This sermon was preached on Sunday 10th December 2023 at All Saints Church, Oakham.

Readings: Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

Who here is ready for Christmas? Okay, some of you are. I see a few heads nodding up and down. Cecily and I are not fully ready, but we are making good progress. We got the Christmas trees up last week. And that is correct, I said ‘trees’ – plural. I never thought I would ever be one of those people who had more than one tree, I’d always thought it far too excessive. Well here I am, I’ve joined the club. But I might add that our second tree was from the wonky veg section of Digby Farm, if you catch my festive drift.

And we have been doing well on the present shopping front too. We’ve managed to get loads of stuff planned and organised, and not just for the immediate family, but all the cousins and aunts and uncles are covered too. And I’m from an Indian family, so that is no small feat. Just yesterday I ventured out into the overwhelming jungle metropolis that is Highcross shopping centre. The whole of Leicester was heaving for that matter. But I had the whole Saturday to myself and it felt like I had to take the opportunity to go shopping. I’ve got the double whammy of not only getting Christmas presents without Cecily knowing, but I’ve also got to secretly get her birthday presents as well with her birthday being on the 23^rd December. This was the last Saturday I had before Christmas when I could guarantee that Cecily was going to be out of the house all day so I could get her presents. It felt like a do or die situation, a now or never opportunity to make sure I was prepared for her birthday and for Christmas. 

You wouldn’t think it sounded like preparing for a festival, but more like gathering supplies for the front line. But that’s the reality of Christmas, isn’t it? We go to all of this effort, the trees, the decorations, the secret present shopping (made even more difficult by having a joint bank account), so that we are prepared and ready for Christmas. 

Well, we’re prepared for Christmas, but are we prepared for the Lord? We’re prepared for Christmas but are we prepared for the Lord? You might think, what a daft question, surely you know that all the preparation for Christmas is based on celebrating our Lord Jesus Christ coming to us as a baby 2000 years ago. You’re the priest, after all. Surely being prepared for our Lord is what Christmas is all about. Exactly, this is what Christmas should be all about, yet, I think if we are honest with ourselves, it always feels that we have prepared for everything but the coming of the Lord Jesus. It’s this weird dynamic, something has gone wrong. It’s like when you get an invite to go to a wedding reception but not that actual wedding. There is something that seems backwards to that, like we are not focussing on the main part. Well that is what has happened to a lot of us with Christmas.

On this second Sunday of Advent, our readings focus on John the Baptist, the one who came to prepare the way of the Lord. I think for many of us, this can help serve as the reminder we need in the rush of Christmas. In the busyness of preparing for Christmas, are we preparing the way of the Lord? Are we preparing our hearts in expectation of Jesus to come into our lives? Do we expect Jesus to come and meet with us at Christmas? If the answer is yes, that’s great. But if it’s not, let’s look at how John helps people prepare. 

John was calling people to baptism. To confess their sins and the ways they have turned away from God, and to turn back to him. To begin a new life of following God marked with the waters of baptism. We had our confirmation service here last Sunday and it was so great to have so many people, and young people, choose to turn from sin and follow Jesus. In the confirmation classes in the weeks leading up to it, I would talk a lot about baptism and confirmation. We spent a lot of time looking at how baptism and confirmation are about choosing to turn away from sin and the things that lead us away from God, and to turn to God and keep our eyes fixed on him. In these candidates making this step, they are preparing their hearts and their souls to come before God ready to meet with him as he comes to them.

How many of us are reaffirming our baptisms and confirmations as we approach Christmas? How many of us, when thinking about our Lord Jesus Christ coming to this world for us, are reminded of how we are not worthy of him, or to even untie the thong of his sandals. This humility reminds us of our need for Jesus and prepares our hearts with a desire and a yearning in our souls for Jesus to come. We see that if we carry on in the busyness of Christmas, in the busyness of life, without stopping to prepare our hearts for what we need most, then we are going to miss Jesus knocking at the doors of our lives and fail to let him in. How many of us miss a knock on the door and we are running around the house unable to hear it?

The prophet Isaiah prophesied about the coming of Jesus, and of John as the one who would prepare the way for Jesus. He says that as Jesus comes, ‘the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’^[1] John will say, ‘Here is your God!’ See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.’^[2]

These words in Isaiah take me back to GCSE music when we were looking at Handel’s Messiah as one of our set pieces, specifically ‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.’ We were singing it constantly. If any of you have ever heard Handel’s Messiah, you will know it is this epic tale of Christ, his glory and awesomeness as he came to this earth, died for us, and rose again to new life. Hallelujah! It’s a moving experience that expresses something of the majesty of God. When I first heard the Messiah in full, I came away spellbound and found myself questioning, why do I not feel this same awe of God every day when I know that Jesus is wanting to come into my life? Why do I not expect and yearn for Jesus to come with my whole heart? How is it that at Christmas I can do everything to celebrate Jesus without actually opening the door of my heart for him to come in? This isn’t right. This isn’t being prepared for the Lord. I want to change my heart and be prepared for the Lord this Christmas, this week, this very day. For my heart to scream ‘Hallelujah,’ Christ has come!

Some of you might be feeling the same way as me and want to change your heart to be prepared for the Lord this Christmas, this week, this very day. That’s amazing if you want to take that step today, be it for the first time or the 1000^th time. And how do we prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus? The same way John showed us. Do we turn from sin and turn to Christ? Do we turn from the things of this world that are keeping us away from Jesus, and do we set our eyes on him, to follow him with our whole lives? We use this phrase in Advent saying, ‘may the Lord when he comes find us watching and waiting.’This needs to be the prayer and posture of our hearts. There is nothing wrong with the trees, decorations and celebrations. Jesus loved a party and he loved celebrating. However, if these things become our only focus, we are missing the point of Christmas. We need the prayer of hearts to be ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’ It is then we are prepared for Jesus, and when you open your hearts to Jesus, his glory shall be revealed, and his Holy Spirit shall come upon us. This is what Christmas should be all about. Hearts turned away from sin and turned to Jesus, hearts open to him.

Are you prepared for the Lord? We are here today to prepare our hearts in prayer and worship, and for Jesus to come and meet us today, especially in his gifts of bread and wine. And so I particularly encourage you to use this time and space here today in our service, to come to Jesus, to turn from sin, and to come before him and see his love and glory revealed to you now and in the sharing of his bread and wine.

This is what Christmas should be all about. Hearts turned away from sin and turned to Jesus, hearts open to him. Hallelujah! Prepare the way of the Lord. 

Amen.

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^[1] Isaiah 40:5 [NRSV].

^[2] Isaiah 40:10-11 [NRSV].