During the second week of Advent we are encouraged to reflect on the ministry of prophecy through the ages, and remember those men and women of faith who have throughout history heard, and passed on the words and messages of God.

Our two readings this week are 2 Peter 3.8–15a and Mark 1.1–8.  Mark is easy to fit into the regular Advent scheme - both because of his direct use of the prophet Isaiah in his introduction, and because of the way he presents John the Baptist to us - as the epitome of the 'Old Testament' style prophet - weird clothes (check), desert setting (check), message of judgement (check), and call to repentance (check).  Mark uses the figure of John to link the history he is sharing to the ancient prophetic tradition, and, more specifically, to show that that tradition is about to find its fulfilment in the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

The passage from 2 Peter is perhaps not as obvious, but start reading at the beginning of the letter, and it suddenly becomes much more so.   The whole point of the letter is to remind Peter's readers of the promises God has made to his people about how the world is, and how it will come to fulfilment, as promised through the prophets, and the apostles - as he himself puts it at the beginning of chapter 3, "This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour spoken through your apostles."  

By adding the voice of the Lord through the apostles to the prophetic tradition, Peter pushes the limits of the vision beyond Mark.  For Mark it is enough that the hope of history that was and is has found its fulfilment in Christ: we can trust Jesus is who Mark presents him to be, Mark suggests, because of the way Jesus fulfils the prophecies that have come before him.  For Mark it's enough to lead us to a simple(!) recognition and acceptance of who Jesus is: the Son of God walking amongst us.  (And many of us no doubt - and quite rightly - agree that that is sufficient for us, thank you very much!)

Peter, though, I would argue, wants to push things on a bit, (for some us are a bit like that, too).  History up until now is not big enough to contain his understanding of Jesus.  It has to expand further, 'To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.'  For him, Christ has become not only the fulfilment of history that was, and is, but also of that which is to come: because God has been proven dependable by the fulfilment of the prophetic hope in Christ, we can continue to trust him into the future hope revealed through Christ: of restoration and reconciliation of all things in him, to him, and through him - and, therefore, 'in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.'  

'Given that...' says Mark; 'Therefore...' writes Peter.

But for me the really amazing thing is that for both of them, their insight into who God is, what he's done with history - and what he intends to to do with history - is presented to us as being discerned through the lives, actions, and words of human beings: the prophets.  Ordinary men and women who, through the ages, have caught a hold of some part of what God is saying or doing, and shared it with those around them, so that those pieces could be picked up on, recognised, put together, and cherished by others.  A thousand voices over thousands of years, whose individual words may be confusing, indistinct, and mumbled come together to form a symphony to the glory of God, revealing his activity in, around, and amongst us; making him known, and encouraging each of us to share our glimpses that we may in turn illuminate others' understandings.

So be bold, whether you're a 'given that...',  a 'therefore...', or anything else, and join your voice to the eternal choir - let us in on your treasures, and speak out what you know of God.