What does it mean to prepare?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
December 6th 2009
Second Sunday in Advent
Communion Meditation
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“What Does it Mean to Prepare?”
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6

This advent season I have made the commitment not to complain about some things. I am not going to complain about the Christmas music in August or the decorations that show up before Halloween. I am not going to complain about the crowds or the added stress of the season. I have decided that complaining about those things serves no worthy purpose. Instead, I have decided to finally admit that there is a tension between the Christmas celebration and Christianity.
Coming to grips with this reality allows me to be set free from the need to complain. But do not hear this confession as a statement that I have joined the Culture War complainers. I do not fear that Christmas has been stolen by the PC police that seek to turn the birth of Jesus into a culturally bland “holiday.” In fact, if there is something we should worry about regarding this holiday of our faith is how often we participate uncritically in the consumer orgy called Christmas. The truth is that whether Christians call it holiday or Christmas we haven’t noticed that the celebration of God’s incarnation has turned into the worship of the marketplace. So, instead of semantic fights I believe our energy is best spent looking for positive, life-giving ways to prepare for the holiday that we call Christmas.
Leaving our worry of what is going on in the culture is actually biblically sound. After all, “the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” And this happened in the midst of a world preoccupied with many other things. It happened, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas…” It happened in the midst of a culture that was actually openly hostile to the faith. Despite this, God speaks. Without anyone’s help, God speaks. To people living in Empire hear the word of God. It should come as a comfort to know that no matter whether it is real or imagined that the War on Christmas is doomed. So there really is nothing to worry about. That allows us to focus on being prepared.
Preparing for Christmas is usually marked by decorating, Christmas cards, cookies, parties, presents, and of course Chex Mix. For Christians, preparing for Christmas may include those things but real preparation is the season of Advent. Advent is not Christmas but the time before when we try to grasp what it means to wait on God. After encountering the risen Jesus, the first Christians searched the scriptures with the hope understanding. The passages from Malachi and Isaiah, quoted in Luke, show what they understood about Jesus and the meaning of Christmas.
Who can endure the day of God’s arrival? Now that sounds like a joyful Christmas song. What about the radical social rearrangement being praised in the passage from Isaiah? The language of valleys and mountains is not about creative landscaping but a metaphor for the leveling of all society that comes by the hand of God. If this is what the first Christians understood about the birth of Jesus than it appears that Jesus birth really isn’t a religious seal of approval of a consumer holiday. So what are we supposed to do with this? What does it mean to prepare given this reality?
Over the past few years I have made it a habit to re-read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I am finding the Dickensian world rather contemporary these days and his works surprisingly helpful for understanding what is going on around us. Reading that powerful work, I am in awe of the poor family of Tiny Tim who can celebrate Christmas and the inability of Mr. Scrooge to enjoy a moment with his vast wealth. It is not until Mr. Scrooge shares himself and joins with others that he finds joy. It is a biblical vision of the mountains being brought low and the valleys being filled. And, at the end of that book where Dickens shows us what Isaiah means when he writes: “All flesh shall see the salvation of God together.”
The salvation of God will be seen by all, but it will not come as long as the mountains and the valleys of our societies exist. For the salvation of God, there is no advanced showing, box seats, or backstage passes. The front row folks and the nosebleed seat folks are going to be side-by-side. And for some that does not actually sound like good news. So, being prepared is about coming to grips with this reality of our faith.
John called people out to the wilderness for a Baptism of Repentance. It was about getting ready. The word of God came to John and he knew the people would need to be ready. Repentance for John meant turning from the ways of the current arrangements. Going out to the Jordan symbolized the journey from the slavery of Egypt through the Red Sea. Repentance was a turning from the ways of Egypt, the ways of Babylon, the ways of Rome, the ways of Empire. But this repentance did not end there. Once they had turned from the empire ways, John sends them back to the heart of empire practice. Going out to the wilderness meant coming face to face with how comfortable they had become with the current arrangements. Going to the wilderness to be baptized was intended to be a time of clarity. With this new found vision, they could return and live more faithfully in a culture which had the appearance of faithfulness but was not.
Being prepared is about going to the wilderness with others and getting in touch with our need for repentance. Being prepared is about coming to grips with how comfortable we have become with the current state of affairs. To prepare for Christmas we need to disengage from the consumer frenzy enough so that we can recognize there is something more. But to do so faithfully we must do this without becoming bitter, angry, cynical, arrogant or condescending. This is not an easy task and requires a great deal of humility.
Advent is a season of preparation marked by texts that can seem a bit unnerving. But know that it is a season also marked by joy. We can have joy in the journey because we know the end of the story. We know that Christmas is not the end of our story but just the beginning. We know that Christ will come again, and that is why we wait and why we prepare. We are being called to live this new reality and even embrace the disconnect we feel between our faith and the consumer holiday going on around us. By embracing this reality, I believe that we will no longer find ourselves disoriented with Christmas songs in August or Christmas sales in October. If we prepare, if we know the story and live the story, there will be no need to complain. We can even smile at this things and remember that we know another story, a story that leads us to joy and not angry cynicism. So let us prepare the way, with joy and thanksgiving. Amen? Amen!