Real Christmas Preparations

Text: Matt. 3:1-12

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            You are not ready for Christmas. No, I’m not talking about the list of things to do that fill our calendars this month, like shopping for gifts, or planning meals, or going to parties and events, or travel arrangements. In fact, those things are likely part of the real reason you’re not ready. You are not ready for Christmas in your heart, in your spirit, in your being.

            It doesn’t matter how together you have your life. It doesn’t matter who you are—every week attender or occasional visitor; if you have a doctorate in theology or not even quite sure of all the names of the books of the Bible. You’re not ready. The kingdom of heaven is coming, it’s at hand, so close that it can touch you, but you’re not prepared for it. God is coming to you where you are and you’re not ready for Him.

            So our Lord sends us John the Baptist. Advent is the season of this Jordan wilderness prophet and preacher. We hear from him a lot these days in December. That’s because he’s the one who gets us ready—really and truly ready. He’s the one sent ahead of the Coming One, the Mightier One, in order to get all of God’s people prepared. John is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

            It doesn’t matter if you’re a high mountain, lofty and majestic, someone to look up to, at the top of the world; or if you’re a low valley, sunken in shadow and disappointment, John the Baptizer is going to level you out and prepare you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Pharisee, addicted to trying to climb your way into heaven (and in the process making sure everyone knows and sees how good a job you’re doing); or if you’re a progress-minded Sadducee who thinks you know better than all those outdated doctrines, concerned only with knowing practical matters, like pulling earthly levers of influence and power. You can be an erudite, sophisticated Jerusalem dweller, or a countrified Galilean; a prostitute with a shady past or a tax collector with a bright corporate future. No matter who you are, what you are, John is talking to you, getting you ready for Christmas in the only way that matters.

            And what is John the Baptizer saying? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent. It’s not a popular word. In our world that demands nothing but wholehearted acceptance of nearly anything and everything, repenting is not a popular idea. I doubt you’ll hear the word “repent” in the lyrics of any songs played on the 24-hour Christmas music station. But it’s the only way to actually get ready—truly ready in the ways that matter—for Christmas. For what does it mean to repent but to lay down those things that have been separating you from the God who’s coming to you? Repentance is dropping your defenses when it comes to your Lord, not making excuses for why you did those things you know He said are wrong for you, not blaming anyone else for your condition. Repentance is looking away from all that you’ve done—the bad and the things that you thought weren’t so bad but God says actually are—and telling your Lord that you’d rather have Him instead. You’d rather have His forgiveness than your sin. You’d rather have His justification than your flimsy excuses and self-justifications. You’d rather have His generosity than what you’ve hoarded. You’d rather have His compassion than your self-focus. You’d rather have Him than the whole world.

            This is what He’s promised you, after all. It’s been spoken for ages, through His prophets. When His kingdom comes, “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and bear shall graze; and their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.” God sends His prophets to speak this promise to you. He sends John the Baptist to remind you. He sends preachers to re-up that promise. He baptizes you with purifying, cleansing fire and the Holy Spirit through your Baptism of water and word, filling it up and making it complete in Jesus’ own Baptism and fulfillment of all righteousness. Your God gives you a place—your Baptism, your confession, your prayers—a place to confess out your sins, these things that have separated you from God and one another, and He forgives you. He washes you clean, here and now, as I, as a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then, cleansed, prepared, made ready, your Lord comes to you. He comes to you in His body and blood, just as real as He did in Bethlehem. He brings all that He’s promised: even more forgiveness, eternal life, strengthened faith, reconciliation, a taste of the new life of the new heavens and earth.

            And in these ways He prepares you for His final coming, the return of our Savior. He gets you ready for the last great Advent at the end of time. I know it sounds a little trite to say that Christmas isn’t about all the stuff, like presents and snow and decorations. And perhaps it is a little overused and cliché, but it’s also not wrong. A less trite way, a bolder and stronger way to say it is this: Repent, be prepared for your Lord’s arrival, for all His arrivals. If you’re lofty and lifted up, be brought low. If you’re low and sunken, be brought up. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Your God is near. He’s here and He has eternity for you. Come to the font, the altar, the rail, the absolution, and be made ready. In the name of Jesus, the Mightier One who is coming, Amen.