Grace and peace to you from God, our creator and sustainer, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that abides in each of us.

So are you fully caught up in the hype of Christmas yet?  It is so hard not to be, isn’t it?  Everywhere we go, it’s Christmas!  The stores, the malls, our work places, TV, radio, everywhere we turn, it’s Christmas.  Popular culture has created an image of Christmas that is, from my perspective, not very realistic.  Modern culture tells us that Christmas should be all cozy and warm.  Our homes should be images of serenity, with the perfect decorations and a fire blazing in the fireplace.  When we’re home, we are all dressed up, everyone is happy and smiling, snow is falling outside, and the perfect gifts are beautifully wrapped under the tree.  Our tables should be full of gorgeous food, and we should be ready at a moment’s notice to welcome friends and family.  Even the movies we watch about the real Christmas story, the birth of Jesus, attempt to make the stable look like a cozy place to be born.

So let me ask you something:  Is this the type of Christmas season you are experiencing?  Is your life calm and restful?  Do you have all your decorations up and perfectly placed?  Is life perfect, with no worries, no issues, no struggles in family relationships, no issues with your job?  Have you found all the presents you intend to buy?  Or is your life so packed with stuff to do that sitting down to a meal with your family is a luxury?  Is your life so packed with stuff to do that you are not sure you will be ready to enjoy Christmas Day?  Does this holiday season stir up sadness and loneliness for you because there is a loved one who won’t be with you because they are in the war, or living far away, or worse yet, they have died and you know you will never spend this joyous holiday with them again?  Is your life so full of things to do and people to see that getting a moment of peace and quiet is a luxury you cannot afford today?

I have to tell you last Sunday after worship I did something I do not normally get to do on a Sunday afternoon.  I went home, mixed up a batch of cookies, and spent several hours reading the newspaper and watching the football game.  Dana was still home, and she and Jill went shopping for a little while, so I was able to sit and read (or doze off) and just relax with my lab, Matti.  It was wonderful!  But the thing I really enjoyed after reading through all the news was looking at all the advertisements telling me what I needed for Christmas.  As I read through them, I realized I needed a new big screen HD TV.  And of course, a Blu-Ray DVD player to go with it.  As I was thinking about my new TV, a commercial came on telling me that if I really want to make my wife happy, I must buy her a brand new Lexus for Christmas.  Commercial after commercial filled me with ideas to create the perfect Christmas.  Wow, wouldn’t it be awesome if I could buy all this stuff for Christmas morning?  As I dozed off with all of these thoughts, I began to worry about everything I had to do before Christmas.  We had decorations to put up, several parties to attend, I have many sermons to write, and gifts to buy.  If you are like me, your schedule is packed and you literally have “mountains” of things to do and so little time.

Well, I think the words of the prophet Isaiah that John the Baptist reminded the world of at the River Jordan have never been more important.  In the wilderness, the Word of God came to John.  The message John apparently heard was “Prepare my people for my coming.”  In Scripture, the term wilderness represented an empty place.  When one was in the wilderness, oftentimes it meant God was not present with them.  When one was “down and out,” he/she was “in the wilderness.”  In a world where most believed that God blessed and cursed people because of their actions (sins or good deeds), when one was in the wilderness, it was because God had forsaken them.

 But John was in the wilderness, and the Word of God came to him.  Empowered by God’s Spirit in the midst of the wilderness, John challenged the status quo.  Many flocked to the wilderness because they felt abandoned by God, and there they encountered John, who challenged them to look at their lives and change their ways.  John offered the people a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (3:3).  The term repentance in Greek is the word metanoia, which literally means after reflecting on one’s situation one should change one's mind or thinking, to turn away from their current ways and turn to God.  So what was it that John was calling those in the wilderness to change their minds about?  I think he was saying, Stop thinking you are cursed, stop thinking that if only you could do this or that differently that your life will be better.  John was calling the people to get rid of the “mountains” that they had placed in their lives so that God could enter their lives.  Clear the paths to your heart, John proclaimed, and allow God to speak to you.  You see, John knew God was about to do something new in the world.  God was about to enter the world in a whole new way.  Although John did not know the details, he knew that if the people were going to be able to experience this messiah that was coming they would have to metanoia, change their minds and their ways as to what was important.

As I awoke from my nap last Sunday, I kept hearing the prophet’s words, “In the wilderness.”  You see, in the midst of this wilderness John proclaimed God’s word and promise to the people who had gathered there.  To a people who had lost hope, to a people who had felt God had abandoned them, John reminded them that they belong to a God who is a forgiving God.  John reminded these people that the way to make their lives smooth is to trust God and rely on Him, not the culture and the ways of the world.  The way to make our lives smooth is to get rid of the mountains of stuff in our lives and create a space of wilderness, and to allow God to come to us.

For many in Jesus’ day, and for many of us today, there is a huge problem with this type of teaching, though.  Even in these difficult economic times, life is pretty good and we desire to maintain control of our own lives.  And for us, it is about working harder and doing more.  For many of us, we have so many activities going on in our lives that we leave no room for God.  Who has time to pray?  Who has time to read God’s Word?  Who has time to look around and see the poverty that exists all around us?  For many of us, we have built up so many barriers around us that we have created an obstacle course to our lives that even God cannot get through.  We have put up barriers that prevent us from experiencing Christ in our lives.  But today, we hear John say to us, Don’t do that, don’t rely on your ways, stop creating mountains of things to do and clear the path for Christ to come.  Make the road to your life clear.  Now, you may say, Pastor, that sounds so easy, but I cannot do that.  I have to work hard, I have to have my child in several sports, I have to attend all those parities, and I have so many presents to buy before Christmas.  And to all that I so, No you don’t.  Oh, it won’t be easy, but as we heard from the prophet Malachi in our first lesson this morning, if we allow ourselves to rely on God, he will refine us in his fire like gold and silver.  We’ll talk about that on Wednesday night.

Today we have been challenged by the prophet John to live and think differently.  The promise of Christmas is coming, and it will come, and it will be awesome, even if you do not buy that Lexus.  Clear your mountains and your valleys.  Find a place of wilderness and let God come to you.  As hard as it is to do, repent and hear and feel God’s love and forgiveness.  God is not far away; in fact, He is right here, and he only desires for you to allow time for Him to be part of your life.  Remember, this is the God who found time to come to us as a baby and live among us.  This is the God who has already offered the perfect gift, Himself.  Amen