Loving God, you call us to clear away all obstacles and to look and to see your salvation in Jesus Christ.  Renew our hearts and our minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that we might turn to you and live; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    The preaching of John the Baptist always seems to stand in stark contrast to the season that seems to be taking shape all around us.  We are surrounded by lights and noise and the push to go shopping.  Many of our homes seem to become more cluttered rather than less cluttered, as we add Christmas trees and presents and decorations to the mix.  Our calendars fill up with extra dinners and concerts and parties and special events, even as our stomachs fill up with extra food and drink.  And along comes John, son of Zechariah, who hangs out in the wilderness and urges people to repent and be baptized and prepare the way of the Lord.

    Let’s consider for just a moment why John’s preaching took place in the wilderness and why, at times, God calls us into the wilderness too.  Take a moment and picture yourself in some sort of wilderness setting.  You might be in the woods, or out in a field, or in the desert, or out on a lake, or even in the mountains.  Imagine that you are there without all of the distractions that would normally occupy your time and energy.  You also have no TV, no phone, no iPod, no computer, no radio, and no motorized vehicle.  Are you likely to be more aware of God’s presence in this setting or less aware of God?

    I suspect that most people would be both more aware of God and more open to God in a wilderness setting.  At the same time, perhaps the same could be said for those who find themselves in the midst of a more metaphorical journey through the wilderness.  While many of us may not spend much time physically out in the wilderness, most people go through difficult times in their lives when they sure feel like they’re out there.

    A wilderness time can happen after the loss of a loved one, or after other losses, like the loss of a job or a home.  A wilderness time can happen when we face illness and can’t do all of the things that we normally would like to do.  A wilderness time can happen when we suddenly have far less to live on than we did before, and we can’t just go out there and buy everything we want.  These are times that tend to send us looking for God’s help, and perhaps make us aware of our own mortality and the shortness of our time on this earth.

    Additionally, though, it would seem that wilderness times help us to see which things are really important.  If you are literally out in the wilderness and have to struggle to find food and water and shelter, you come to appreciate having food and water and shelter.  If you spend time out of commission due to illness, you learn to appreciate having your health.  And sometimes it is only through the loss of important people in our lives that we learn to appreciate the people who mean the most to us.  Sometimes we seem to need those wilderness times to teach us what is really important and what is not.

    Believe it or not, all of these things make the wilderness the perfect place to talk about repentance.  You see, repentance quite literally means “to reconsider,” and it involves a profound change of mind and heart.  When somebody suddenly realizes what is actually most important in life and makes changes because of that realization, that is repentance.  When somebody realizes all the things in their life that were keeping them separated from God and gets rid of those things as a result, that is repentance.  When somebody stops living only for themselves and begins to live in love for God and for others instead, that is repentance.

    John’s message was “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Lk. 3:3).  John called the people to get ready to meet their God.  They were to put behind them anything that would get in the way, especially the sinfulness that keeps people focussed only on themselves.  They were to come and be baptized – cleansing themselves from sin and receiving God’s forgiveness.  They were to come and get ready to see the salvation of God.

    It is interesting to note that the preparations mentioned in today’s gospel have to do with removing the obstacles to people’s sight.  One of the things about being on the prairies is that you get used to being able to see for miles all around.  However, in a landscape that is full of hills and valleys – as it is in Palestine – the ability to see for any distance is greatly reduced.  It is the flattening of the mountains and hills and the raising up of the valleys that will enable “all flesh” to see the salvation of God (Lk. 3:5-6).

    This causes me to wonder what the obstacles are that prevent us from seeing God’s salvation.  I have to think that, at least for some people, it might be mountains and mountains of “stuff.”  A literal and tragic example of this is the man who recently died in a house fire because the firefighters couldn’t get through the mountains of stuff in order to get into the house.  Things were piled from floor to ceiling in every room and blocking doors and windows.  For this man, all of those material things were, quite literally, an impediment to life.

    For others, the stuff might not be piled quite so high, but how many people spend an enormous amount of time and energy simply acquiring and sorting and storing and looking after and repairing material things?  It’s fairly easy to end up with your vision obscured, unable to see God’s salvation, and unable to see that God’s concern is people and not things.

    Perhaps the same could be said for the amount of time that many people spend staring at a TV or a computer or playing video games or simply being distracted.  How much of this is drawing us away from God and from life in all its fulness, numbing our senses and obscuring our vision of what is really important?  Of course, I was staring at a computer screen when I wrote this, so I’m not saying that we need to avoid all of these things.  I’m simply asking if we’re spending our time on the things that are truly life-giving and that lead us into God’s salvation.

    Today we are being invited to clear away any obstacles that keep us from seeing and experiencing God’s salvation.  Perhaps our vision is being obscured by mountains of stuff or by trivial pursuits.  Perhaps our own sinfulness and self-centeredness is getting in the way.  Perhaps we are choosing to focus our attention on problems and complaints and what is lacking rather than looking up and seeing the God who loves us and who saves us and who has the power to change our hearts and our minds and our lives.

    Our God wants to renew and to change our hearts and our minds.  Our God wants us to see the love that it took for Jesus to come and live among us and suffer and die with us and for us.  Our God wants us to see the light in the darkness and wants to lead us into the way of peace – the way of shalom – the way of salvation (Lk. 1:79).  Our God wants us to turn to him and live – life in all its fulness through Jesus Christ.

    These are the things that God wants for us this season, even if it means dragging us out into the wilderness to be able to see.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Advent 2 (C)                                    Luke 3:1-6
December 6, 2009                                Luke 1:68-79
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2009 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved