Sermon by The Rev. Jim Stickney, Dec. 4, 2022

Isaiah 11: 1-10

Psalm 72

Romans 15: 4-13

Matthew 3: 1-12

Prepare the way of the Lord.   [Matthew 3: 3]

By this time all of us have given a great deal of thought to preparing —

where we’re going to be on Christmas, or what we’re going to give.

The central message of John the Baptizer, the Forerunner of the ministry of Christ Jesus, was simply this: Prepare yourself. Get ready! Changes are coming soon.

When I was a boy, I spent some years in the Boy Scouts — and they had a motto,

which was drilled into us as often as humanly possible: Be prepared!

I think that was good advice for a group of high-energy boys moving through

our teenage years — not to get lost in the moment, but to be thinking ahead.

Back then I thought that Scouts were especially responsible for being prepared.

When I entered a building, I looked for the fire exit signs, or made plans

on what to do in case of an earthquake, or making sure to have road flares in the car.

But after a while I realized how simply “being prepared” was solid advice

for anyone who was serious about getting worthwhile goals accomplished.

By itself, there’s nothing especially spiritual to the advice “Be Prepared.”

Our insurance agent has several policies for our household — is that spiritual?

It’s true that the Prayer Book admonishes the pastor to advise people,

“while they are in health,” to make provisions for their heirs and parish family.

Making a will is prudent, but not every will is a spiritual preparation.

Our religious tradition does recall the words of John, the Forerunner of Jesus,

as very spiritual — his challenge for a specific certain kind of preparation.

John’s words carry a negative tone, since he’s confronted by people who think

that they’ve got it made (spiritually speaking). They are already righteous —

they’re already officially chosen by God. Abraham is their ancestor: end of story.

In order to break through such self-absorption, John uses some very harsh words —

Should we take those words to heart? Only if we are “officially righteous” people.

But when admit significant doubts about the state of our spiritual self —

if we are (even painfully) aware of our spiritual shortcomings, then we should take

the consolation offered in the verses of our first reading, from Isaiah,

whereby the Peaceable Kingdom is established by a God who “judges the poor 

Many years ago Joni and I attended a prayer day based on icons at a local church.

We spent silent time gazing at many sacred images from the Orthodox tradition.

During the last part of the day, the leader shared with us the work of preparation

for making an icon, which includes some prayer and even fasting ahead of time.

The iconographer prepares the wooden surface in a painstaking process, and goes on

to prepare the paints one by one, grinding pigment and mixing it with a medium

made from eggs. The icon is to stay in the church for 40 days before its dedication.

I thought of house painting — the really difficult part is not slapping on some paint,

but the tedium of preparation — cleaning, sanding taping, and arranging the tools.

But if the preparation for painting an icon is itself a genuine spiritual work,

then why can’t preparation for house painting also be done in a spiritual way?

So much of our lives involves preparing for one thing or another.

Perhaps we could shift our way of thinking about such preparation and make it a prayer!

I recall a short phrase from a workshop I attended years ago:

So to Prepare the way of the Lord  can include all the work we’re doing

to make sure we are ready to celebrate Christ’s birth. When we feel frantic,

that we are running out of shopping days and shopping funds, just ask:

“Right now, is this thing I’m worried about really preparing the way of the Lord?

Or am I preparing my own perfect holiday picture?”