Advent 2C (Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:3-11; Canticle 4 or 16; Luke 3:1-6)

I should’ve asked this question two weeks ago, but how was your Thanksgiving preparation this year? Busy as usual or easy as take-out? Whenever something eventful comes up, we need some time to prepare ourselves. Prep time is usually not fun. It can be time consuming. It usually takes up more time to prepare than to celebrate whatever it is. For example, let’s think about weddings. Weddings itself, the ceremony and reception would be quite enjoyable, but to get to that point, to make it all happen, it requires time, money, and support from people. Lots of prep time for that life changing event! What this tells us is that prep time is as important as an actual event. 

As we understand, Advent is the season of preparation with genuine desire to change and deep longing and anticipation for the coming of God in Jesus of Nazareth. In today’s gospel lesson, we hear the voice of Saint John the Baptizer out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Then what does it really mean for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus? How do we actually do that? I believe it is a bit easier when we say we prepare ourselves for Lent. We are quite used to the conversation of what to give up, what to abstain from. But for Advent, we are not encouraged to give up on anything at least in our Western Christian tradition. It isn’t so clear even though the nature of preparing our hearts for Jesus’s coming in the mystery of the incarnation and of the resurrection isn’t too different. It’s penitential and redemptive, sorrowful and joyful. So what does it mean for us to prepare in this season of Advent? 

If we listen carefully to Saint John the Baptizer this morning, we can get some idea of what it is to prepare for Advent. First, he shouts, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” What we’re preparing for is the way. It’s the way through God’s own creature, Blessed Mary’s womb with her consent, that God walks into this world and into the deepest of our hearts. For us personally, the way that we prepare is the path Jesus walks into our hearts. So, Saint John continues, “make his paths straight.” Making his paths straight does sound like getting our acts together or like clearing all the obstacles near fire exit doors. So this can very much sound like “Fix your behavior. Get yourself together. Do better. Make sure you’re good.” But I am not so sure if this is a theologically correct way of preparing the way and making the path straight. It’s almost like we have to do more than Jesus does when his coming is really about setting us free, bringing salvation to everyone on earth here and now as well as all who died. This prep work is almost like our attempt to save ourselves on our own. I wonder if we are taking away what Jesus is supposed to do for us that we don’t really need him. 

Let’s listen to what Saint John has to say next to find how and what we need to prepare. He depicts what happens when Jesus walks into the world, into our lives. “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” This is the vision Saint John tells us upon the coming of God in Jesus of Nazareth. What is scarce will be made abundant. What is too high to reach from below will be made low. What is crooked will be made straight. What is rough will be made smooth. This is what God’s salvation in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection looks like. This is what happens when Jesus enters the way we prepare. 

Then, it seems quite clear to figure out how we prepare ourselves for Advent. Our job, during this prep time, isn’t so much about filling every valley, lowering every mountain and hill, straightening what’s crooked, or smoothing out what’s rough. Our way of preparing ourselves for Advent is to see where that scarce valley is, which mountain and hill is too high, what is crooked, and what is rough. Face what is scarce, what is high, what is crooked, and what is rough rather than avoiding them naively. What are they? We can talk about this in two ways. One external, and the other internal. 

First, we can look for all absences of God’s grace and love in our American society. We look outside. If we talk about what is scarce, we can tackle inequality and inequity of wealth and basic human benefits among people. If we think about what is crooked, we can discuss corruptions in our politics. If we imagine what is rough, we see how this roughness hurts immigrants and undocumented in our country. And wherever Jesus is present, however, what is scarce, high, or crooked will be transformed. This transformation is always at work through the Holy Spirit, in which we participate. 

The other way to see what’s absent of God’s grace and love starts within us. We look deep inside our hearts to recognize what’s scarce, high, crooked, and rough. Seeing them first with our eyes, with our own conscience is the way to prepare the way of the Lord. It’s not so much about cleaning up or getting our acts together, which is crucial, but this comes only after we know to clean. The essence of the preparation for Jesus’ coming is about seeing and acknowledging obstacles that are getting in the way of Jesus in our hearts. Where in your valley of the heart is so scarce that you feel so dry and empty? Is your valley like a desert? When was the last time you felt so moved and touched by the Holy Spirit? Any tears of repentance and gratitude? How high is your mountain? How tall is your hill? What mountain and hill are you building up so high that you can hide from yourself, others, and God? When is it built? How crooked is your perspective on others and your own perception of yourself? Are you being kind to yourself and others, or rough like sandpaper, hurting and attacking yourself and others? Do you see hostility, indifference, apathy, or shame in your heart? 

Seeing what they are and owning them is the very first step to prepare ourselves during this Advent season. We tend to “do things first” to prepare. If we want to cook something, we first need to know what we have. Do we have enough butter, enough salt, enough sugar, and lots of chocolate to bake something!? See what we have. See what they are. The second step would be to allow Jesus to fill dry valleys of apathy, to lower high mountains and hills of pride and fear, to straighten crooked lenses of judgment through we see ourselves and others, and to smooth rough hands of hostility. Jesus heals and restores all the vices in our hearts. When he makes everything straight, what we’re left with is the open space of hope for our new being. We stand before God through Jesus in this open space. This is the sacred place of hope, love, joy, embrace, acceptance, restoration, and resurrection. 

My friends, see what’s in your hearts. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what’s scarce and absent, what’s prideful and fearful, what’s crooked and rough in your hearts. This is not intended to make you feel horrible about yourself, but to see the salvation of God restoring, healing, and resurrecting your souls in deep faith and trust in God’s forgiveness and acceptance of us as we are. So in this season of Advent, let us prepare ourselves by seeing what’s in us, longing and anticipating all the salvific work Jesus does in our lives. The prophet Baruch in the first lesson tells us, “Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.” See what you’re wearing. Take off that garment of sorrow and affliction. Let Jesus put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.