Whenever someone talks about the battle of the bulge during this time of year people immediately think about all the cookies, eggnog, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie that they will consume over the next few weeks leading inexorably to the anxiety of considering just where on your body those excess calories and their resultant body fat will come to deposit itself.
Which then raises the question of just how tight is tight enough before one has to move to the next size or belt notch…….
…..that will ultimately give birth to the guilt driven New Year’s commitment that we really know we will never happen:
To go to the gym, twice a day, seven days a week, eat nothing but grass and grain so we can lose that weight in order to be in shape enough to begin this cycle about the same time next year: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
But that is not the battle of the bulge I am referring to. This Battle of the Bulge happened 70 years ago this week, and was the largest and bloodiest single battle the US Army engaged in, in World War 2.
It began in the early morning hours of 16 December 1944, with a tremendous roar of German artillery along a 60 mile front along the border between Germany, and Belgium and Luxembourg.
American forces, many units fresh from the States with little or no combat experience, were spread thinly along a front that nobody thought the Germans would attack at a time of year and in weather no one thought conducive to successful offensive operations.
And they were massively outnumbered and outgunned in infantry, tanks and artillery by a German force that nobody believed could exist at that point in time.
The battle raged brutal and bloody until the middle or end of January and claimed almost 200,000 casualties: American, German, and civilian.
The German plan was to attack quickly down the road system separating the British from the American forces, cross the Meuse river, turn toward Antwerp, destroy the allied offensive ability in the west and cause them to sue for peace.
But it all depended on the roads.
The attack ultimately failed because the Germans failed to prepare for and use the roads correctly. The roads chosen were in many places too weak and too narrow to support the weight and number of vehicles required, and they had no way to cross the numerous rivers after the Americans blew up the bridges.
But most significantly, there were the road blocks set up by American soldiers, at every village or crossroad, with whatever forces they had at hand, with whatever weapons they had at hand, sometimes outnumbered 17 to one, fighting sometimes to the last man and bullet, which blocked the German advance and made the names of many little towns like Losheim, St. Vith, Clervaux, Vielsalm, Malmedy and Bastogne significant parts of our history.
I could not help thinking about this as I read the passage appointed for this Sunday from John’s gospel. There we find John the Baptist clarifying his ministry to the officials who came to question him.
The religious authorities were aware of his ministry but wanted to know more. It certainly stands out here that John knew who he was, and he knew his place in God’s kingdom. He told them basically it’s not about me it’s about the Messiah who is coming. I am merely a voice.
John knew who he was in God’s plan, and what a wonderful thing that is. Many of us spend a lifetime trying to figure that out. Am I doing what God wants me to do? Is he using me in my job, my relationships, my life?
John the writer notes that John the Baptist was sent by God. By our birth we are sent into this world as human beings for God’s purpose if, like the famous line from the Mission Impossible series, we chose to accept it.
In our baptism and profession of faith in Christ that purpose is accepted and we are further sent by God into the world with ultimately the same purpose as the Baptist: For testimony, to bear witness, to be a voice that points others to Jesus.
Whether rich or poor, priest or printer, banker or baker, whatever we do for a living, it can be a testimony, a voice pointing to Jesus. In whatever we do, we can be like John the Baptist.
Now I don’t recommend you go to your office or place of business this Advent dressed up like the Baptist but maybe you can model his understanding of life –be a voice to point others to Jesus?
John’s voice in his time and place was specific—his message was:
“I am one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord.”
He is quoting the prophet Isaiah, chapter 40.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.
The prophet’s message is about leveling and clearing a way for the Lord to come. It is how people at that time would prepare for the arrival of a king to their town; they would clean up the roads, remove any obstacles; the condition of the way is a welcome in itself.
That is the message Isaiah had for his people, and that is the same message John had for his people in his time, as it remains the same for us today.
It really is not a foreign concept. When the president comes into a town, the way is cleared before him. When was the last time you heard Air Force One had to be put in a holding pattern waiting to land at an airport, or his caravan had to wait at an intersection for a garbage truck to finish its stop? The way is cleared for an unobstructed approach and entry into town. He is welcomed. It should not be otherwise.
And as I thought about the battle fought 70 years ago it got me thinking about this concept; about roads and roadblocks.
If Jesus is coming to us, wanting to come into our live and hearts, is the way opened? Have we prepared the way for him? Is the road in good shape, are the gaps bridged, have we removed the roadblocks that we set up, that impede his progress into our lives?
Our road is conditioned and strengthened by prayer, by scripture reading, by worship; the very things Paul refers to in the Epistle lesson today. These are the things that stir up the power of God, as we prayed in the Collect this morning, tools that build our faith, widen our road, put on another layer of asphalt that makes us stronger.
These things provide us the grace that bridges the gaps, the places where we do not have the strength or ability to be and do what we are to be or do. In them we discover in God’s grace: He does provide.
These things give us the ability to identify the roadblocks, those things that are not God, focused, those selfish, self-gratifying, self-centered attitudes and behaviors that block the Lord, things that are called sin: Things that sorely hinder us, in the words of our Collect.
By prayer, through the truth of God’s word, and the grace we find in worship and sacrament, we discover power to overcome those roadblocks.
Make straight a highway for our God…that is the message this season. That is what we need to do.
I often wonder about the correlation between the events of this material world and heavenly reality. Is it mere coincidence that the Battle of the Bulge was fought at a time of year that is focused on peace and joy, on making the way for Jesus in our lives?
I don’t know but maybe it will remind us that our Christian life is a costly battle, and remind us to be diligent about the importance of roads, the roads into our lives, whether defending them from an enemy or preparing them for the arrival of a king. Ultimately they are the key to victory.
Sermon preached by the Reverend Richard C. Marsden
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
3rd Sunday after Advent
14 December 2014