The LCA provides this sermon edited for lay-reading, with thanks to the original author.
Advent 2B
Mark 1:1-8
Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may be prepared for the coming of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
So, what goes on in your household when you’re preparing for a guest?
Let me guess some of the questions you ask yourself in preparation: What are you going to feed them? What do they eat? What don’t they eat? How are you going to fit them around the table? What drinks do they like?
Also, let me guess the usual panic of preparation – for example, there’s probably floors to sweep, vacuum, mop and polish; you’ll probably have to dust every piece of furniture and all the dust collecting trinkets on the shelves; you’ll have to find places for all the stuff that normally gathers on top of kitchen benches that doesn’t belong there anyway; you’ll have to make sure bedrooms are tidy (and you usually start with your children’s bedrooms because they’re the most likely to offend); toilets and bathrooms need to be sparkling and smelling fresh; and so on.
Of course the outside may also need some work to make a right impression: lawns need to be mowed; weeds need to be pulled out; bushes need to be pruned; sheds need to be cleaned up – or at least this might be used as an excuse for husbands to get out of the way of all this panic!
Now this might not happen every time a guest comes, since it depends on the type of guest: the more important the guest, the greater the panic and preparation. For example, if a mate’s coming around, then you might just clear a space for him to sit down on, but if a king or a queen were to visit, then there’s a whirlwind of activity to make sure everything’s not just right, but perfect!
Now I’m not criticising such preparations, because sometimes things need to be a little cleaner or tidier anyway, but have you ever considered how many of your preparations are about deception? Let me explain.
Why do you normally busy yourself and clean things up for a guest? If you really think about it, it’s because you want to portray a certain image. Just think how quickly things change when the guest arrives. Instead of yelling, swearing, fighting, panicking and frantic behaviour, you now try to portray calmness, kindness, gentleness, self-control and love.
You don’t want them to think you normally live in a pigsty. You don’t want them to know you normally swear and yell. You want to hide parts of yourself or parts of your family that embarrass you or frustrate you.
You’d rather like them to think you’re normally sweet and gentle and patient. You’d like them to think you’re normally neat and tidy and in control.
It’s like you put on a mask. On the surface everything’s ok, but underneath things aren’t ok. There’s a name for people who put on masks; they’re called hypocrites. No-one likes to be called a hypocrite, yet everyone puts on masks.
If this is the way you normally prepare for a guest to come, that is by putting on a mask, is this the way you also prepare for Christ to come?
Well, think about your Christmas preparations. Don’t you want everything to go right for a change? Don’t you want to find the perfect present that’ll be appreciated? Don’t you want the meal to be ready on time without any of it being burnt or dried out, and for everyone to get along without fighting and arguments, at least for a few hours? Don’t you want to pretend everything’s right and perfect just for one day? Don’t you want to cover the whole world, or at least your family, with ‘peace on earth and goodwill to all’ – even though you know reality is nothing like this?
Also, how did you prepare to come to worship today? Now I’m not talking about what clothes you’re wearing or your makeup or how you did your hair; I’m talking about your masks.
Are you putting on a brave front when inside your heart is broken with grief? Are you projecting an image of control when your life seems chaotically out of control? Are you trying to project yourself as a person with strong faith, but inside you’re riddled with doubts and questions? Are you trying to be happy, peaceful and nice for an hour when you really want to scream at someone?
Strangely, despite our best efforts, many people can see through our masks. People don’t want to come to a church full of fake people with a fake faith. They want to meet real people with a real faith; people who don’t pretend or put on a show.
Now I’d like you to think of a different type of guest coming to visit. This guest knows you intimately. This guest has already seen you at your worst of times. This guest has already seen behind your masks and seen your pain, your grief, your frustrations, your anger, your shame, your guilt and your inadequacies. Yet despite seeing all of this, this guest still wants to come and visit.
How might you prepare for such a guest? Sure, you might still want to clean up a little, but you know this person will see past any masks you try to put on. In this case a better preparation is to be honest and open.
You’ll prepare to bare your soul. Although you’re still afraid to lower your barriers or protection, and to lower your masks because you’re ashamed of yourself and who you truly are, you know this person won’t put you down. Sure, this person will be honest back to you, but you welcome this. No masks. No hiding. No pretending: just open and honest reality between friends. A real, loving relationship!
When John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Lord, pointing to the coming Christ like a sign post, what type of preparation do you think he was referring to? Was it the preparation of deception and putting on masks, or was it the preparation of honesty and truth?
Well, how did the people react? They confessed their sins! Now this isn’t the false confession just to put on an act of piety or a dull mumbling of some words on a page or a screen, but an open and honest admission of guilt and shame. They admitted their ways were crooked and false. They admitted they were going the wrong way.
They repented of their sins, that is, they literally turned around. This is what repenting really means – it means turning direction, physically. If you’ve been going the wrong way toward danger and deception, to repent means to turn back toward safety and truth.
The way to prepare for the coming Christ is to let the masks fall away. The best way to prepare for Christ to come is to be honest with him and with yourself.
This is why we normally confess our sins near the beginning of our worship service. This isn’t just a tired old tradition just to make you feel bad, or even to feel good because you like putting on a good show of piety. Instead, you’re given the opportunity to let those deceptive masks drop and to be open and honest to Jesus Christ, asking him for forgiveness and help.
Also, remember what St John says in his first letter. He said: ‘If we say “we have no sin”, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (This sounds a lot like masks and pretending to me! Then he goes on to say…) If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:8-9 HCSB).
In a sense you’re given the opportunity to make a New Year’s resolution every week as you admit you’re living the wrong way; living with lies, deception and pretending masks; but with God’s help you can drop all these things, turn around and live his way of truthfulness and love.
Christ’s response to your honesty isn’t condemnation and ridicule, but forgiveness. He says, ‘Yes, you’ve hurt me and you’ve hurt others. Yes, you’ve been dishonest. Yes, you’re full of the sickness of sin. Yes, you deserve punishment. And yes, I forgive you. You can start again. I’ll even send you the Holy Spirit to help you live my ways of truth and love, but even if you fail – and you will, time and time again – remember, I’m always here to forgive you again’.
With those words of forgiveness it’s like those cleansing waters of baptism washing over you again, making you clean; making you holy. You don’t have to be baptised again and again. Once is enough, but since your old nature of lies and deception keep bubbling to the surface, you need to openly and honestly return to those same waters of baptism, confessing your sin and receiving Christ’s forgiveness again and again.
So it’s here in our wilderness of chaos, heartache, frustration, busyness, bitterness, despair and fear, Jesus comes. The best way to prepare isn’t by hiding or putting on a mask of deception, but by opening up honestly and truthfully.
It’s like saying to Jesus: ‘This is who I am – warts and all. I can’t promise to love you with all my heart, soul, mind and strength because I’m naturally selfish and self-seeking. I can’t promise to love my neighbour as myself because I often want things to go my way or no way at all. Even if I try to control my hurtful and selfish ways and make my own crooked ways straight, I often fail because my own nature seems against me and against doing things your way. In reality I’m no better than a dirty rag and I’m not worthy to lick the mud off your boots, but here I am. Love me or leave me.’
To this honesty you’re surprised to hear Jesus say to you, ‘I do love you, warts and all, but this doesn’t mean I want you to stay that way. I have forgiven you. I know you’re not able to live my way by your own power, so I’m sending you a helper – the Holy Spirit to guide you. Try not to hide from him too, but let him move you to action. Come and live as my dearly loved child in my kingdom.’
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus Christ is coming and God himself is hard at work by his Holy Spirit getting you ready to meet him.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.