Sermon, Advent 2C, Baruch 5:1-9, Luke 3:1-6

Advent is a time of active waiting. It's active because we are preparing for the coming of the Messiah, both in the manger in Bethlehem and at some future point when he will come again in glory. And it's a time of waiting because nobody really knows when that time will come. So we wait; and we wait while we actively prepare. This image of actively waiting comes up in the readings from both Baruch and Luke.

The book of Baruch is found in the Apocrypha and was supposedly written by (of all people) Baruch, the scribe to Jeremiah. The date of the book is up for debate as the book itself says it was written during the exile, while some scholars believe it was written during the Hellenistic age around the time of the Maccabean revolt. But it's not the when we are concerned with, it's the theme.

In the book, Baruch writes of a time when Israel will move from the sorrow of exile to the joy of homecoming. In it he sees a time when every mountain and hill shall be made low and every valley filled up to make a level ground. That levelness indicates safety. That levelness indicates a lack of struggle - because it is much easier to walk on a level path than through valleys and over mountains.

We get this same imagery in the gospel. John is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah wrote, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill made low."

There are a couple of things about these two passages that caught my attention. The first is that they are all-inclusive. Baruch says that every mountain and hill will be made low and every valley filled up. God will do this so that all of Israel, all of God's people, may walk safely in the glory of God.

In the gospel we hear that John went and preached into all the region. He was the voice crying out to all the people to prepare the way of the Lord. He was the one telling people to fill every valley and lower every hill and mountain in preparation for the coming of the Lord. John went into all the region, filling every valley, lowering every mountain.

As I read these passages, I am aware of the words "all" and "every." We are not dealing with some and few, but all and every. God is working to bring all people into his household. If we can see these words as being all-inclusive and all-welcoming, how will that shape our thoughts about Those Other People? Are we willing to treat those who come through our door as All and Every, rather than as some and few?

To see and welcome the All and the Every takes hard work. And it's not just over the big issues. It's not just welcoming people of different colors or sexual orientation or politics; it is also welcoming people who may have harmed us in some way in the past. Maybe they said something, or helped spread a rumor, or didn't follow through or overcharged you or whatever. Sometimes those can be bigger issues to deal with than the national hot-button topic of the day. You might even say that they are mountains.

The other thing that caught my attention was the image of who's doing the work. Who is leveling the mountains and filling in the valleys? In Baruch, it is God. God does this not by waving his magic wand and flattening the mountains, but God does order the mountains and hills to be made low and the valleys to be filled up. God orders this so that his children, the people of God, may walk safely in the glory of God.

In Luke, however, it is us. John is that voice in the wilderness crying out to prepare the way of the Lord. John is after us to fill all valleys, level all hills and mountains and make straight the path of the Lord. We are the ones doing all of this work so that God may more easily get to us.

In Baruch, God orders the leveling and filling so that his people may reach him. In Luke, John preaches that we are to level and fill so that God may reach us. We are both trying to reach each other.

Moving mountains and filling valleys, however, is hard work. But then again, so is welcoming All and Every into the family of God. We like to set boundaries and limits and regulations to determine just who can and can't have access to God. I tend to think, however, that boundaries, limits and regulations are just other words for mountains and valleys.

The day of the Lord is coming. Our Messiah is on the horizon. God is doing all he can to bring all people into his family -- he's leveling mountains and filling valleys. But Advent isn't simply about waiting for God to show up. Advent is also, as I said earlier, about being active. John reminds us of that by telling us that it is we who need to level mountains and fill valleys.

What are the mountains and valleys in our lives that are in the way of reaching God?

As we move forward in our lives, in Advent and beyond, individually and corporately, Advent is a good time to take stock of the mountains and valleys around us. Have we allowed mountains to rise up that block our path to God? Have we created mountains in our lives that keep God from reaching us? Have we become so enamored with the beauty of the mountains we make that we have lost sight of the real goal of coming together with God? Do these mountains of ours block others from reaching God?

How do you move a mountain? One stone at a time.

Here's the real question: Are we willing to dismantle our man-made mountains, stone by stone, so that we don't block people from reaching God; but, instead, we create a straight and level path so that all the children of God may walk safely in the glory of God?

This Advent, may we remember that God is trying to reach us and may we spend time preparing the way of the Lord, moving mountains and filling valleys, so that All and Every may come into the household of God.