Every year about this time, Lutheran pastors all across the land struggle with this theme.  How do you interest people in another Advent sermon about being prepared?  We know the story of John the Baptist quite well, better than most in the Bible.  Born to aged parents, raised to be a strange prophet who spoke his mind, a maverick among people who preferred things to be predictable.  Actually I feel a lot like him in that way.  My parents were old when I was born, and my ministry has been anything but predictable.  But John was prepared for what he had to do.  So how can I encourage you to be prepared for what God has for us in the future?

          It occurred to me that maybe the best way to illustrate this would be to come into the pulpit today totally unprepared.  I'd just take a break from writing anything this week and stand here and talk about whatever came to mind.  I figured after about eight or ten minutes of this, one of you would stand up and say, "Pastor, you didn't prepare!  You should be more prepared, shame on you."  And then you'd get the point about being prepared.

          In this electronic age, messages can get to us instantly.  We are connected virtually to the whole world via the Internet, voice mail, pager, Email, telephone and cell phone.  And of course, there's the rare handwritten letter or the message passed along in person.  Long past are the days when important messages were sent by telegraph or by messenger travelling on horseback or on foot.  Today hand-held global positioning systems can tell us via satellite precisely where we are in the world within a few feet.  We're all part of a complex and far-reaching communication network in a global economy, and we've all become very dependent on it.

          But then I realized this might backfire, that maybe no one would notice, and that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.  Or worse yet, you'd think my pointless rambling was the best I'd preached in months!  So I did prepare yet another sermon on the theme of being prepared for the Lord's coming.  Here it is again, two full sheets of 12 point Helvetica print, the usual 18-20 minute message.  And I am sure you all can tell the difference when I'm prepared and when I'm not.  You can, can't you?

          The prophet Malachi (3:1-4) long ago proclaimed that the Lord would send a messenger to prepare the way for coming Messiah.  The Messiah would separate the good people from the bad, the faithful from the faithless.  He would be a refiner's fire that purifies gold and silver from the slag.  He would be the powerful fuller's soap that cleanses dirt from the wool and brings out its true color.

          John the Baptist is the messenger of God who still calls for people to repent, so that each of us may personally be ready for the Lord.  He was called out by the Holy Spirit to speak God's Word.  John did this in the wilderness, the place people of his day went to get back into touch with God, and thus to make changes in their lives.  Where is our wilderness today?  Is it a place of refuge to meet God or is it a place of trouble?  Each one of us has our own wilderness, sometimes at work, sometimes at home, sometimes inside our personal medical file.  A wilderness is the place where we come face to face with ourselves, and there we also can meet our God.

          Terry Anderson knows all about the wilderness.  He was the journalist held hostage in Lebanon for six and a half years. He had been raised in the Catholic Church, and even though he had not been a practicing Catholic for years, a Bible was given to him during his captivity.  He called it a gift from heaven.  He read it and pondered his life.  He began to create a litany of confession in his mind.  He had made many mistakes.  He confessed that he had hurt his first wife and daughter, resulting in divorce.  He had been an arrogant person.  He wasn't sure that people liked him much, and he wasn't sure he liked himself much.

          Later in the first year of his captivity Anderson became aware that other hostages were living next door.  One happened to be a priest, Father Lawrence Jenco.  He asked his captors if he could see the priest.  "I am a Catholic," he told them.  "I want to make a confession."

          His wish was granted.  Father Jenco came to his room, and they both took off their blindfolds.  Anderson hardly knew where to begin.  It had been 25 years since he had last made confession.  Father Jenco was encouraging, so Anderson began reciting the sins he had been reflecting upon.  There was much to confess - a bad marriage, chasing women, drinking, irresponsible living.  Anderson found it very emotional but cleansing.  When he finished, both he and Father Jenco were in tears.  The priest then laid his hand upon Anderson's head and said, "In the name of a gentle, loving God, you are forgiven."

          Terry Anderson was never the same again.  His faith deepened immensely in his hostage years and continued to grow when he was released.  That moment of confession with Father Jenco was his first formal step out of his wilderness and back to God.  Self reflection had grown within him out of the darkness of being a hostage.  It was time to face the light.  It was time in his life for a turn around.  And he did.

          The message of God about Jesus must change us also.  After seeing ourselves in the mirror of God's Law, we can't remain the same.  We know the message to prepare for Jesus Christ is not about holiday preparations.  We cannot really prepare for the birth of Christ because it has already happened.  We can only prepare for His second coming, and we can do this only by repentance.  Repentance means a change of our heart and life.

          In the early years of the 20th century, many Lutheran churches held communion only four times a year, partly due to Luther's admonition centuries ago that if a man did not receive the sacrament at least four times a year, it was doubtful he was a Christian.  Many churches mistakenly interpreted that to mean communion four times a year was all that was necessary.

          But many old-time Lutherans took this event very seriously.  A pastor friend of mine recalled his elderly Swedish uncle Swen, who upon hearing that Communion was being offered next Sunday, said, "Holy cow, now I gots to change sumting!"

          Though he probably thought that an inconvenience, Uncle Swen had it right.  Instead of making this Advent like all the others, maybe we all "gots to change sumting."  Are there crooked places in our lives that need to be made straight or rough places to be smoothed out?  Do you or I have some bad habits?  Are there broken things in your life that need fixing?  Well, then, what are we going to do about it?

          Yeshua ha Nosari, Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One John prepared us for, came to forgive each one of us and give us all a new start.  Like Terry Anderson, we may find ourselves in a wilderness of sin or in the depths of despair, but Jesus came to free us from all that.  And we know by what He said from the cross, "It is finished." (John 19:30)   All has been done to change us from who we once were to what we now are, from unforgiven to forgiven, from sinners to saints.

          But now we cannot live unchanged lives.  We all "gots to change sumting."  The liturgical color of Advent for centuries has been purple, the unfading color of royalty, but also the color of repentance.  Dear friends, our repentance can't fade away -- it must keep on happening.  Some churches today advocate "giving up" something for Advent, not just for Lent.  I think that's a good idea for any season of the year.

          If you could, what would you change about yourself right now?  Would it be something you are doing, or something you're neglecting to do?  Does it have to do with your private life or your morals?  Does it concern your family or fellow workers?  As Luther asked in his explanation of confession, have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome?  Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds?  Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?

          If you could, what would you change about yourself right now?  Now, what's keeping you from doing it?  Christ died for us.  He rose again and loves us just as we are, but he won't let us stay that way for very long.  May the Holy Spirit take us into the wilderness when we need it.  He even took Jesus there, you know.  And while we're there, may we all get ready, prepared and cleansed for what's to follow.  May we all, "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.