{"id":605470,"date":"2021-10-24T20:01:40","date_gmt":"2021-10-25T00:01:40","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:24:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:24:43","slug":"prepare-the-way-advent-2-c-december-5-2021","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/prepare-the-way-advent-2-c-december-5-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Prepare the Way, Advent 2 (C) \u2013 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>[RCL] Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4; Canticle 4 or 16; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-purple-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-purple-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?e=DFMS4006306159&#038;light=true\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-purple-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-purple-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Cover-FB-6-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-255541\" style=\"width:512px;height:268px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s a method of calling to a crowd and catching its attention in which a speaker says, \u201cIf you can hear the sound of my voice, clap once.\u201d Usually, in a gathered group, only a few closest to the speaker hear the instruction and clap. The unexpected sound of several people clapping once, however, catches the attention of a few more. The speaker then says, \u201cIf you can hear the sound of my voice, clap twice.\u201d And a few more people catch on. It continues until the crowd is hushed as more and more people clap in unison, three times, then four times. It\u2019s an effective way to gather the attention of a crowd without having to be the loudest one in the room, but it only works with the participation of more and more people. The speaker might talk in vain at an unresponsive, noisy crowd all day if the following of their instructions doesn\u2019t spread throughout the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the prophets of scripture may have felt at times that they were speaking in vain, they caught enough attention that we continue to hear their words reverberate today. \u201cDo justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God,\u201d we hear from Micah 6:8. \u201cComfort, O comfort my people\u201d encourages Isaiah 40:1. What was it about them that captured the attention of the people around them? Was there some kind of magnetic quality about them? Was it a fierce or wild look in their eyes? Or were their words from God simply so true in times so desperate that listening to them felt like solid ground in a shifting time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We know theirs were not the only voices people could listen to. While the prophets were encouraging people to return to God, to care for the vulnerable, to be restored in relationship with one another, there were surely then, as now, competing voices for the people\u2019s attention\u2014voices of power, greed, despair, or complacency that were louder than the prophets\u2019 call. And yet the prophets were heard through the generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The words of Isaiah were resonating so powerfully that John the Baptizer picked them up and echoed them centuries later: \u201cThe voice of one crying out in the wilderness: \u2018Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,&nbsp;and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;&nbsp;and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.\u2019\u201d John heeded Isaiah and lived these words, calling those who heard him to repent and to begin anew, to prepare the way. In so doing, he invited more and more people to live Isaiah\u2019s words with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet John\u2019s voice was not the only one people heard. Today\u2019s passage from Luke begins with some of the other voices that competed for the attention of the crowds in the region near Judea and Galilee in the first century: Emperor Tiberius, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip the ruler of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias the ruler of Abilene. And yet amid these rulers\u2019 claims to power and voice, people were drawn to John the Baptizer. John, who heard the word of God in the wilderness and went around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John, who answers in Luke 3:10 when the crowds ask, \u201cWhat then should we do?\u201d by saying, \u201cWhoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.\u201d John, who showed them that valleys are filled and the mountains and hills made low when those with plenty share with those in need. They heard something they knew to be true in his words and the crowds flocked to him, hushing as they approached and listening. In his words, they heard restoration, justice, and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But John was not the source of the words. Nor was Isaiah the source of the words. Isaiah and then John were like the ones standing nearby who hear the sound of the speaker\u2019s voice and clap in response. Because of their clapping, more and more people can identify and heed the speaker\u2019s voice. They, too, can join in the clapping to draw attention to the speaker, so that more and more people in turn can hear the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The voice to which they draw our attention may not be the loudest in the room, but it is steady. It is persistent. It is the voice of God who continually invites us all to return, to care for the vulnerable, to be in relationship with one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After all, prophets\u2019 words are not an end unto themselves; they point us back to God. They show the way when we\u2019ve gotten a little turned around. They draw our attention when we\u2019ve been distracted by the clamoring of other voices. Prophets tell the truth about things as they are and remind us that there is a better way. Prophets call us to notice where we\u2019ve gotten off the path and call us to return to relationship with God and with one another\u2014to share a coat when we have two, to share food when we have extra. Prophets are channels for the words of God so that we might hear those words, live them, and be channels too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listening to them can help us live the words of God in our own time, as they endeavored to do in theirs. Across the generations, we participate in the call to return to God, to care for the vulnerable, to restore relationship with one another. And we are called to trust that none of this is done in vain, but rather prepares the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we attune our ears to and live the words shared by the prophets, we are able to better recognize the One who is to come, the Word who is restoration, justice, and hope. We are able to recognize the Christ who reconciles us and for whom we wait in this season of Advent with hopeful expectation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, today, let us focus our attention and allow a hush to fall over us so that we may hear the voice calling from the wilderness: \u201cPrepare the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This sermon was written by <strong>the Rev. Lucy Strandlund<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-04f6dba5-b2a5-406b-8b5f-9d952e273dc8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sermon-Advent-2C-English.docx\">Word \u2013 Advent 2 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sermon-Advent-2C-English.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-04f6dba5-b2a5-406b-8b5f-9d952e273dc8\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-03d029f8-5fc7-43f6-b40d-9e1c4902e4f7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sermon-Advent-2C-English.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Advent 2 (C) Sermon<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Sermon-Advent-2C-English.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-03d029f8-5fc7-43f6-b40d-9e1c4902e4f7\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[RCL] Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4; Canticle 4 or 16; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 There\u2019s a method of calling to a crowd and catching its attention in which a speaker says, \u201cIf you can hear the sound of my voice, clap once.\u201d Usually, in a gathered group, only a few closest to the speaker hear&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,43,52,1953],"tags":[183],"class_list":["post-605470","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-advent-2c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":10,"label":"Advent"},{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":1953,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":183,"label":"Advent 2C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/605470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/605470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3478670,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/605470\/revisions\/3478670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}