On the altar of our side chapel you will find an icon of John the Baptist. He is one of the more unsettling characters that we meet as we approach Christmas and we will hear about him in our Gospel reading this morning.
He ate locusts and wild honey, wore a camel’s hair cloak and lived in the desert. In short, he is the kind of person you might cross the street to avoid. When people did go to see him, many went away with a flea in their ear. He told them to repent, to change their ways and not to mistake him for the one who is coming.
‘Preparing for the one who is coming’ is what Advent is all about and preparing for Christmas seems to be what December is all about. Earlier this week I popped into Sainsbury’s only to find that the ubiquitous Christmas music was already being played and that mixed nuts, dates and Clementines were all on special offer. To me, it all seems a bit early and I prefer to wait a while- if only for the nice juicy Satsumas to also be available on two for one!
Amidst our proper preparations for Christmas, however, John the Baptist stops us in our tracks and presents us with some tough messages. To those who came to see him and to us he says that if you really want to meet Jesus you need to be prepared to go on a journey, if you believe what he says your world will be turned upside down and if you choose to follow him your life will never be the same again.
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