The Second Sunday in Advent, Year C,
December 10, 2000

By
The Rev. Ann M. Smith

Based on the Gospel Reading: Luke 3:1-6

For the most part, the Old Testament stories that we read Sunday by Sunday recount the conflicts and struggles of the people of Israel. Once in a while, they offer bright flashes of divine light, which speak to us in a much deeper way. Such passages bring us to a realization of what is to come. They speak to us through time. They reveal not an exact account of future events, but an unfolding of God's plan for the world. It is such passages that prepare us for the good news of the gospel.

It is no mistake that such passages were often the inspiration for the author of Luke's Gospel. As the events of the life of Jesus unfolded, he saw the events of the Old Testament coming to pass. He recognized the coming of the kingdom. God would visit the planet. God would be revealed through the coming of Christ. He saw the need for people to be prepared for that coming.

It is no mistake that Luke writes to us from that context. The image that Luke presents to us of John the Baptist is as the last of the Old Testament prophets. John lived in solitude in the wilderness. There he had companionship with eternal things. He watched the stars blaze in the darkness. He meditated and prayed. He listened to the voice of God. And there he spoke words of truth, difficult words that cut to the heart of the matter. For his message was a call to repentance and forgiveness. The baptism of John conveyed, not what God was saying, but what God was beginning to do.

To hear such a message required commitment. It required risk. It required travelling into the unknown. Disciples of John could not go to the synagogue in their hometown to hear John preach. They had to go to where he was. They had to travel out into the wilderness where there were no maps, no clear-cut paths to follow. They had to be willing to face their own fears and inadequacies. There could be no apathy or indifference. There had to be a willingness to make changes in their lives that would allow God to work through them. For John's reminder to those who followed him out into the desert was that God was calling them to participate in the preparations.

The image of wilderness resonates in us. We have all experienced wilderness times in our lives – times of loss and confusion, times of sorrow and difficulty, times of chaos and disorder. But we do not choose such times. They happen. They happen communally. This faith community has gone through a wilderness time. You have faced disappointment, confusion and loss. You have faced lack of leadership. Many of you are going through wilderness times in your personal lives – times of despair, emptiness, loneliness, fear, insecurity.

When we come into such wilderness times in our lives we want, above all, someone to help us find our way. We want someone to straighten the road, to level the hills and make the way forward clear to us. We want a Saviour. The message of John is clearly that it begins with us. We are part of the process. God is calling us to be part of the way forward.

That is not something most of us want to here. Nor do we want to hear that the process begins with change. There are mountains and hills in our lives that need to be torn down. There are obstacles that keep us from living intentionally, which keep us from truly serving God. Like those who followed John into the wilderness, we begin by asking for forgiveness, by recognizing what separates us from the love of God, and by recognizing what keeps us from reaching out to others.

It is something that we need to do as a community. This congregation if it is to move forward needs to face the disappointment of the past, not with regret, but with a sense that God can help us to redeem it. What is God calling us to? We live in a growing and thriving community; but it is not a community that is growing spiritually. We are meant to be a strong spirit-filled presence in Meadowvale. We are meant to be a caring community, open and inviting to those who seek Christ. We are meant to bear the image of Christ to the world.

It is something that we need to do in our personal lives. Advent is a time to look inward, to examine our lives and to prepare ourselves carefully for Christ to be born in us. We must reflect on our lives and consider the changes that need to be made for us to open our hearts. It begins with repentance, with honestly examining our lives and doing something about the things that keep us from God. Change is a call and a challenge to grow. To live is to change and to grow is to change a great deal. It requires that we have a prayer life, that we read and study the scriptures, that we participate in the life of the church, and that we carry with us the Christ we serve.

The most important thing that any of us can discover on our spiritual journey is that we are called, not simply to do, but to be – to be what God intends us to be, to be real people living in a real world. And for most of us that is not a call to anything extraordinary. It is a call to live our lives intentionally and to share the love we have for Christ with those who need to hear the message of love. That is a big thing for an Anglican. We have a sense that the faith is something personal. We tend to keep it to ourselves. We are reticent about openly expressing the love that we have for God. If this community is to grow and thrive then that is another change that needs to happen in our lives.

To be what we are meant to be as a church means that we must be affirming of one another's gifts and talents. It is not enough for a few people to bear the responsibility for the whole community. There are talents in this congregation that are going untapped. Who is being called to a leadership role? Who is being called to a ministry of service and outreach? Who is being called to a ministry of teaching in our Sunday School? Who is being called to a ministry of hospitality, or encouragement, or discernment? The list could go on.

Advent is a time to go out willingly into the wilderness. It is a time to walk into our hearts. It is a time to notice what changes need to take place in our lives. It is a time for us to be part of the process of healing so that Christ can be born, not only in our lives, but also in the lives of those around us. Christ will carry out his mission through us as long as we permit him to fill the emptiness, tear down the obstacles, straighten the crooked paths, and reach out to touch others through us.

Sermons are updated weekly on Saturday morning.