Our Shocking Hope

John the Baptist doesn’t usually make the all-star lineup when it comes to Christmas. He isn’t part of the nativity scene. We don’t see his face on any of our greeting cards, although I did try to give you a taste for that this morning on the cover of your bulletins. Admittedly, he is a quirky dude what with his diet of locusts and honey, his unruly and likely fragrant appearance, and his wardrobe of camel’s hair.

And yet, all four gospels include him as a key player in the message of Advent. Still, perhaps starting with John the Baptist can feel off tune. Instead of “Baby it’s cold outside” we get a voice crying out in the wilderness. Instead of “Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” we get told to prepare the way of the Lord.

And so if you came today expecting to hear of shepherds and angels and all of that stuff (all of which we hope you join us for later tonight by the way), maybe John the Baptist is like a jolt to your system. But I wonder if we all could use a little shock, a little movement in our souls.

In the gospel of Mark, the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God’s son is heralded by John the Baptist, a messenger who Mark points out was foretold long ago by the prophets. This one excerpt is a combination of three Old Testament passages: Exodus 23:20, Malachi 3:1, and Isaiah 40:3. All of which announce a messenger who will come before the Lord.

So John appears on scene after this long season of waiting as the voice crying out, a voice that begins in the wilderness. The location references back to the people of Israel’s history in their time with God in the wilderness. The wilderness was where God tabernacled or dwelled with the people of Israel. The message of Advent doesn’t spring from the temple in Jerusalem. It isn’t confined to the inside stained glass walls. The message of Advent isn’t content to wrapped up but insists on reaching all the way to the edge, in the location where self-reliance goes out the window and dependence upon God is a must.

And in this kind of space people are flocking as John is shouting “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his path straight.” Wanna get some strange looks from folks? Try that on for a holiday greeting sometime. “Merry Christmas.” “Prepare the way of the Lord.” It is guaranteed to turn you into the local town crazy. Undoubtedly, we do a lot of prep work this time of year. We decorate. We buy. We wrap. We plan trips and vacations and parties and family gatherings with meticulous detail. The children have prepared for tonight’s skit. The choir has been preparing for next week’s cantata. The town has been preparing for 50 Nights of Lights. But what about preparing the way for the Lord?

Will Willimon says “when someone once responded to the message of Advent with ‘God just hasn’t shown up for me,’ it’s not unreasonable to say ‘Maybe God has, but you weren’t prepared to be surprised. Because you thought you’d seen everything of God, you missed Advent.” I know a preacher who on Saturdays always shares his theme and text for the next day, inviting people to join him. Then he always says “Sunday morning is a Saturday night decision.” That always caught me. Prepare. Similarly, one of my seminary professors whenever he would set a deadline for an assignment loved to look at us and say “your lack of preparation does not constitute my sense of urgency. “ Prepare. You see, I was always the weird girl who would have nightmares about not being prepared. About showing up to a test I hadn’t studied for or being in a front of a crowd and am supposed to speak without a clue. John is saying prepare. Get ready. Be alert. God is one the way, and it’s gonna knock your socks off.

The Message says “Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!” Maybe you were hoping to hear more than a word about preparing today. Something with a little more meat to it. Willimon says “I guess that depends on that for which you are preparing. Nobody needs to be told ‘Prepare to be bored to death by another dull sermon’ or ‘get ready to be confirmed in what you’ve always thought.’ No preparation is needed , no straight path is required, if you intend to walk in the direction you have always walked.”

The message of same-o- same-o is not the message of John the Baptist here. John’s message of preparation is what we call a baptism of repentance. Repentance you say? What on earth is a baptism of repentance and why is it mentioned in Advent?

A lot of times we think that repentance is something we do by ourselves, but it is more that something God does within us through God’s grace. As God turns toward us, we then turn towards God. We love because God first loved us.

Here’s the thing. Advent isn’t a box we check off, a task we complete, or something we make happen. We don’t create Advent; we receive it. Our preparation for Advent isn’t about doing more, it’s about coming to the realization that without God, we really just can’t.

Willimon says that “repentance is an ‘I can’t’ experience.” I can’t handle my sin. I can’t love my enemy. I can’t forgive myself or others. I can’t heal suffering and disease and war. I can’t save myself. He says “repentance is a gift, a grace, not a heroic achievement.”

A baptism of repentance is when we turn to God out of our own weary wilderness and cry out into that we can’t do it, that we need God to step in, to rescue, to do what God alone can do, to shock us with hope.

The readers of Mark’s gospel needed some shocking hope. It was 70 CE and Jerusalem was under siege. They were in the middle of a Jewish revolt on the Romans. Times were dangerous. The price of oil was too high and people were scrounging to get by. The news of the Messiah was 40 years old by then. And so Mark’s gospel starts out with a voice in the wilderness, with a shocking hope.

The message of Advent, the message of Prepare the way for the Lord is good news because it is a shift from I can’t to God can. It is God turning toward us and joining us in flesh and blood. It means love is on the way. It means all is not lost. It means that change is possible. It means that the light will enter the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it. It means God is for us. It means we need to get ready. It means as Willimon says, “ when God turns toward you, and you turn toward God, your life turns around.” Praise be to God.