Advent 2B, 2008

The Rev. Patricia Templeton
Advent 2B
December 7, 2008
St. Dunstan's

Crashing the Christmas Party

It happens every year at this time.

The Christmas decorations are going up, the smell of fresh greenery is in the air, the red velvet bows are still crisp, the melodies of Christmas music follow us every where we go – except in church.

There is a festive feeling in the atmosphere, a sense of expectation, of freshness and celebration.

And then, just when the Christmas spirit begins to peak, we invite John the Baptist in to put a damper on the party.

In he storms from the wilderness, smelling like the camels whose skin his clothes are made from; his hair and beard long and unkempt, and matted with honey and locust crumbs; his eyes burning with a wild passion.

He looks around and instead of admiring our Christmas finery, complimenting us on how beautiful everything looks this year, and asking for some egg nog, he fervently shouts, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Repent! Repent!”

Who is this guy? And why do we keep inviting such a disagreeable character back every Advent? Why in the midst of our festivities must a wild man appear exhorting us to repent?

Many years ago, the playwright Lillian Hellman wrote an autobiography entitled Pentimento. Pentimento is from the Italian word, pentire, to repent.

In painting, a pentimento is the image that the artist puts on the canvas first. Even when it is covered with other layers of paint, the original image can still show through..

For Hellman, writing her autobiography was an attempt to examine the layers of her life, perhaps to repent, to go beneath the surface to the depths, to the pentimento at her core.

The relationship of Advent and Christmas is like a pentimento. Christmas is not absent from Advent. It is beneath the surface, waiting to emerge.

But to truly appreciate Christmas, to truly prepare for it, we must go through all the layers of waiting, of expectation, of repentance.

And on the surface of our painting is John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus, the one who helps prepare the way, the one who points to the Messiah and the world that the Messiah ushers in.

To get to that world, to get to the Christ at the bottom of the canvas, we must first encounter John, must listen to his prophetic message, must take it to heart and let it transform our lives.

To get to the pentimento, we must repent.

That’s why John the Baptist shows up on the canvas of our worship every year at this time. He comes to remind us that all our holiday finery and festivity may prepare us for Christmas, but it doesn’t prepare us for Christ.

There is no other way to prepare for the coming of the Messiah than the way he describes.

The repentance John the Baptist calls for is not a simpering and tearful apology, not an empty groveling, not a contrite “I’m sorry” today, and back to our old ways tomorrow.

John the Baptist calls us to be honest about our lives, to look beneath the surface, beneath the illusions, rationalizations and defenses to the core of our character.

For John, repentance is not an emotion, but an action – something that can be seen and measured. It is a turning around, a turning back towards God, a transformation of life.

John urges us to prepare the way for the coming of God’s kingdom.

A time when the mountains and hills – the ruling elite who maintain their power and position by exploiting the weak and disadvantaged – will be humbled.

A time when the ravines and valleys – the lowly and the poor – will be raised up to a life of justice and peace.

A time when the crooked realities of life will be set straight.

John the Baptist boldly, loudly, and energetically implores us to make sure that the road we are on is the one that is heading to the kingdom..

Are we headed in the right direction?

Are we headed in the direction of the good?

Are we headed in the direction of God?

If we’re not, John says, it’s not too late for us to turn around, to change directions now.

Our presiding bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori, has some concrete ideas for ways for us to heed John’s call. She suggests we focus on one thing each week of Advent.

For example, she suggests we give thanks for the people in our lives, all of them. “Pray for the courage to start healing a damaged relationship with one of them,” she says.

“Discover the image of God in that person and bless the goodness in that person’s life. Find something to bless in a person you find difficult. Reach out and tell him or her of your gratitude.”

Or we may focus on the abundance of our lives. “Consider how much or little is really enough,” she asks. “What is superfluous and could bless both you and others by being passed along?”

Finally, she suggests taking time to think about the rhythm of our lives. How much time do we spend in a typical week working, reading, playing, serving others, praying?

“Make a conscious decision about how you would like to change that pattern,” she says. “Plan a small change in that rhythm for each week of Advent.”

All of these are ways of preparing for the coming of Christ, not just the celebration of Christmas.

John’s call for repentance and our presiding bishop’s suggestions for Advent are both calls for conversion, to get back to the depths, the core, the image of God that is the pentimento at the core of each of us.

Of course, we know that repentance, conversion, turning towards God, is not a one-time task. It is a lifetime process, one that is never fully accomplished, and one in which we need the help and grace of the One who is to come.

On this second Sunday of Advent, the One we await already lies beneath the surface of the Baptist’s call to repentance – the Christ is coming forth, the picture is shining clearer, Advent is proceeding to Christmas, the Messiah is moving from shadow to light.

Amen.

Readings

Isaiah 40:1-11

“Comfort, O comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish.

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”