Preparing the Way

St. Mark’s Pennsburg, Mark 1:1-8

The first sign of Christmas in our house was the Advent calendar: it had a window for each day of the season, and each window had a bible verse, and lifesaver!

Every night my mother and I would open a new window and we would read the verse, talk about it, and then I would get to eat the lifesaver BEFORE going up to brush my teeth and get ready for bed.

Along with the calendar, came the advent wreath, it was set on the dining room table, with five candles, one for each week in Advent, and then another in the middle, for Christmas Day! This would be lit every night at dinner time as we counted down towards Christmas!

Then, on the first Saturday of Advent, my mother announced that it was time…

First, my father would take down the storm-windows for the front bay-windows in the living room, put down some paper, and lay them out on floor and using a stencil, would paint a picture of one of the three Wise-men on each of them! Once the paintings were dry, the storm-windows would be carefully put back into place for all to see that Christmas was upon us!

The next step would be to wrap the front door to look like a big Christmas present – including the bow, then he’d string some lights up outside…along the door and windows…nothing too extensive; it was a big house but my father was no Clark Griswold!

Then, my father and I and any brothers who might be around, would be ‘asked’ to get the boxes of decorations from the attic. We’d bring them down to the living room where my mother supervised as they were unpacked, untangled and sorted.

Then they would be spread out all over the house: the manger scene would be set up in the dining room, armies of elves surrounded by cotton ball snow and tiny Christmas trees, would be mustered on the top of the wooden radiator cover underneath the three Wise Men.

Over the course of that weekend our house would be transformed and almost every room had some sort of decoration, including flashing Christmas lights, wreaths and garland!

Even the bathrooms had festive towels which we were NOT allowed to use!

As the holiday got closer, and more windows on the Advent calendar were opened, the atmosphere at home got more festive and more tense, as my mother would be caught up in Christmas shopping, and would also be very adamant about keeping the house clean for “company”!

Not an easy task with a house filled with dogs and cats and little kid who acted like making a mess was his job.

We would also be getting ready at church, with the Sunday School program, extra choir practices, Caroling at the local nursing home, holiday baskets, etc.

Then, when Advent Wreath had two candles lit, it was time to get the tree!

We usually went during a week-night, when we had nothing to do at church, and it was always cold and often snowy or icy…and we often got a tree that was much more like Charlie Brown than Rockefeller Center. My parents liked the Douglas Fir, and while it was often lopsided, that was okay, because it was cheaper that way…and we could always put the flat side against the wall.

Once the tree was picked out, we would tie it on the roof of the Country Squire Station Wagon and make our way home, with me worried about the tree flying off the car, but we would always make it safely.

Then, the following Saturday we would clear space in a corner of the living room, set up the tree-stand and then bring the tree inside from the garage to begin the task of putting it up straight, and eventually giving up when we realized that it was impossible!

Once the tree was in place and decorated, then…it was REALLY Christmas in our house, and our biggest task would then be to keep the cats from climbing up the tree and knocking it over, and the dogs from…well, you know…what dogs do.

Christmas takes a lot of preparation…some of it can be fun, and some…not so much!

Now imagine what it was like for John, living out there in the Wilderness…literally in the desert scrub-lands of Judea…and here he is, calling on anyone who would listen to get ready, the Messiah is coming!

Out there in his animal skins, eating locusts and wild honey, I imagine that he got the same reaction from the people of his time as a street preacher would, if he were set up in the Wal-Mart parking lot, calling on us to “prepare the way!”

But this is what today’s gospel calls on us to do: to get ready, right here in the midst of our wilderness…to prepare, not just for Christmas, but for Christ to be with us, alive and active in our world!

And it seems like our world really needs Jesus right now!

Currently the world is being wracked by Wars, those that make the news and those that just drag on without much notice, but all of them are destroying the lives of the innocent.

Along with war, we are still struggling with the pandemic, worries about the climate, political and social unrest, and of course the poor, who we will always have with us.

These fears have helped to feed divisions in our world that are so deep that it may feel as if they can never be healed.

Like we have forgotten the meaning of the words: “compromise” and “unity”.

Many of us may be feeling some of these fears, as we try to make our way through the world, and find ourselves faced with financial problems, marriage and family issues, job stress and struggles with disease or addiction, and the STIGMA that comes with them.

When we feel as if we are lost in our own wilderness, we can find ourselves feeling forgotten and unloved.

I know I am painting Kind of a bleak picture…

But it does not have to be…because we have hope!

For there is a voice that cries out to us/in the wilderness, and that is the voice of Christ, as heard in the Gospel, which reminds us that God is with us always…even in the wildest of places.

We have been promised the Holy Spirit, and that through the spirit we are surrounded by God’s gracious love – that inspires of us to work together to be the body of Christ…to face the wilderness and prepare a place where God’s love overflows and fills our broken world with healing!

And what better time to prepare the way of the Lord than right now, when we are in the time of Advent, a time of excitement and anticipation…a time when we are literally preparing the way for the Messiah to come into the world!

So how do we prepare the way, right here, where we are – in our wilderness?

One way is by simply decorating for Christmas…putting up lights, setting up trees, and singing carols, by wishing others joy, not only at this time of year, but all year round…

Because Christmas is more than just one day!

When we do this, we are sharing the good news that not only is the Messiah coming, but that Christ is already here, alive and active in the world, and we are inviting the world to join the celebration of the gift of grace and love that has been given to the world…

We can be a listening ear to those who may not feel heard, we can be a support for those who feel as if they are falling…

We can be a friend to those who are lonely and may feel as if they have been forgotten, and we can offer comfort to those who are dealing with illness or addiction, a broken relationship…or the death of a loved one…an absence at their table.

We are making Christ known in the world when we support groups seeking to make a difference in people’s lives, like the Open Link or other organizations that seek to offer support to those that are cold and hungry, or facing domestic violence or the impact of Substance Use in their lives.

We are being Christ in the world with “The 12 Days of Giving” that is happening right out in the parking lot this season…preparing the way of the Lord, right here where we are, in our wilderness…making it less…wild!

We can prepare the way by speaking our own truths, to let people know that they are not alone in their struggles, and that STIGMA of any kind is useless…because we have all been in the wilderness from time to time.

And when we reach out to those we disagree with and find common ground and acceptance that we do not all think alike, but we are all children of God, we are making this wilderness of ours far more civil.

By acting together as Christ in the world, we become the voice that is crying out…offering the good news that God understands and forgives, and the good news that there is no wilderness so deep that God’s love cannot reach us.

When we come together to declare God’s unconditional love for the world, we can be the light that shines brightly, during this, the darkest time of the year…proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is becoming a reality right here, where we are…and that all are welcome!

Amen