When I got out of seminary, I thought I was fully ready for ministry, my head was filled with book learning, I had these (what I thought were) great ideas, and a real desire to help people and claim the kingdom of God here on Earth. What I quickly found out and still quickly forget, that the world is infinitely more complicated, and to fully engage in ministry, or family, or anything in life really. We cannot succeed in anything, unless we are very lucky, unless we bring our whole selves and give ourselves fully to what we are working on, striving for, dreaming of...
In Isaiah, when the prophet calls out, "In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord..." Isaiah is calling the exiles and refugees back to Jerusalem promising that God is preparing a smooth road so that it will be an easy and safe journey. The gospel writer of Luke changes where the comma is and says that the voice is in the wilderness, calling prepare the way of the Lord..." meaning that John the Baptist is out there getting people ready. And they both are right, God is working to so that the way to the Kingdom is easy and good. And we do not get to the kingdom by sitting on our Lazy-Boy and just waiting for God to do the work, but we have to do our part, we be awake, be woke, get ready, and move when the Spirit says move.
The season of Advent is the season of waiting, of anticipation, and of preparation. Generally, it is the decorating, the baking, the shopping, and figuring out travel plans and parties, so we can celebrate Christmas with our families and friends. But we, as Christians, are also preparing not just for the Babe of Bethlehem, but for the kindom, justice, and above all, shalom, the harmony of all things. This requires more than just singing Christmas carols and being a little nicer to those we would rather ignore. For if our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our bodies are filled with love, with Christ, with the Spirit, how we can expect the world to be?
So our faith is more than just having love in our heart, or agreeing with a certain scripture or creed, or keeping our bodies clean, or being so heavenly minded we are of no earthly good. It asks us to be fully, holy human. If we carry our hearts full of hurts and rage, then how can we share the love of Christ. We must strive to love everyone, not just the family we like, not just the friends who pay attention to us, and not just the world leaders and popular people we agree with, but everyone. This takes a lot of effort and time and serious commitment.
Paul tells us not to be conformed to the world, but the transform our minds. Jesus tells Peter, you have your mind on worldly things, not heavenly things. We are to learn about the world, about God, about how to raise our game when striving for justice and healing the world. We need to be wise, not just have good intentions. To fully love with our minds is part of our life as a church.
To love God with our bodies, means that we have to have healthy bodies, not just staying away from drinking and drugs and such, but to have enough sleep, energy, and ability to help our neighbor. To treat our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit, as good creations of God, beautiful and loved.
And our soul, that part that is the spark of life, the breath of God, fully us and full eternal. The part of us that knows whatever is happening in our lives and the world, we are connected to God, to our brothers and sisters, and the to the universe itself.
We strive not for perfection in all these areas, but for health, maturity, and a fullness. When we are filled with love, then it is so much easier for those around us to be filled and healed by love. Then we need two other things, we need a balance of our lives, our families, and our faith and keeping all these parts in harmony, not a rigid structure but routines that allow us explore each side of ourselves. And besides the balance, we need a community. Could be this church, our family, a group that meets for breakfast , that knows us, holds us up, and calls us out when we need it.
What is missing in your life? What is missing in our church? What do we need to work on, to heal, to strengthen, to pay attention to, to prepare? Prepare the way! Prepare the way and trust that God is preparing the way with us, for us, and among us.
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