Advent 2 - C "Preparing the Way"

Last week I was talking with some friends who were debating about how they would decorate for Christmas this year. Would they go about it simply or use all the decorations they have?

What about you? Are you going all out or cutting back?

You know what the real problem with Christmas is? We are already busy. My house is filled with stuff, every shelf and corner has something on it... my calendar is usually booked solid whether it is May, October, or December... So where do we fit Christmas?

I think this is an actual real practical question that most of us face...

When we begin to decorate, boxes are pulled out from the attic, the basement, a closet or maybe from all these places. And there is a lot of fun, a lot of nostalgia, as you decorate the house. But in order to find a place to put them, we also have to rearrange some of the things that are already out there taking up space in our homes.

I for one, wish I could get some extra time during the month of December. I want to slow things down, just a little. What I find often happens is that I come to the Christmas Eve service and once it is over, I find myself saying, ok now I am ready for Advent to begin.

But the world doesn't stop for Advent & Christmas. Even though we are supposed to be finding more time for family and friends, many have to work extra shifts and we all have to keep doing the usual things that keep our lives running.

And what about gifts? Shopping this year is a real challenge. The economic times we live in make it difficult to set a budget let alone stick to it, after all, when things have been tough, we want to try and make people feel better with the gifts we give. So this year we have to look a little harder, make a little more time and effort.

Now, I hope you can also see that this is a metaphor for something else...

It is not just the house and the schedule that is already filled to the brim come December, I think we have a lot of un-cluttering of our “selves” to do as well to get ready for Christmas.
Consider two of the most famous groups of visitors in the Christmas season; the Wise Men and the Shepherds. They are the role models for how to get this right.

The Wise Men gave up the comfort of home, they set aside everything they were doing as princes and astrologers and made the journey to see this promised king. They brought the best gifts they could think of – ones that meant something to Jesus.

The Shepherds did the same; left the sheep in the field, followed the summons of some strange
heavenly music, and found themselves standing in awe at the sight of a little baby.

John the Baptist, who speaks out in our Gospel today, was one of the most colorful characters in all of history what with his fashion sense and diet. And his marketing techniques weren't the best either. He went out into the wilderness, away from the city, away from the crowds, to attract a great crowd. He seemed almost determined to fail. Despite all of this, Matthew tells us that people from all over the region were flocking to hear this message.

It was, for the record, the same message that had summoned Wise Men and Shepherds.
What John did was to take a moment in history that everyone had read about and could remember, the Exile in Babylon, and use the same words that Isaiah had used to talk about captivity and occupation by the Romans.

His message was simple - comfort will come to God's people, in the wilderness, in exile; a way will be prepared for the Lord. In a time of feeling lost, like in a game of hide and seek, we are assured that God will find us. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing for us to do to make it easier...

As you look at your plans for the holidays, have you been so busy making sure that you do what you think everyone expects of you that you have not have left a little time to spend some quality time with those you love? Maybe a friend or loved one needs “you” more than the gift you will spend hours trying to find. Is it possible that having a smile on our face may be more important than perfecting the decorations in our home or getting everything done on schedule?

I think John’s challenge to us is a constant one. It is too bad that it only comes up once a year, but it is as good a place to start as any. Preparing a way means being willing to ask some tough questions and make some hard decisions. It means trying to let go of things that divert your focus from what really matters.

So where do we start?

Think with me for a moment of some of the clutter that could possibly fill our hearts and minds, think about how these things can drain our hope and diminish our energy.

There are the regrets of things we did not do in the past or things we wished we had done. There are fears of not doing the right thing, or of how we will be viewed by others. There is the grasping for things to bring meaning, for toys and shiny things that in the end always dissapoint; and there is the way we close ourselves off, for whatever reason, from each other.

Advent comes each year with a challenge... Advent comes only after John has been out there in the desert calling for us to repent... and here is what he is really saying:

Surrender.

Let go of all those things that are just not helping to get you to Christmas in the right way. Prepare the way of the Lord – make enough room in your life, and in your heart, that God has a way to be born in there again.

Once again John uses the ancient words of Isaiah to show us the way forward: Every valley shall be filled and every mountain brought low. Those valleys or low places in our lives, such as worry or grief or doubt, and they can be filled with an awareness of the very presence of the living Christ. The mountains we must deal with in our hearts include pride, prejudice, fear, and selfishness. When these are brought low, we can see a greater horizon; we can see the way of the Lord.

The Gospel also calls for us to make the crooked places straight. We are challenged to confront those things in our lives that lure us away, push back the trivial that fill our minds and hearts and seek God's ways. We are being invited to clarify our choices and take the steps needed in order to live our lives as ones who follow Christ.

And we are told to make the rough ways smooth. In our lives, this may mean for us to forgive those who have hurt us, to refuse to allow what has happened to you to control your life. We need to make sure there is enough time for those that we care about. This means looking at how we live, examining, challenging those things that clutter our hearts. Then we will find the way more open.

As we approach Christmas, let each of us see beyond the clutter of living to the hope that was born so many years ago in Bethlehem. The invitation is for us to find a way for God to be in our days and our hearts.

Free your life from the clutter that has cut you off from the real meaning of this season, and let the love of God be born once more in your heart. Amen.