Preparing the way

Last week we went to see the musical Godspell…  It was written at the tail end of the hippy 60’s. It’s a telling of the gospel story, the story of Jesus, but in a style of that period – casual, free, a bit funky. You might expect it to be all peace and love, but because it uses the words from the Gospel of Matthew there’s actually a lot of challenge in it – because the sayings and stories of Jesus are often very challenging.

It all begins with John the Baptist. In the musical he was a tremendous presence, singing his powerful song – Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Advent is a good time for us to hear his message as well – prepare the way for Jesus coming – get yourselves ready for his arrival.

That might mean our celebration of the first coming of Jesus – or it could mean the coming of Jesus one day to make all things new – but it can also mean the coming of Jesus to us every day.

So how do we prepare the way for him to come? I’ve been quite challenged this year by one of our Indian students, Josmi. Her Advent tradition is to give us something which you are especially fond of – so she has given up chocolate. But I have a chocolate Advent calendar… It feels quite counter cultural to fast when everything around us encourages us to start the Christmas feast already.

In Godspell, John suggests a further way of doing this. This production was updated – there were two large mobile phone screens above the stage with a constant commentary on what was going on – chat, likes, followers for Jesus…  And the cast all had their mobiles out for the first scene and were constantly checking them.

When John arrived on the stage, he was carrying a large orange bucket. I thought it was because he was a baptiser – but when he called everyone to repent – to turn around – the symbol of each person’s response was to drop , sometimes willingly, sometimes reluctantly, their mobile phone into his bucket.

Josmi said that sometimes people in her community will do that – give up being on their phones, if that is what they love most. And one reason for doing that is because it is a good way to make some space.

Getting ready for Christmas can feel very busy – how on earth can we make space to prepare for the coming of Jesus as well? Well, maybe there are things we can give up for a while, or let go of a little… And just a few minutes extra space can make the difference to the way we do everything else.

Making a little space before we write our Christmas cards or emails, or before we read the ones we get, can help us remember those people with love and thankfulness. Making a little space before we buy or wrap up presents – or when we are trying to think of what to buy – can allow the present to be something more: a visible sign of the love we have for that person.

If we find time to breathe, to look at the sunrise or the amazing winter moon and stars, to feel the season in our bones, to connect with the sense of anticipation – then we can allow a longing to rise in us that is deeper than just looking forward to a celebration – a heartfelt longing for the Lord’s coming – a longing that will prepare the way for him to come to us on Christmas Day and all the other days as well.

Spend a few moments allowing yourself to be open to the Advent call to prepare the way of the Lord – and becoming aware of our longing for him to come… 

Come Lord, in the middle of our busy lives… Come, Lord Jesus

Come to being us back to ourselves, and back to you… Come, Lord Jesus

Come, to open our hearts to those around us… Come, Lord Jesus

Come to those who especially need your love at the moment… Come, Lord Jesus

Come to bring peace and justice to our broken world… Come, Lord Jesus

Come Lord, in this Advent time, come into our Christmas celebrations, come into the beginning of a new year – come with your words of challenge and your gifts of love, and blessing, and hope… Come, Lord Jesus