Let us begin with the theme of preparation. “Prepare the Way of the Lord”, shouts Isaiah, “make his paths straight.” John the Baptizer repeats that cry. John focuses on the issue of repentance leading to forgiveness of sins symbolized in an act of water baptism, literally a washing away of sin. The reading from 2 Peter encourages “all to come to repentance” in preparation for the Lord’s coming. Repentance is always at the heart of the Christian message. It is that recognition of who we really are; a reality check on our humanness. It is a way of looking at ourselves and seeing all the complexities of our lives and our relationships and being honest about them and us. It is this act of self-examination, as it is traditionally called, this looking at ourselves honestly and objectively, that enables us to see where we have fallen short of the model we see in the person and work of Jesus and in his saints. Unless we are really spiritually blind we know where our relationships and attitudes and practices are less than we would desire. We know when we harbor grudges; we know our jealousies and envy; we know our unresolved relationships and conflicts with family, friends, colleagues or parishioners; we know our pettiness and meanness; we know our greed and inappropriate appetites, our pride and our prejudices. It is in recognizing these for what they are and bringing them to God in an act of repentance and confession that leads to forgiveness, a fresh start, a new beginning. That is why the Confession and Absolution is at the heart of the liturgy of the Eucharist; that is why the church provides the opportunity to make a confession to a priest which is helpful to many as they make preparation for the great celebrations of Christmas and Easter.

Peter’s Epistle suggests further acts of preparation as we wait the coming of the Lord. “Therefore beloved while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of the Lord as salvation. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” “Strive to be found by him at peace”. This task challenges all of us who take community seriously. That after all is the very heart of our enterprise as a parish. We are here to build a community of the Spirit to demonstrate the reconciling love of God to the world. Therefore it is incumbent on us to work hard at peacemaking and reconciliation among ourselves so that we can give a positive witness to the world around us. Now this parish has been through some difficult times the wounds and scars of which are not yet healed. I am very aware of that and some of you are too. I continue to make it my prayer that the reconciling work of the Spirit may continue here in this parish that we may truly be a people prepared for the coming of the Lord. But Peter also mentions growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord as a preparatory act. Advent is a good time as any to continue to develop our spiritual imagination. Some of you are using the Advent readings book copies of which are still available; Fr. McPherson is teaching a course for these three Sundays on Angels in Advent; and there are a host of other ways of informing ourselves in the life of the Spirit. Use the opportunities we are given intentionally as part of this business of being prepared.

The other theme which the reading hold in tension with that of preparation is the one of expectation. Prepare the way of the Lord not just because it is a nice idea or that in principle it is a good thing to do. But prepare the way of the Lord because “See, the Lord God is coming with might and his arm rules for him.” Says Isaiah. Likewise it is easy to paint John the Baptizer as a rather gloomy, puritanical figure, until you recognize the full content of his message. Repent most certainly but only because “the one who is more powerful than I is coming after me” and “he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit”. Likewise all Peter’s admonitions to the early Christians about being prepared are all the context of God’s promise according to which “we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.” From the first sentence in Mark’s gospel, which is the Gospel for Year B which we have just begun, that sense of expectation is palpable! “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” That is the foundation of our expectation as Christians. God has acted on our behalf in the person of work of Jesus the Christ the Son of God. That is the Gospel, the Good News, and we rejoice in that.

It is this Preparation allied to our Expectation in the activity of God for us that is the clue to this season as we make ready for the God who comes to us at Christmas and at the End of Time.

As we meet today as a parish may we keep this sense of excitement and expectation and its allied preparation at the heart of our speaking and our thinking.   Amen

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