May I speak in the Name of God Who is: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
In my varied parochial experience I once served as Vicar of a rural mission parish in a classic mid-American small little town in central Kansas. Two of the pillars of the tiny congregation were also well-known pillars of the community. They were a revered old couple that had been around just about as long as anybody could remember… their Christian names were Mildred and Chester, but it didn’t really matter, because everyone called them “Nana” and “Pappy.” Besides being at the social hub of town all year round, Nana and Pappy always had a lot of company for Christmas; in fact, as grandparents of a large “clan” their place was where Christmas “happened” for many people and generations. It always took weeks of preparation.
Nana loved the holidays and the gathering of people in her home – and she was busy with all the things she would do to make Christmas “happen” once again. She started the day after Thanksgiving and worked right through Christmas day. Pappy, on the other hand was a kind of grouch about the whole thing and Nana used to laugh that he was the inspiration for Dr. Seuss’ book, “The Grinch who stole Christmas.” So, a standard part of Christmas was Pappy’s grumbling about how much time Nana took baking cookies, shopping for gifts, and decorating the house.
If he said it once, he said it a thousand times, “That woman of mine is going to have us all in the poor house before the New Year!” But Nana was undaunted, “Oh, Chester,” she would scold, “don’t be such a grouch. Run down to the Co-Op and get me another bag of flour!” Then Pappy would snort his grouch snort, blowing a few ashes from his pipe as he rustled his newspaper back into place, cutting everyone from view; but probably more so that they couldn’t see him smile. Pappy’s grouching was as much a part of the preparation for Christmas as was Nana’s baking.
This went on year after year, as long as everyone in the family could remember, because as long as everyone could remember there was always Nana and Pappy’s place as sure as there was a Christmas. That was until the year Nana died and the sense of Christmas dramatically changed for the whole family. It was clear that Pappy would have given anything in the world to have had Nana back so he could complain about all the fuss she made over the holidays. But she was gone and he finally spoke the words that had been there all along, “Preparing was the biggest part of Christmas. The spirit of Christmas is gone without Nana and her incessant preparations.” Actually, after over 60 years of marriage losing her broke his heart and it was never more clear how much he missed her than at Christmas. He never made it to the following Christmas, just couldn’t bear to face another one without all the preparations and he joined Nana in heaven where they could enjoy Christmas together for all eternity.
Well, Pappy was right about one thing: preparing is one of the most important parts of Christmas. The Gospel of St. Mark begins with the theme of preparation but the Evangelist never even mentions the familiar birth narratives we all hold so dear at Christmas. Actually, the prophet Isaiah spoke it hundreds of years earlier: “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord…” The central meaning of Advent is the preparation of God’s people for the coming of Christ whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.
No one can deny that most of us spend a good bit of time preparing for Christmas. It is not so clear that such preparation is really a spiritual thing, however. Advent affords us the opportunity to explore the vast difference between seasonal preparation and spiritual preparation. All of us have our favorite and not so favorite ways of preparing for the Christmas season. Whatever our circumstances, we are all aware of the seasonal preparation that is a part of this time of year.
We also understand the pressure that this time of preparation brings about. Each of us will have at least one experience looking at the calendar and wondering, “Where in the world has the time gone?!” And that’s the point: “Where in the WORLD…” That is – the outward secular Christmas world… but there is another world that begs our attention and preparation. Spiritual preparation is not so obvious. It is so very easy to buy into the notion that if we have gone through the season, done all the “Christmasy” things and made a rare appearance at church warming a place on the pew for an hour and an half on Christmas Eve, then we have celebrated Christmas and done our spiritual duty.
Authentic spiritual preparation, however, means much more. It begins with a call to attention from a strange little man out in the desert who preaches a stern message about preparing the way of the Lord. This odd fellow named John who wears camel’s hair and eats locusts in the desert is indeed very strange. So strange as to suggest that when we have literally worn ourselves out with preparations for and celebration of Christmas; we have not really prepared the way of the Lord.
Why did so many folks make the long trek from Jerusalem and far environs way out to the southern wilderness past the Dead Sea to have this John the Baptizer get in their faces about repentance? Obviously there was something more that they were seeking, something missing… maybe this eccentric hermit had the answer. They considered themselves “good” religious people, no doubt, and yet they hear John say that even he as a holy man, is unworthy to untie the sandals of the great One yet to come. It must have been a shock for the pilgrims to hear those words; for if John, the holy man they trekked so far to see, was “unworthy” where does that leave them?!
An essential element in preparing for Christmas – for the coming of Christ – is taking a serious personal inventory of our inner life. Not anybody else’s – we’re very good at doing other people’s inventories – but “my own inventory.” It is the reflective part of preparation, getting my own personal house in order. John’s message was quite simple and reaches across the ages to us this season right now: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” Not prepare your greeting card list, not prepare your credit card limit, not prepare your holiday party schedule… no, prepare the way of the LORD!
In proclaiming “prepare the way of the Lord” John hearkens the words of the prophets, not the least of whom is Isaiah, so popular with Christians in interpreting his message as foretelling the advent of Jesus Christ. But prophets are never really popular in the age they live and with the people to whom they direct their message; because they are the people’s conscience. Isaiah was no exception and accused Israel of degenerating into a wealthy nation that forgot to exercise justice and charity to the poor and oppressed. Israel’s sin then was not unlike the sin of which our own nation has been guilty: The sin of supporting the wealthy and ignoring the poor. Have we in our own community heeded a “wake up call” before disaster strikes? I fear not! However, where injustice prevails there is still hope - if but humans turn from the crooked paths and make the way of the Lord straight and smooth and uncluttered. Because God is a compassionate God who tells the prophet Isaiah to “Comfort, comfort my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to the city that its warfare is ended, that its iniquity is pardoned.”
We believe in a merciful and liberating God, Who is at the heart of the Advent message. This is the One Who became human to be made poor so that mankind could recognize both its sin and its redemption. Christianity is a faith of anticipation. We await the coming of the Lord in glory. We also await the magical season of Christmas, a time of peace and justice, and equity; not passively waiting, but as active participants in aiding to make that happen. In Advent, we Christians bridge the past of our Hebrew forbearers in faith with future expectations of the “Parousia” – the Lord’s return. Jewish expectations become ours as we both await the coming Messiah. And when He comes, may we welcome Him not just through our words but most importantly through our lives and through our actions!
Amen.
Father Mark,
ReplyDeleteYour message resonates in my heart.
Thanks!