We are all in full preparation mode, Christmas is close! Today we celebrate the
second Advent, we are right in the middle of it all.
The Latin word advent translates to “the coming of”, and this refers to both, the
coming of Jesus being born by Mary this many years ago to live and die as one of
us, and it refers to the coming of Jesus again. In Advent we anticipate and prepare
to celebrate his birth with thankful and graceful hearts. And we anticipate and
prepare for Jesus’s return by opening our hearts to the truth and grace of this Holy
Mystery. We light candles on our wreath, a circle symbolizing the endless
continuation of God’s birth and coming again in great glory. The timeless
continuation of God’s grace. Each candle on our wreath has a different meaning
and we add one each week, building our anticipation ever higher to finally
celebrate Emmanuel, Christ among us. The festive excitement of anticipation
mixed with the comforts and joys of the Advent season make this time of year a
favorite for me.
A season that even has its own category of music and movies. They are on your
screen as soon as you turn one on. Because this season is also highly marketable.
See if you remember this movie: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad are both dads
that waited too long for Christmas shopping. They are in a crowded toy store.
Arnold asks a worker there if they have any Turbo Man dolls left. The answer is
hysterical laughter, not only from the first person, but he tells a coworker, this gets
overheard by another customer and before you know it the whole store is laughing
and pointing fingers at them for being silly enough not to know that Turbo Man
has been sold out for weeks. It gets worse though, upon hearing that there may be
one doll left, both Arnold and Sinbad try to outrun each other by all means
possible. At one point Arnold says: This is war!
Well, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! The movie is called Jingle All the
Way, and this is not what I had in mind when I was talking about the festive
excitement and joy of this season. Or take another dad, who famously started the
season by saying: We're kicking off our fun old-fashion family Christmas by
heading out into the country in the old front-wheel-drive sleigh to embrace the
frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas
symbols.” Far from being unprepared like our first two family men, Clark
Griswold tries to force Christmas cheer and nostalgia in advance. Both result in
hilarious disasters and are a lot of fun to watch.
But of course, neither approach is really a good way to prepare for Christmas. Not
the consumer driven focus on material goods in Jingle All the Way, and not the ego
driven subjective “wholesome” joy Clark Griswold tried to enforce. Both approaches
are motivated by external, by visible rewards. They can make it look like a good
Christmas on Instagram. But this surface level joy is too shallow considering who
we are preparing for.
John the Baptist famously prepared the people of his time for the coming of Christ
with a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We know from the two
previous gospels that everyone who hears John’s prophesy sees a man who clearly
was in the wilderness when he received God’s word as we hear from Luke’s gospel
today. He wore clothes made from camel hair tied around the waist by a plain belt.
John the Baptist lived so far into the desert wilderness that his diet was locusts and
honey, so I imagine his hair and beard were an impressive mix of dusty, sticky, and
a lot of it.
John must have a really good message for people to agree to being baptized by this
man who looks beaten by the sun, scruffy, and in need of a good meal. The People
know about baptisms, or ritual cleansing, they know about being immersed in
water and being made different somehow. They are used to baptize, to ritually
cleanse those who convert to the one and only God. A ritual cleansing is also done
by pilgrims for example.
What they have not ever heard of, is a baptism of repentance. What is that?
The word repentance today often evokes images of faces crumbled into humility
and asking for forgiveness.
Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
But Luke uses a word for repentance here that means far more than a guilty
conscience and confession. He means a complete change of mind and heart. You
change your life. To repent is to honestly take inventory of our thoughts and
actions, of our lives, to acknowledge where we are falling short and to accept the
need to change with the help of God. To repent, lets us take responsibility for the
here and now and work for and anticipate the future with trust and awe. This is an
internal transformation.
Repentance gives us a profound awareness of God’s grace when we experience the
complete forgiveness of our sins. We are changed from within.
This internal grace is outwardly evident. People cannot contain the joy of this
grace inside; it flows outward into changed behavior. When you change your mind
and heart, your behavior changes with it.
In little ways. Like a kind smile for the overworked and grouchy retail worker.
Making time for a family member that might feel lonely. Bake cookies with your
kids or grandkids while listening to your favorite Christmas music. Surprise the
neighbors with those cookies and wish them happy holidays.
And in big ways. Is there a relationship in your life that needs more care than you
currently give it? How generous are you with your time, money, and talents? How
much time do you spend with God?
That is John’s message, this is the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins, it is a new way of being. This is how John draws the people in. This message
continues to grow still. We still try to spread the word, to spread this message of
God’s unending love. We aspire to be people who have such an awareness and
understanding of God’s grace that we extent it to our neighbor without restraint.
That kind of message, that movement quietly brings healing to a hurting world and
begins to transform it for good from within. Because people who truly know that
God’s grace is given to them truly know that their neighbor is given the same
grace. That is the nature of grace.
Imagine if we all really repent. We change our minds. We change our hearts.
Imagine we transform from within and know peace well enough to give peace.
Imagine that world!
Of course, John the Baptist draws in the big crowds with his message.
And he is not even the main event. John is only here to prepare us for the coming
of Christ. The one who is God among us, the one who is called The Prince of
Peace by the prophet Isaiah. And it is Isaiah that John quotes to the crowd.
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
To prepare for the Prince of Peace, to prepare for peace on earth, there will always
be work to be done.
We must make the Lord’s path to us is straight, not twisted by a lack of repentance.
Even out the valleys of poverty by lowering the mountains of greed.
The crooked and corrupted must be straightened out. And we must make the rough
ways of life smooth for everyone.
When we do this, Isaiah says that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
All flesh, everyone shall see it. All. Peace on Earth is more than a phrase.
It begins within each of us.
We can make the path of God straight by first making peace within.
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