Are You Ready For Christmas?

December 23, 2001 (Fourth Sunday of Advent)

  by The Rev. Linda Yeager, Deacon

- Isaiah 7:10-17
- Psalm 24
- Romans 1:1-7
- Matthew 1:18-25

(From The Lectionary Page)

“Are you ready for Christmas?” I have already been asked that question several times this year, and I suspect that you have, too. I guess that this common phrase means, are the cards mailed, the presents purchased, the packages wrapped, the cookies baked, the house cleaned, the outdoor Christmas lights placed strategically on the roof, the tree decorated, and the grocer
ies secured? Well, there is certainly a lot to do to prepare for Christmas, isn’t there? The scripture readings appointed for the Advent season also have a theme of preparation, of readying ourselves. Even the opening collect for today suggests a sense of readiness: “Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself . . .”

In the beautiful words of the psalmist, we also hear of readiness: “Those who have clean hands and a pure heart . . . shall receive a blessing from the Lord . . . “

And, in the Gospel, is the story of Joseph. The emphasis today is not on Jesus’ mother, who was prepared for the birth of our savior by Gabriel’s visit. She responded with the beautiful words of the Magnificat: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.” Yes, we know that Mary was prepared.

But what about Joseph? Joseph found that his betrothed was pregnant and that he was not the baby’s father. Since he was a sensitive man, he planned “to dismiss her quietly.” Joseph was also a man of faith, open to the spirit. In a dream, an angel appeared to him and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Joseph heard the message and responded. He accepted Mary as his wife. I wonder how difficult this was for Joseph. How did his family react? What did his friends say when they learned that Mary was pregnant? And why was Joseph so receptive? I believe that he was prepared, that he was ready to respond. The Gospel calls Joseph a “righteous” man.. He was faithful to God and open to hear a message from Him. Because Joseph was a man who trusted God, he was prepared, in time of crisis, to rely on God to be faithful, to allow God to be in his life in a real and complete way.

I had an experience last weekend that I would like to share with you. It was one of those times when you come to a kind of “aha” moment. I have a friend, who, with another woman, has owned and operated an orchard in north central Missouri. These two women have done a remarkable job of growing the trees, pruning them, harvesting the apples and selling them around the state. The burden of operating such a physically exhausting business, however, became too great, so they recently sold the orchard and decided to relocate in Savannah, Georgia. They were ready to leave for Savannah last Sunday, so I invited my friend to drive down for lunch on Saturday. Well, I worked pretty hard in preparation for her visit. I did, indeed, clean the house, pick up all the clutter, plan the menu, shop for groceries, and fix all the do-ahead items for the meal. I got out the good dishes and polished the good flatware. I even set the dining room table with my Christmas place mats and real cloth napkins. Nothing was too flawless for this visit, for I knew that I might never see my friend again. I had enjoyed preparing carefully in anticipation of a special time together.

In my efforts to make my house clutter-free, I came across a few items in the kitchen that really had no place to go to be out of the way. For example, I had made some chocolate candy items for gifts that I had stored in a large plastic container. I also had made some rolls that I had in another plastic container. I decided to stash them in the oven. But I forgot one tiny detail. I had to bake the quiche that I had prepared for lunch in the oven. Shortly before my guest was to arrive--precisely ten minutes before she was scheduled to arrive, I decided to preheat the oven--to 400 degrees--for the quiche.

If you are already ahead of me in this story, you know what happened. I forgot to take the plastic containers out of the oven. After a while, I began to smell an aroma that reminded me a bit of burning tires. Next, I noticed smoke pouring out of the oven. Oh, no!

Oh, yes! I threw open the oven door to find melted plastic amid melted chocolate and a small fire building steadily on the floor of the oven. Billows of smoke escaped from the oven and spread like dirty fog through the house. When I tell you that I had made some chocolate candy, please remember that I had used four large bags of chocolate bark. It was a gooey, smelly sight. It was one of those messes that you don’t think can ever be cleaned up. First, I ran and got some baking soda which I poured into the oven; I wasn’t sure what to do to put out a fire, but I had heard somewhere that you can smother a fire with baking soda. The fire, indeed, did burn down. Now I had baking soda mixed into the plastic-chocolate combination which was rolling out of the oven onto my kitchen floor.

Did I panic, you ask. Did I curse, you wonder. Did I cry, you suggest. Well, actually I didn’t do any of those things. I did look at the hopeless, messy muddle and began figuring out where would be the best place to start the clean-up operation. I remembered that my friend would be arriving any minute. Then is when I had the aha moment. As I thought of her, I began to calm down. I realized that she was coming to see me, not my house, not the exterior of my life. And I also knew that she would be willing to jump in and help me clean up my mess. She would understand my dilemma and, with her aid, I would ultimately get out of this chaos. And, with her help, that’s exactly what happened. Together, we were able to clean up the mess.

Well, what did I learn from this experience and what does it have to do with being ready for the arrival of God’s son and with being ready for God’s coming again? Here are my thoughts about this: first, preparation is vital in getting ready for a special guest; second, the joy in the work of preparation comes when we are truly anxious for the special guest to arrive; three, a special guest loves us even when we are in a mess; four, a special guest is willing to be in the messes of our lives with us; and, five--a bonus--the outer appearance of our lives is not as important as the inner “mansion.”

So, you see, Joseph had already prepared the mansion within himself that was ready to welcome trust and love, with God’s help. We, too, through prayer, study, worship, acceptance of God’s love and adherence to God’s holy word can prepare ourselves. Henri Nouwen, whom I am fond of quoting, said, “When we have the Lord to look forward to, we can already experience him in the waiting.”

Christmas is almost here; the last Advent candle has been lit; we have seen the signs and heard the prophecies; God’s overwhelming love for us is about to be born in the stable in Bethlehem. And He will be “God with us” forever, in both good times and bad. We must prepare for His birth, and we must be ready for His coming again. When we allow ourselves to open our hearts to the great miracle of God’s love for us, when we listen to God’s holy words and live those words every day, when we wait in humble expectation for the day we will be reunited with Him, we are preparing for the arrival of our special guest. And we can experience Him in the waiting. May this Christmas find us prepared to welcome our most special guest.