps you need to ease the pain of a sickness or find freedom from the discouragement you feel in a family situation. Whatever stress or trouble we experience, God promises us comfort. But comfort comes with a condition. If we want to receive peace, we must trust the giver of peace. If we want comfort, we must be willing to place our lives in God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was the mother of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States. When she married her husband Joe, they were at the top of the world. Wealthy and privileged, they were confident that they would raise an ideal family. In 1918, Rose gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. But it soon became clear that the child had intellectual disabilities that would demand she spend her life in an institution. Rose was devastated. She was filled with anger toward God. She could not understand why she had been given this child. She became more and more isolated, seldom leaving the family home. This went on for a good deal of time.<\/p>\n Then one day, a maid that worked in the Kennedy home spoke up. She said: \u201cMrs. Kennedy, I have watched you now for several months, and I know how angry you are. But if you don\u2019t do something, that anger is going to ruin you.\u201d Then the maid made a suggestion. She said, \u201cI think you should say this prayer: O Lord, make my heart a manger, where the Christ child can be born.\u201d Rose Kennedy dismissed these remarks as a kind of impertinence and went about her daily routine. But that night, she could not sleep. The simple prayer that the maid had given her kept tossing around in her mind. Finally, in the middle of the night, she knelt beside her bed. With a deep surrender, she prayed: \u201cO Lord, make my heart a manger where the Christ Child can be born.\u201d Her prayer was answered. Her surrender was accepted. Her anger was gone. She was comforted.<\/p>\n If we wish to be comforted, we must surrender to the comforter. We must realize that it is impossible to comfort ourselves. Therefore, we need to ask God to change us, to make our hearts a manger where we can receive the gifts that only God can give. If we seek relief from fear, we must give ourselves to the Prince of Peace. If we want our anger to dissipate, we must ask God to soften our hearts. If we need relief from suffering, we must open ourselves to God\u2019s love. If we want our family to be whole, we must believe in the God who can make all thing new.<\/p>\n As Christmas approaches, what better prayer could we say than, \u201cLord, make my heart a manger where the Christ Child can be born.\u201d The only way we can find true and lasting comfort is in the arms of the One who once laid his head in a manger of Bethlehem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Voice from the Stable December 8, 2003 Mark 1:1-8 There is an old rabbinic story about a farmer named Isaac who went to his neighbor and asked to borrow his donkey.\u00a0 The neighbor said, \u201cI\u2019m sorry Isaac, but my donkey is already out on loan to someone else.\u201d\u00a0 But just as he finished speaking, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5879,"featured_media":0,"parent":585,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5573,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2853\/revisions\/5573"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buildingontheword.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Camels and Gnats<\/strong><\/h2>\n
December 10, 2017<\/h5>\n
Mark 1:1-8<\/h3>\n
Comfort with a Condition<\/strong><\/h2>\n
December 6, 2020<\/h5>\n
Isaiah 40: 1-5; 9-11<\/h3>\n