December 8, 2002
Second Sunday of Advent
"Prepare The Way of The Lord"
(Mark 1:1-8)
Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn
Dad was at the computer balancing his checkbook. When his young daughter came in and asked, "Daddy, can we play?" "I'm really busy now," he replied, "but I can in about an hour."
"Okay," she said, "and when you're finished, I'm going to give you a big hug." The little girl started to leave the room, but turned suddenly and gave her Daddy a warm hug.
Dad was surprised and said: "Sweetheart, I thought you were going to give me a hug after I finished." And his daughter replied "Daddy, I just wanted you to know what you have to look forward to."
That's what the season of Advent is all about. It reminds us of what "we have to forward to."
Today in our reading from Mark, John the Baptist offers such a promise. And John the Baptist asks us to "look forward" with him. Let's look at that passage together. You can find it in Mark 1:1-8 on NT pg. 31 or 1226
[1] The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[2] As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
[3] the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,' "
[4] John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
[5] And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
[6] Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
[7] He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
[8] I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." [NRSV]
John's words remind me of an old story. It seems that one day a man came racing into a small town in the old west on horseback. And as he rode into to town he was yelling: "Big Jake is coming! Big Jake is coming!" The townspeople were terrified. They ran to their homes and slammed and bolted the doors. They closed up their windows, and children were sent to hide under their beds.
In the saloon, the bartender was still trying to board up his windows, when all of a sudden his heart stopped. He saw the biggest, ugliest, meanest looking man he had ever seen coming right in his direction. The man was huge. He had bandoleers filled with bullets draped across his chest. Strapped to his legs were two of the biggest guns that the bartender had ever seen.
And the man was dressed in black, from head to toe. You could tell from the set of his jaw and the look in his eyes that he had seen lots of trouble in his life.
The man in black entered the saloon, strode up the bar and barked out: "Get me something to drink, and make it quick." With shaking hands the bartender obeyed. And in an instant handed the man in black a drink. The man in black downed it in one big gulp. The frightened bartender asked: "Would you like another drink?"
But the man yelled back: "No! I don't have time. Haven't you heard? Big Jake is coming."
The same sort of mistake was made with John the Baptist. The people thought he was the Messiah. But corrects them. I like the way the Message puts what John said: "The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will change your life. I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism, a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit, will change you from the inside out." [Mark 1:7-8, Msg]
John was just the messenger, telling us to get ready. And that's what Advent is all about. It's the season of getting ready. It's the season of preparation.
We're living in that time of "the almost but not yet" feeling of Advent. I feel a little bit like John the Baptizer crying in the wilderness, "prepare the way." That's what I've been doing the last few weeks but every time we get ready to prepare the way, somebody or something puts up a road block and a detour sign. And we're still here. It's like we're stuck in that one lane in the middle of rush hour traffic that isn't moving. Or the one lane at the grocery store with the cash register broken down or where the clerk doesn't know the code or price for half the items in the basket in front of you. You know you'll eventually get through but it is taking forever.
The promise of what is to come is out there, almost in our grasp but not quite here yet. That's the tension of the Advent season. Our kids feel it as they count down the days until Christmas morning. That's the tension we feel as we wait for promised the return of Jesus. That's the tension we feel as we wait to move in to our new facility.
So what can we do to deal with all that tension. How do we prepare? We have to: PREPARE OUR HOMES, OUR HEADS AND OUR HEARTS.
A. It's very important that we prepare our homes. Especially if we still have children at home. Oh, sure, we need to put up decorations and lights and all those other things of the modern Christmas celebration. But don't forget the real meaning of Christmas.
A few years ago, we received something very beautiful for our tree. I wouldn't exactly call it an ornament. It's a very large nail. We hang it close to the center of the tree every year. And it reminds us of the purpose of Jesus' birth. It wasn't so we could imitate the wise men and give gifts to everyone we love. The nail hangs close to the trunk of the tree to remind us that Christ came to hang on a tree for our sins. He came defenseless and willing. And the birth we celebrate is the birth of salvation, forgiveness and grace.
In Deuteronomy 11:19 we're told to tell the stories of God to our children. It says of the law: "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise." [NRSV]
B. And if you don't have children at home, it's still important to prepare your home. Because it's not just your home. In Revelation 21:3 we read: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them." [NRSV]
So, you see, we're not just preparing our homes for us and our family. We're also preparing our homes for God, who chooses to "dwell with [us]."
PREPARE YOUR HOME.
What I mean by that is don't out think Christmas. Sometimes we get to the point that we don't think we can hear anything new. Or we think we've heard the story so many times and experienced Christmas and Advent so many times that God can't surprise us any more. We shut our minds off.
We lock the Christmas story up in that space reserved for the "been there, done that" stuff of life. We've not only been there and done that. We bought the T-shirt and we bought it so long ago that now it's in the rag bag. We out think Christmas. We close our minds to the movement of the Holy Spirit.
