Sermon of December 4, 2005
Presented by Rev. Chuck Ericson
Scripture lesson: Isaiah 40:1-11

“The Advent Call to Prepare"

An important part of the story to Christmas that begins during Advent is the idea of a call or being called. Mary is called through the voice of the angel Gabriel to become the mother of the Savior, and Joseph is later called by another angel in a dream to become married to Mary and take her to Bethlehem. When the story reaches King Herod and he becomes fearful, he calls together the priests and the teachers to find out what’s going on, and then he calls the Magi before him so that he may send them to find out what is going on in Bethlehem. Another one who gets called in the story is Zachariah, the one who is married to Elizabeth, and is eventually the father of John the Baptist. Zachariah is also called by an angel, and told that he will become the father of the one who will prepare the way of the Lord.

So today and in the next couple weeks the underlying theme of my two messages will be what we are called to do during Advent and by the Christmas Story. And today I want us to think about how we are called to prepare; that’s a central part of the reading we just heard, and a central part of the life of John the Baptist, who took his life’s mission from that call to Isaiah to prepare the way for Jesus in the world.

The call to prepare is something that I believe must be active and physical. When we read in Isaiah those first few words, it says a voice cries in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” It could be a metaphorical aspect to that, or a symbolic aspect, but it sounds also like it could be very active. Go out in the desert; make a straight highway for God. Get the tools, get the rake, get the shovel; fill in those ruts, clear those curves so that things go straight so people can find their way to God. It’s a very active sounding thing. Go into the desert, make a straight path for God to find the people. In fact it becomes a very real, physical, active thing for John the Baptist when he takes those words as his mission to prepare the way for Jesus. It says that after he comes out of the wilderness, he goes into all the regions preaching this message that Jesus is coming. He goes from place to place, actively reaching out to people, giving them the message that Christ is coming.

So preparing is something that’s not just sitting back and just waiting, it’s active; it’s physical. And it’s true in how we prepare, isn’t it? It’s true in how the church has been preparing. I say every year I love to watch how things appear. First week the two wreaths were up there; the advent wreath and the wreaths on the doors, and maybe some other things I missed but those are the ones I’m thinking of. This week during the week, the lights went up in the windows. I drove by one day and saw the lights lit up in the windows, and in the windows to the connector out to the lift. The manger scene is in the front of the church as you walk in, and later on I’m sure other things (garlands, poinsettias) will be coming. It’s our way of preparing for the good news of Christmas. And we do it in our homes, too, with all of those similar types of things. The important message, I think, is to not let those just be simple decorations, but as we prepare in this active, physical way by putting up candles, wreaths, fresh greens, presents – and all the rest – those are things to help prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ, and to prepare others ourselves. So let us be mindful of those things as we are preparing. Those are not just simple tasks; those are things that are meant to remind us that Christ is coming.

A second thing about a call to preparation is it must be vocal. It kind of makes sense with a call, doesn’t it? It sounds like it should be something vocal. Isaiah’s words in Chapter 40 again and again are a call to something vocal; a voice cries in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. God is calling out, speaking, to Isaiah; Isaiah is speaking to the people. Isaiah is telling the people of Zion and Jerusalem to be the heralds of good tidings, to go out and call; to be vocal in their preparation. And John the Baptist himself was also very vocal, when he went throughout the region preaching the good news, he was preaching something specific; he was preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins, it says in Luke. He didn’t just go from place to place, he was vocal. He said, “Jesus is coming; repent, get ready”. He has a good news message about the forgiveness of sins and the new life that God offers you.

So I would say as you’re preparing and as I’m preparing, let us also be vocal in our preparations. Let’s greet one another with encouraging words and words that celebrate the season. I know there’s been a kind of a conflict going on about whether people can say Merry Christmas in stores; I’ve been hearing about this. And I’m not getting into that because I don’t want to get in trouble, but you don’t have to worry as an individual person you can say that; you can say that to somebody, especially someone who shares your Christian faith. Vocally, let them know that you share with them the spirit of this season of Christ’s birth. And obviously if you have friends who are Jewish, you might want to wish them Happy Hanukkah. For your Christian friends, don’t hesitate to say either Merry Christmas or something else. Merry Christmas kind of comes out almost too easily. Maybe say to somebody have a blessed Christmas, or have a joyous Christmas, or I hope that this Christmas is really one that blesses your life, or renews your life. Say something new and fresh vocally to someone, to prepare yourself and to prepare others for this season.

And the last thing is that the call to prepare at this time of year is something that should be also deeply spiritual. It should be a change in our attitudes and our feelings inside about what’s going on. This message from Isaiah was clearly meant to lift their spirits. They had been coming out of a period of warfare and defeat at the hands of the Assyrians, and Isaiah brings this message from God: comfort, comfort my people; speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare has ended. And then it says, “…every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places of the plain and the glory of God shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” There’s good news coming; there are better days ahead, is Isaiah’s message to spiritually prepare people for the future. And that happened in Jesus’ day too; the good news that was spread was meant to spiritually prepare people that this isn’t just something that just happened; it’s something that brings us hope; that brings us the message that better days are ahead.

I don’t think I could have a better illustration than something I saw along Interstate 10 in Mississippi a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting at Back Bay Mission. I drove from Gulfport from the airport to Mobile, Alabama, where I was going to be staying the first night (or the only night actually), and along the way I was noticing the billboards on the highway, and because there are so many casinos, there usually are billboards that have signs and messages about what’s playing at the casinos. And one of the things that struck me, even in the middle of November as I’m driving along all the billboards are old, and it makes sense but it just really just struck me, it say’s “now through September 4th.”  And that’s the last thing that was on that billboard, and then a couple more and a couple more like that. And then as I was driving along, I saw these billboards that were all blue, and there were 11 of them in a row with a blue background with a just a word or a few words on them. It was night when I was driving that way so I didn’t write them down. But on the way back the same 11 billboards were on the other side coming from Mobile towards the Gulfport and Biloxi region. And these 11 billboards had obviously been redone, and they were done by the casinos, but the message still was something that really touched me. As I’m driving along I’m writing them down on the steering wheel on a little piece of paper, which I still have, the original piece of paper. The first billboard just says “Together”, and then the second one just says, “We will rise above”. And then the next one says, “Together…we will become stronger’. And then: “Together…we will rebuild our community”…Together we will support each other…Together we will lead the way…Together.” And I thought of all the people who will be traveling that road each day; some of the relief workers who were there, the builders, people from FEMA and Red Cross and even the people themselves who live there and had been traveling that very busy highway that connects so many things, that spiritual reminder that something bad happened here but that’s not the end. There’s good news; there are better days ahead for us together, which is a very, very powerful thing to say and to know that’s it’s on both sides no matter which way you go, you’ll see that message.

And that’s what this season is for us; it’s a time for us to spiritually remember that the birth of Christ is to us that same message: that there are better days ahead. There’s good news waiting for us. And that’s an important thing for an individual to hear who’s been through a difficult time in the course of a year, or a family or a church, or a community or in terms of the conflict that’s been in our world.

The good news today is that the call to prepare is not just to do a few things, but is a call to prepare ourselves ultimately spiritually, to know that there are better days ahead.  There is good news; there is hope for all of us, together. Let us pray.

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