“Prepare a Way” (Luke 3:1-6)
Intro: In our reading this morning, Luke goes to great lengths to place John the Baptist in a concrete place and time. From this specific point in history comes an eternal message, as John says “Prepare, He is coming.” //
Advent is a season of expectation and waiting. It is a longing for something that has happened, but it is still not yet. During this time of waiting for the birth of the Christ Child we do not sit idly by until December 25th , passing time by saying “Merry Christmas” or Happy Holidays and do nothing else. This time preceding Christmas, is a time for preparations, we are actively “doing what needs to be done, and getting ready.”
It is almost cliché and passé to speak about the “busyness of the season”, how crazy schedules get and all the things that can feel like anything but holiday cheer. Yes, there are cards to write, presents to buy, and fruitcakes to bake. But this morning I want to look at another side of our preparations for Christmas. Not the things that we feel are obligations that we perhaps dread, but rather the things we look forward to, the work that is not work. Those things we do as we get ready for Christmas that bring a special joy. Traditions that still surprise us with the power of the feeling they bring. I’d like to look at some of those moments that stir us and soften our hearts.
To do this I will ask your help. I would like to you to reflect on your Christmas preparations and bring to mind the thing you look forward to doing most, and consider what it means to you. Think for a moment about doing this special thing. And if you would like, I’d invite you talk with a neighbor for a few minutes and to share them in a minute. Take just a moment to do that now.
We have just shared some of those things we do, each very personal, each very real and central to our experience of Christmas. These are examples of things are done to prepare for the Advent of Christ. The significance of the good feeling that comes with doing them should not be missed. That feeling, that sense of warmth, the love and joy and peace that comes, is a road where God comes straight to us. It is a direct connection. That is what I think John is talking about when he says prepare a way for the Lord. (It is some of what Paul is speaking of Philippians when he writes of love overflowing and determining what really matters)
Advent is a time for us to do something so that God can come into our lives. That doing can be any number of things, it could be setting up a village, or hanging a star. It could be baking or praying. It may be sitting in a favorite chair and remembering. We are to repent of hard hearts and hard headedness. and be open feeling something wonderful as God comes to meet us in human form.
Last week we heard about Christ’s second Advent on a global scale. When all will see God at the same time. Advent happens on an individual scale as well. Christ comes at those times when we stand in awe saying “Here is our God” “Here is my God.”
The coming of the Lord is a joyous thing, for which we should prepare with gladness and thanks in our hearts. Luke quotes just a portion of the text from Isaiah that provides the call to make a path for God to come. I’d like to close by reading the full passage. It is Isaiah 40: 1-11.
40:1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “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. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.