Wilmot First Presbyterian Church

1st Sunday of Advent

Luke 3:1-6

John is known as “the Baptizer.”  It’s a nice image of running wat3r and quiet crowds milling about on the banks, watching and listening…  In reality he lived more like a bulldozer, or a drill sergeant.  He ate bugs, dressed in out of style clothing and told anyone who wanted to hear (and even those who didn’t) some version of: “Stand up straight!” “Dress that line!” “Prepare!” “Make the rough places smooth!”  There is no indication in Scripture as to his attitude about this except his understanding that he must become less and less to help Jesus be more and more.   I like to think he didn’t enjoy this necessity to be abrasive, but he had to do what he knew he had to do.  Time was short and people then and people now are lazy about cleaning up the mess in their lives.  We like to spend time with people who are smooth, graceful and easy to be with.  What we need, however, is sometimes the sandpaper of truth.

The first Sunday of Advent is not traditionally about Jesus’ first coming, it’s about his return; the “parousia”.  We’re all very anxious to talk about mangers and wisemen and shepherds, but the first Sunday of Advent is really to consider life in the light of Christ’s return.  We live in the middle of these two Advents: The incarnation (Christmas) and the return (Parousia).  The first week of Advent is really focussed on Christ’s return and, if you are at all like me, the fact that God who created ALL this would intervene in such a manner is somewhat unsettling.

Bethlehem, shepherds, angel hosts and all are warm thoughts for me, like a cozy winter fire.  John the Bulldozer is more along the lines of a snowball down the back. I prefer the serene, but I need the siren.  John could well preach his same message today and I don’t imagine the response he would get would be a whole lot different.  It’s easy to dismiss the guy dressed in camel fur eating bugs and honey but when John points out the downtrodden and those who are doing the treading, which side do we tend to fall on?

As a people and as individual persons, we all have rough places and many of us don’t care to be reminded of them.  Often we’ve actually worked pretty hard to hide or minimize them. What we want, however, and what we need are not the same things.  Giving us what we want works pretty well for Wall Street, but God offers us what we need and it sometimes takes a bit of prodding, or a lot of prodding, to get us moving to where we need to go.  There is a grace though in both being able to recognize the need, and the call to move.  Truth be told, (and God will see the Truth is told!) it sounds like the barriers John is quoting from Isaiah are things I put in the way.  The barriers don’t stop God from coming, but those barriers do impair my vision of that coming.  Preparing the way for God allows us to see better what God is doing, and what God is doing is bringing salvation.  Come, Lord Jesus!

Prayer: Gracious God, as well prepare for your advent, make us as eager to see your return as to celebrate your first arrival.  We live debris strewn lives, complicated by all the rough things we place in the way.  We ask today for the simple truth of your Son, Jesus Christ, to help us clear the path and show us your salvation.  We ask for you to prepare us, in the name of Jesus.  AMEN

Activity: What hinders your vision of God working salvation in the world around you?  Share one thing you would do or one thing you’d change if you knew Jesus were returning tomorrow.