Don't do that this year. Let the little kid in you see and experience the wonder of it all. Let Christmas touch you again. Do whatever it takes to get into the spirit of Christmas mentally.
If all the stories seem old hat to you. If "It's A Wonderful Life," "A Christmas Carol," "A Christmas Story," or "The Grinch," don't melt your heart any more. Then find something new. Read Max Lucado's "Cosmic Christmas" or "The Christmas Cross." Either one of them will lift your spirits. There are a hundred other books and stories you can read. read the original screen play in Matthew and Luke.
They'll help you see that this is God's season. God is going to enter into it in your life in some unexpected way just like God entered the world in a very unexpected way, as a baby.
It'll be easier if you're mentally prepared. Proverbs 14:33 says: "Wisdom is at home in the mind of one who has understanding." NRSV.
PREPARE YOUR HEAD
A. Because when you prepare your head it helps PREPARE YOUR HEART.
Let the spirit of this season, the Holy Spirit of God touch your heart. Make sure you take the time to let God's love touch you and change you. Make sure you take the time to peek over the edge of the manger and look upon the face of God's great love for you.
Look upon the face of the Christ Child so you can experience God's Grace and become what Saint Athanasius described in the Third Century when he wrote: "[Jesus] became what we are that He might make us what He is."
Jesus became one of us, in order to save us.
On March 5, 1994, Deputy Sheriff Lloyd Prescott, dressed in street clothes, was teaching a class for police officers in the Salt Lake City Library. As he stepped into the hallway he noticed a gunman herding 18 hostages into the next room. With a flash of insight, Prescott joined the group as the nineteenth hostage, followed them into the room, and shut the door. But when the gunman announced the order in which hostages would be executed, Prescott identified himself as a cop.
In the scuffle that followed, Prescott, in self-defense, fatally shot the armed man. Every one of the hostages were released unharmed.
God dressed himself in street clothes and entered our world, joining us who are held hostage to sin. On the cross Jesus defeated sin once and for all and set us free from the power of sin.
That's what this season is all about. A child who came and changed the whole universe; a child who can enter our life and change us.
B. I looked over the edge of the cradle and saw Jesus yesterday. I looked in the manger and saw the face of God. I saw Jesus and he ate breakfast with us. I had the opportunity to serve him breakfast. I watched him tear up when I brought him seconds and when the Flute trio started playing "The First Noel."
I have no idea how he got to our District Preachers Christmas Breakfast or why he chose to sit at our table. But we were more than blessed when he sat and ate breakfast at our table. Like the voice of John crying in the wilderness, his simple quiet manner and soft spoken voice broke through the noise of the room with words of faith, the joy of life and even words of assurance.
Most of us came to that breakfast only because it was expected, he chose to be there. Because he sat at our table, I saw the barriers and defenses of three clergy families come crashing down as we all realized who it was who was really sitting there with us. He told us his name was Irving but I know who he really was. I saw it in his eyes, in his gentle manner and in his smile.
It was obvious he came to the safety and familiarity and warmth of the Church. And he needed that warmth. He told us he'd slept in two cardboard boxes the night before. What he didn't know, or maybe he did, was how much three preachers needed the warmth he brought with him to get us ready for Christmas.
The incarnation and the glory of God broke in on us at a simple breakfast gathering. I looked over the edge of the manger Saturday morning and saw Jesus.
This child, this Son of God, enters the world and changes everything. In John 14:23 during the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." [NRSV]
PREPARE TO RECEIVE THEM. PREPARE YOUR HEART. You never know when you'll look over the edge of the manger and see Jesus.
In Jesus Christ I see a God who is like the father who told his son he would send him to sleep in the attic, with only bread and water for supper, if he were disobedient once more. The child disobeyed him again and was sent to the attic. Mom and Dad tried to eat, but Dad couldn't eat. All he could think about was that little boy up in the attic.
His wife tried to console him: "I know what you're thinking. But you can't bring the boy down from the attic. It'll only cause him to lose respect for you and disobey again. You mustn't break your word."
Her husband replied, "You're right, I can't break my word, but he's so lonely up there."
So, he kissed his wife good night, walked up to the attic, ate bread and water with the boy and when the child went to sleep on the hard wood floor, his father's arm was his pillow.
I believe that God is just like that father. God entered into our misery and sin with forgiveness and grace. God stepped out of heaven and into our lives through this baby born in Bethlehem. We may never see the heavens open up or the mountains tremble. But God is at work in the lives of those who open themselves up to this Child.
Open yourself to God. Heed John's call. Prepare the way of the Lord. PREPARE YOUR HOME, PREPARE YOUR HEAD AND PREPARE YOUR HEART FOR HIM.
I just want you to know what you have to look forward to.
1. Dale Bruner
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