The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany

Third Sunday of Advent–C–2009

Glory to God whose power working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; Glory to Him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.

I've often thought about this question: What causes a person to change–change radically and go in a different direction? What causes a person to have a profound change of heart and mind? You know, we humans are not prone to do that. St. Paul's change is a prime example of what is meant by the word "repentance." Repentance means radical change of mind, heart, soul, a change in the direction of one's life, and the purpose of one's life. If you read the whole letter of Paul's that he wrote to the Philippians–and I suggest that you do so–you will hear in his words to this church, the passionate change of heart and mind, one that changed the whole direction of his life. But again, how did that occur? That kind of change is remarkable! It happened because he had an encounter with the love, compassion and goodness of Jesus. Nothing else would have resulted in the kind of change that occurred in Paul's life. In the lesson in Luke's Gospel that we heard read today, we hear Isaiah's words repeated, "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

What do those words mean? How do we even think about doing that? Are they just meaningless words, ones we hear every year in Advent? Do they mean that we have to straighten up and get our act together? Do they sound a bit threatening? Do they mean that, like Paul we need to repent, to change our ways? I think what it means for us is that we are called to prepare ourselves for an encounter with God. We are called to prepare for this encounter that very possibly could feel like it did for Paul, a purging fire, that left him incapacitated for three days. Fire under control has a purifying effect. For instance, fire is used to remove elements of impurity from molten metal. The fire of the Holy Spirit is understood in a similar way. It is used to cleanse and purify imperfections in our lives. Still, many people fear fire. We, especially in areas of the country like ours, spend much time protecting ourselves from the dangers of fire. Smoke detectors are in each and every house to warn us of its impending danger. Early Christians viewed fire as a sign of great power, and they used it as a tool in their lives. But like us, in the twenty-first century, they feared fire that was out of control. An encounter with the Almighty God can very definitely feel like a power out of control. And indeed it is out of our control. That's what is so uncomfortable for us, and that is what we are to prepare for, this encounter that we cannot control. When one reads the letters of Paul, particularly this letter, one receives the distinct impression that something of great Power happened to him, and took hold and control of his life.

But what is this uncontrollable and powerful encounter–this purging fire–like? What are we to expect. Well for one thing, what we should expect is the unexpected! But another thing I feel sure we can expect is an experience of love and compassion that goes beyond anything we can possibly imagine. But know, the love, compassion and mercy of God is amazingly powerful! The power of it is utterly transforming! I recently had a family member who is doing deep psychological group work tell me of an encounter with the leader of that group. I was told this leader expressed such immense compassion that it was actually hard to bear. We have to be prepared to accept and stand in the immense and overwhelming power of that kind of compassion and love, because there is something about it that sees all, and it purges one in a way that utterly changes one's very being. The question is, do we want that? "In the desert, prepare the way of the Lord." There is a desert in every life; it is the place where God is left out. Anywhere that God is not is a desert! Will we allow God to come into those places?

When I was doing Pastoral Counseling I had a person come to me and reveal some very destructive things he had done and was planning to continue to do, which was going to result in further harm to himself and to other members of his family. My response to him was to urge him to change his mind, to not go ahead with these intentional plans. That is, make a different decision. His response was that I was being judgmental. But when you see a person about to drive right off a cliff, what kind of person, counselor, or priest would not try to stop that person? This man certainly feared the disaster that his decision and actions were going to bring, but still justified them and refused to change course. He claimed that what he was doing and going to do was the will of God, that he was being a loving person. But the truth of the matter was, he was being utterly self-centered, and he did not want God in certain areas of his life. He wanted complete control in certain areas and decisions of his life. This man did not ask the question, that those who went out to see John the Baptist asked, "What should we do?" In the liturgy of Morning Prayer, one of the opening statements for the season of Advent is: "Watch for you do not know when the Master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep."

Statements like these can have an ominous ring to them. They can sound ominous in the same way as when John the Baptist said: "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." Wow! That doesn't sound all that compassionate, merciful, or loving! But if we really understood what God wants to give us, the kind of life God desires for us, how God sees us when the chaff is gone, we would welcome this. We would want it above all else. We would absolutely rejoice as Paul rejoiced. We remain asleep when we leave God out of any portion of our lives. This man I was telling you about preferred to do what he wanted to do, to remain asleep in a nightmare. He preferred to remain in illusion.

If he only knew what a blessing it would be–and hopefully will be–to have God purge those destructive things in his life–to burn them like chaff–to free him from the pain he is causing himself and other members of his family! To prepare the way of the Lord is to desire this kind of encounter and relationship with God and to be receptive to it. I think Paul actually did desire it. He thought he was acting for God by persecuting the followers of Jesus. He was just wrong! We all can be, and probably are wrong in many of our ways of perceiving reality, our thinking, and our behavior. Being wrong isn't so much of the problem! How can it be? We are all of us imperfect human beings, and only God knows all that we don't understand. The real problem, however, is self-righteousness! Because self-righteous people absolutely refuse to acknowledge they could be wrong, and they refuse to ever change their minds, even to the point of letting God in to those areas they are so sure about.

That is why Jesus gravitated to, and associated with, those who were the least able to cover their imperfections and faults. And how did these people experience Jesus? They experienced him as merciful. This was the "good news" John the Baptist was promising. He was promising the coming of mercy and forgiveness. John's news was "good" for those least able to cover their wrongness. Fr. Richard Rohr said: The glory of the anawim (Hebrew for "the poor of Yahweh") is their salvation by God alone. The anawim, the little ones, know they cannot do it or do it alone. They rely on others. Their greatest blessing is not what they have accomplished but what God has done for them. I think the "wrath to come" that John the Baptist spoke about is the natural consequences of those decisions we make that create deserts in our lives, and where we refuse to let in the "spring of living water."

The preparation that we are called upon to make in Advent is to be filled with desire and expectation for an encounter with the Messiah. Advent is a time to truthfully question in our hearts if we really want such an encounter. "Prepare the way of the Lord" by desiring to have the kind of encounter with the living God that leaves us utterly changed, desiring only to have what God desires for us. This is the "Good News" that John was proclaiming. It is this Good News that made Paul able to say with absolute conviction:

"Rejoice in the Lord; again I say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.