Prepare for The Way of the Lord

Last year at this time, the United Church of Christ produce these yard signs, which we put out in the front of our church last year. The sign reads, "This year, we remember that Jesus was a refugee." And that is the truth. Jesus was a refugee. Though I know a lot of people don't want to hear that, especially this time of year. We want to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas thinking about happier things.

Last year at this time, the United Church of Christ produce these yard signs, which we put out in the front of our church last year. The sign reads, "This year, we remember that Jesus was a refugee." And that is the truth. Jesus was a refugee. Though I know a lot of people don't want to hear that, especially this time of year. We want to spend the weeks leading up to Christmas thinking about happier things. 

But the time and place into which Jesus was born, was not a happy one. I know we like to think of the Nativity scene as a quaint, pretty little scene, something out of a Disney movie. But that wasn't the case. Jesus was born into a world of great violence and fear, and injustice. 

Mary, his mother was a poor dark-skinned teenager who became pregnant out of wedlock. And in desperation and fear from a terror campaign, orchestrated by a power-hungry monarch, King Herod, she and Joseph were forced to flee their homeland, and to make an arduous journey into a foreign land, a land where people spoke a different language from them, and practiced to different religion from them. 

And after this long and grueling journey, when they finally made it across the border, no one would welcome them. No one would give them assistance. No one would offer them refuge. The baby had to be born in an animal stable. And the baby's bed was a manger, the trough in which animals eat their food. It was dirty and messy, and smelly. 

But that's not the image we want to have of Christmas is it? We don't want to see that image on our Christmas cards. And we don't want to sing about that in our Christmas carols, do we? No. We want to pretty up the whole thing, and put a nice sparkly bow on it. 

But the Christmas story is in a pretty one. Jesus was a refugee, a poor dark-skinned, foreigner, who was turned away and refused refuge. How extraordinary then, that God chose him, of all the people in the world to become the Prince of Peace. 

Today, on the second Sunday of Advent, we light the second advent candle for peace. That's what the people of Jesus's day were hoping the Messiah would bring them --peace. Peace from an oppressive political regime, peace from repressive religious authorities, peace from an unjust societal structure, which designated who was in and who was out, who was clean, and who was unclean. 

That may have been the way of the world into which Jesus was born. But Jesus came to usher in a new way, the way of the Lord. And that's what today's Gospel reading is all about. John the baptist is crying out in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." But what is the way of the Lord that were preparing for? Well the way of the Lord is the way of peace, love and justice. That's the way. And Jesus came to show us the way, and he gave us the instructions for following the Way. He said, "Welcome the stranger lift up the lowly, feed the hungry, care for the sick." That's the way of the Lord. That's why John the Baptist is crying out, "Make way for the way of God. Clear away everything that hinders justice. Tear down every wall and every barrier that stands in the way of peace, love, and justice."

So my question for you today is, what are you doing this Advent season to make way for the Way. It's nice that you're putting up Christmas lights at your house and that you're making Christmas cookies? But what are you doing in the way of peace, love, and justice? Last year at this time, a teenage boy, a poor dark-skinned refugee, died in a detention camp in our own country. He was sick with the flu. But he wasn't given medical treatment. Separated from his parents and locked away in an overcrowded cage, he was treated like a criminal simply because his family was seeking refuge and safety, just as Jesus' family was. 

The boy who died last year was not the first refugee to die while then US Border Patrol custody. He was the 26th person to die. The youngest of these was a seven-year-old girl who died of dehydration. She was thirsty, but we did not give her something to drink. 

This month many Christian churches around the country have beautiful Nativity displays in front of their churches, with the white Joseph, the blond-haired, blue-eyed Mary, and the pristine and smiling little baby Jesus. Well, several of our UCC churches across the country also have put up Nativity displays. But they have placed Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus in a cage. 

One church even separated the baby Jesus from Mary and Joseph. And placed him in another cage alone, separated and alone. It's a powerful display, a very jarring image, one that makes us uncomfortable. But it's an important reminder to us that Jesus was a refugee. And that's the real Christmas story. 

Jesus said, when I was hungry, you gave me to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me. When I was sick, you looked after me. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was in prison, you visited me. The righteous said, "Lord, when did we ever see you hungry, thirsty, sick, naked or in prison?" And Jesus replied, "Whatever you did to the least of my people, you did to me." So who are the least of these in our midst today? And what are we doing for them? 

They're the people whose food stamps are being cut. They're the people who can't afford healthcare. They're the children in cages. So if we're really serious about preparing room for the Christ Child this Christmas, then we have to start caring more about the interests of the least of these than we do about our own self interests. And if we're really serious about preparing for the Way of the Lord, then we must be about the work of tearing down the walls and barriers that are standing in the way of peace, love, and justice. 

That's the real purpose of the season of advent. It's a time for us to make way for the Way of the Lord, to prepare for the coming of the kin-dom, a world where all people will live is one, a just world for all. Jesus isn't coming back to do that for us. I told you all last Sunday. It's not about the baby Jesus. It's about us. 

Christmas is a time for the Christ child to be born in us, a time for us to participate in the Incarnation for ourselves. The second coming of the Christ happens in us, but we must make room for it. We must consent, as Mary did, to become pregnant with the Christ. So that in a world filled with darkness, we can give birth to the light, light that will transform the world. This Advent season my friends, let us usher in that light. Let us make way for the Way. And let every heart prepare Him room. 

Namaste.

Rev. Salvatore Sapienza

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