I Need John the Baptist This Year

 

Is it just me or does it seem that Christmas is coming fast this year?

It is always a challenge when Advent starts right after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve is on a Saturday.

It means a shortened Advent season.

And that means that all of our preparations have to speed up.

Not to mention that this is the first time in a long time that we are having a more "normal" Christmas.

We are doing all of the things we did before the pandemic again this year.

I mention it this morning because I am always a little worried that our preparations for the Christmas season will drown out our preparations for Christ to come again.

That is preparing for gifts, parties, and time with family, we will forget what it is we are doing this season.

 

I don't like these two weeks of Advent when I have to preach on John the Baptist.

But this year I need John.

John is the one who comes to prepare the way for Jesus.

He comes in the wilderness to preach about repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to call us back to God.

John reminds us that we can't merely rely on our religious beliefs.

We can't pretend to say that we have Abraham as our father.

Or that we have Jesus and all is well.

Our faith compels us to a continued life of repentance and forgiveness.

 

We have to admit that it all seems a little out of sorts.

I mean where is there time or energy for that this season.

We have so much to get done.

We have to buy gifts.

We have to bake cookies.

We have to cook the food.

We have to attend the parties.

We have to watch Christmas movies.

Where will we find the time to confess our sins?

What does that have to do with Christmas?

Why do we have to even consider it?

 

At Thanksgiving, my aunt was talking about all the Christmases that my family had when I was growing up.

My aunt would be there most Christmas eve with us.

We were marveling at all the work my mom put into those times.

The meals that she prepared.

The way she created this perfect feel of what Christmas was supposed to be.

I have such wonderful memories of those times, and so did my aunt.

And Christmas was always about more than the presents and the food.

We went to two Christmas eve worship services most years, or at least my parents would.

We would read the Christmas story before opening our presents.

My point is that one did not take away from the other.

They were intertwined.

Our lives of faith are not divorced from the lives we live.

It isn't just that we went to Church.

It is that Christmas was a holy time.

It had everything to do with Jesus coming into the world.

Even the food and the presents.

Those things were just symbols of love.

They were symbols of the love that we shared as a family and the love that we were given by God through the birth of Jesus Christ.

We can't have Christmas without going out into the wilderness to confess our sins, any more than we can have Christmas without whatever way you celebrate it.

We can't have it without some contemplation on what it means for us.

There is nothing wrong with wanting our Christmas time to be wonderful and joyful.

There is nothing wrong with wanting our family to be together and happy.

In fact, that is a huge part of this holiday season.

I think that what we are asked by John to do is think more deeply about why those things matter.

 

They matter because they are symbols of greater love.

John tells us today that he is not the final word.

That there is fire coming into this world.

We need the fire.

We need to be set ablaze so that our hearts are centered on what God asks of us.

John is setting up what is coming in Jesus Christ.

And the question that is proposed to us in Advent is are we ready?

Not for Christmas eve, because let us be honest none of us is ready for that this year.

But are we ready for Christ to come?

 

One of the things we have been doing in our house to get ready for Christmas is clearing the clutter.

We have to move things so we can put up our tree.

We have cleared out old things so there is room for people to come and have a good time at our house.

We need this not only physically but also we need this spiritually.

We need to clear out all of the things in our lives that are holding us back from being who God has called us to be.

We need to be ready so that when Jesus comes we can accept his love for us and the world.

 

I know that one of the things I am trying to rid myself of this Advent is my propensity to be pessimistic.

I am trying to clear it out so that I can be surprised by God, the world around me, and other people.

I think it is healthy to not have too high of expectations for people.

People are simply people.

They are complicated and sinful.

They do things that don't always make sense to me.

However, I am trying to carve out some room for God to do things with people that I don't expect.

I am making room for hope this Advent season.

Hope that God will bring new things to our world.

Hope that people's hearts will be changed by God.

Hope that we can learn to really love each other.

Hope that we learn to say what is true about ourselves and others.

Hope that we will know the grace of God.

 

That happens to us when we confess our sins and hear the promise of God's forgiveness.

We begin to hope.

Hope that our lives will change, that the world will change, and that things will be different.

That is why it is so important not to skip over it this Advent.

It is why we need to go out into the wilderness and once again confess our sins.

Because all of the things we do to make this season special for our loved ones are dependent on that.

It is vital for us to be able to know God's love in order to share it with others.

We know that love is by being forgiven, and by allowing God's grace to work its way through our souls.

 

Christmas may be coming soon.

We might be feeling the crunch of time.

But it is not too late to take some time to go out into the wilderness and listen to John the Baptist tell us to repent.

And in that repentance to receive the wonderful words of God's grace.

There at that moment, we experience the wonderful hope that this season has to offer us, and that we can give back to others.

 

May repentance be part of your Christmas season.

May the fire of Christ be in you, so that you might know the hope that Jesus brings to you and the world.

Amen