In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’" Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

At Bethel we say we are a city-wide church with a worldwide ministry. There are periods of time when that if a full born reality. This summer we had guests from Ukraine. In a two week period this fall we entertained people from Poland and Puerto Rico. Pedro and Aura Suarez led the folks from the beautiful island around the countryside and, in six days, allowed them to taste of three seasons of our weather. Duane Hanson used his natural zeal to not only help our Polish friends to see Wisconsin, but gave them a full day whirlwind tour of Chicago. The Circle of Love people found dozens of ways to make this a great stay for children in the summer.

Visitors are frequently astonished at our size and our scale. "We could put the entire village of Dorado inside the church," a lawyer from Puerto Rico told me. The folks from Poland attended a staff meeting and were amazed at all that goes on in a single week. Your church touches the lives of people every day," they observed. "For the most part, we gather just on Sundays."

People from the former Eastern Bloc countries are always impressed with the willingness of people to volunteer. The folks from Ukraine and Poland say they have nothing to compare to the way people give of their time and skills. They stood outside of our Food Pantry and were amazed to learn that those who distributed food were volunteers, and a small part of the dozens and dozens of people who give time each week. Under Communism, and remember, they are still just a decade removed from their long ordeal under the hammer and sickle, virtually no one volunteered for anything.

Volunteering/giving has been a part of the American way for well over two centuries. Alexis de Tocqueville, the French writer who toured America in the early 1800s was amazed at what he saw. They assist one another and sacrifice a portion of their time and property," he wrote.

I don’t pretend to know all the reasons for the differences between this country and the communist countries, but one of them is that we were largely shaped by Christianity which exudes a joy that grows out of thanksgiving to God. The hymn writer puts it this way, "My life flows on in endless song above earth’s lamentations." Thankful hearts look for ways to come to expression. This also produces a willingness to give back. Stewardship grows out of gratitude. Volunteering grows out of gratitude.

Four years ago I toured East Germany for the first time. The veterans on our trip, those who had visited before the wall came down, were amazed at the visual changes that had taken place. In the days of communism the colors were institutional gray and brown…very drab. Today you see color everywhere—yellows, oranges, reds, wonderful shades of blue. Atheism is gray and brown.

Without Christmas there is no December color…no lights…no festive music. When we only celebrate ourselves there is far less reason for joy.

Christmas is bright and cheerful because it reflects the attitude of people who have experienced the presence of the Creator God come-to-earth, in their lives. Christmas is full of music because we mimic the angels on the Bethlehem plain. Music, we sense, has an other-worldly ability to express the inexpressible. Music fills the pages of the Bible, from Psalms to Revelation.

Today, music fills this room. We are listening to a twenty-three piece orchestra and nearly 70 voices sing Messiah, a piece written by Handel in a twenty-four day spurt of creativity in August and September of 1741. Later he explained his great inspiration: "I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God himself." Because he saw the great God, we get to see and hear the great God. That is what artists do – share their unique vision of God and the world with the rest of us.

We who gather are touched by the power of this great piece of music. The words themselves can nearly overwhelm us. Add to that the force of the music, and you have a spiritual experience.

But there is more than music happening today. In the midst of our Christmas joy we have another visit from that cranky old John the Baptist, who seems to welcome everyone to the River Jordan except those who are the most religious. The Message suggests this as the translation of the passage we just read: "You snakes. What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin!"

When you look at all the Christmas ornaments you will find shepherds. Magi, the parents of the Baby and a lot of animals. What you won’t find is an ornament of John the Baptist. We prefer to edit him out of Christmas. When you look at the banners for this season you will see words like: Rejoice. Joy. Sing Praise. What you won’t see is a banner that says, Repent. That is the word that John adds to our Christmas vocabulary. We like being nice, but we are not fond of being reminded that we have a lot of work yet to do. We may not be fond of John, but he is here for a good purpose.

John’s warning is that this festive season is more than about being good. There is more to Christmas than being cheery rather than grumpy. John is telling us, "The King is coming, and you are not ready." You may be ready for the celebration of Christmas, but you are not ready for God. You are not ready to meet the Messiah. Prepare your hearts for the most unbelievable experience of your life.

John knows that buying presents isn’t enough. Decorating our houses is not enough. All that is the little stuff. This is about big stuff. This is about meeting our Creator.

Getting ready will probably involve prayer. It will no doubt involve living expectantly. It will involve tuning into God. Too often we miss God because, to use a radio analogy, we tuned in to the wrong station. It is as if God is broadcasting in FM, but we’re going up and down the AM dial.

Perhaps you know about praying and reading scripture, but do you know about repenting? Repent does not mean feel sorry. It means, change directions. The word for repent means: take a U-turn. Change. You are headed in the wrong direction.

John reminds us that we need to examine our lives and determine what will lead us to God and what takes us away from God. When we know, get rid of everything that stands in the way of God. It may mean we have to repent or take a U-turn.

We probably can’t do this on our own. We may need the help of someone else. At the very least, we will need the help of scripture. God often works through another person to set us on the right track.

All of the decorating, all of the purchasing, all of the activities of this season can go one of two ways. It can help us prepare for the coming of God or it can take the place of preparing for God. It is up to us. Amen © 2007