Are you ready?
No I mean it, are you ready?
This is the question that John is asking as he preaches preparation along the Jordan river. He is telling people to prepare the way. What he is really asking them is, are you prepared to meet God?
Well, are you ready?
There is a young couple in their 20’s, they are expecting their first child. She is in her third trimester, and anxiously awaiting holding her little one for the first time. As the couple attends their baby shower, and as they are surrounded by many experienced parents, a friend asks, so, are you ready? Are you ready to be parents?
As those of us who have children know, you are never really ready to be a parent. We do all we can to prepare. It’s called nesting, we redecorate our extra bedroom, removing the chic desk and cool lava lamps, and replacing them with a crib, teddy bears, and a changing table. But we don’t stop in the child’s bedroom, we go out and buy those child safe locks for the kitchen. You know the ones, they usually keep the adults out of the cabinets and not the children. We get gates to protect the baby from getting into rooms that are not safe enough for them. We work hard preparing our homes, and ourselves for a wonderful gift from God.
Advent is a season that involves spiritual nesting. It is a time to begin to rethink how we adorn our selves, and our souls. It is a time to reimagine what inviting Christ into our lives means. It is also a season to recall the journey, and miracle of the Word of God taking on flesh though the blessed Virgin Mary and becoming man. In becoming one of us God opens a door that changes our very being. Jesus freely accepts the taking on of all aspects of humanity, in order that we all can have the chance to be in relationship with Him.
In today’s Gospel lesson, John the Baptist begins to show us how to do this. He goes out, as the last great prophet of God, and begins to preach in all the region around the Jordan. He began preaching repentance. He asked all who would hear, are you ready?
The God of Israel is coming to begin His ministry of gathering all nations, races, and peoples to himself their creator. What an honor it was for John to proclaim this message of repentance. This call to the ritual cleansing of sin. This re-adorning of humanity.
John’s call still speaks today, both to the church and to each of us.
Advent is a time for us to walk through the door that Christ opened for us, a time for us to consider the journey we are on to becoming new people in Him.
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (Luke 3:6) Imagine, John the Baptist, speaking these words to you, and to the church. What mountains are we having trouble seeing God past in our lives, what physical ailments are making God seem so far away from us, and what rough waters are preventing us from taking the next step in our lives with Jesus.
There will always be things that get in the way of our relationship with God, there will always be obstacles in our paths. Advent is a gift, a gift that allows us to take some time to prayerfully consider some of these obstacles.
Tis the season
Tis the season of spiritual nesting. Prepare yourself spiritually as if preparing your home to welcome a new child. Along with the excitement of the birth of a child comes fear, and I would even argue a sense of penitential preparation. Think about it, a pregnant woman prepares herself in a way that is not much different than what we do in penitential seasons in the church. She limits or eliminates certain types of food and beverages, like coffee, and alcohol. She goes through painful changes to her body. Her sleep cycle changes. All this while she prepares with joy and holy expectation for this gift of God growing inside her.
The season of Advent is also about the looking ahead to the completion of the age and the coming of the New Jerusalem. It is a time for us to joyously prepare, for the gift God has given all of us, The Holy Spirit, to continue to grow in relationship to all of us, with the church, and through the church to shine and invite all the kings of this age to hear John’s words, “prepare the way of the Lord.”
The way we can best prepare is to be in communion with God through the Holy Eucharist, to be fed and reconciled to Him by His most precious Body and Blood.
As a church and as members of the church, the outward message shown in our lives, in our prayers, and in our relationships both inside and outside our community this Advent should reflect the actions of John the Baptist preparing those around him for the coming of Jesus. What are we doing, what can we do, what should we do to prepare ourselves, our families, and those around us this season for the coming of Jesus? What if we prepared for the coming of Christ with the intentionality and love we prepare for the birth of a child?
I leave you with a communion devotion I use daily and that has been passed down through the ages:
“Soul of Christ sanctify me. Body of Christ save me. Blood of Christ refresh me. Water from the side of Christ wash me. Passion of Christ strengthen me. O Good Jesus hear me. Within thy wounds hide me. Suffer me not to be separated from thee. From the malicious enemy defend me. In the hour of my death call me, and bid me come to thee, that with thy saints I may praise thee for ever and ever.”
Prepare yourselves, the Lord is coming. Are you ready?
Sermon preached by Deacon Christian Michael Wood
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
2nd Sunday of Advent
6 December 2015