It was the day after thanksgiving at Wal-Mart. A young father was pushing a shopping cart with his little son, who was strapped in the front. The little boy was fussing, irritable, and crying. The other shoppers gave the pair a wide path because the child would pull stuff off the shelf and throw stuff out of the cart. The father seemed to be very calm. As he continued down each aisle, he murmured gently, “Easy now, Brian. Keep calm, Brian. Steady, boy. It’s all right, Brian.”

A mother who was passing by was greatly impressed by this young father’s gentle, patient approach to handling his out-of-control son. She said, “You certainly know how to talk to an upset child—quietly and gently.” And then bending down to the little boy, she said, “What seems to be the trouble, Brian?”

“Oh no,” said the father. “He’s Devin. I’m Brian.”

That Wal-Mart scene serves as an accurate image of the Christmas madness that stresses us out during the holiday season. And if we aren’t careful, we will blow right through December without letting the significance of the season impact our lives in the least.

On this first Sunday of Advent I want to answer the question: How can I get ready for Christmas? The series theme for the next several weeks is “The Questions of Christmas.” Each week we will take a question about Christmas and answer it. It is my prayer that you will be here each Sunday with an open heart and a strong desire to prepare yourself spiritually for the birthday of our Savior.

How can I get ready for Christmas? Great question. I’m talking about spiritual preparedness. Wouldn’t you agree that preparing yourself spiritually is extremely important, yet too often gets neglected?

Our text today comes from the Old Testament. It talks about our need to prepare for the coming of the Lord. [Read Isaiah 40:1-9.] The historical context of these verses is set at the end of the Babylonian captivity. In 587 B.C., God brought judgment upon His people. The Babylonians laid siege on Jerusalem and the entire land of Judah. They destroyed cities and forced the citizens to scatter and live as aliens in foreign lands.

God indicates that the captivity is almost over. He has given them their due punishment and plans to restore them to their homeland. They could expect a special visitation from the Lord. So they needed to get ready. They needed to prepare the way for the Lord’s coming.

These words had a dual meaning for the people. The message gave them comfort that their days of captivity were coming to an end. But the words are also messianic in that they look ahead to the time when God would come to earth in the form of a human being named Jesus Christ. In fact, these very words from Isaiah are used to describe John the Baptist (Matt. 3). He set the stage for the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry by calling for the people to repent.

Notice verse 5. “And the glory of the Lord will be revealed.” How many of you would like to experience the glory of God in your life this Christmas season? I know I do. Well, if you want His glory revealed in your life, then you must prepare the way for Him. I love the Message Bible’s rendering of verse 3: “Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road straight and smooth, a highway fit for our God.”

These words depict the ancient Near Eastern custom of sending representatives ahead of a visiting monarch. They prepared a processional highway. These words remind us that it is our responsibility to do everything we possibly can to prepare our hearts for Christmas, the day we celebrate the coming of our Lord. But how? What can I do to get ready for Christmas? What can I do to prepare myself to experience the glory of God? Let me share with you several key action verbs that represent specific things you can do to get ready.

First, worship. Worship should be your number one priority in life. God created you to worship Him. Jesus said the greatest commandment of all is to love God with your whole heart. That is worship. One of the key elements in the Christmas story is the trip the wise men made to see the newborn king Jesus. They asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him….On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2: 2, 11). The wise men got it. They experienced the glory of God in their lives, and their instinctive response was to bow down and worship.

Worship in church is important. But so is family worship. So is private worship. It doesn’t matter how eloquent you are when you talk to God. It matters little whether or not your songs to God are on key. A meaningful chorus we sing sometimes reflects the heart of worship. “I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice.” One morning a mother was observing her three-year-old daughter Katherine dancing and singing around the house as usual. But as she listened closely, she noticed she was singing this chorus I just mentioned, except her words were, “I love you, Lord, and I lift my noise.”

Your voice may sound more like noise, but that is okay. Lift your voice in worship anyway. Take advantage of worship opportunities this Christmas season. Join us for our family advent celebration tonight. Go see “This Man Called Jesus” at Lake Murray Baptist. At your Sunday School Christmas gathering why not plan a time of worship. Go outside at night and look up into the heavens and worship the Lord of the Universe. Open your Bible and say, “God, talk to me.” Worship. It will help you get ready for Christmas.

Second, serve. The Bible says, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matthew 4:10). Notice what comes first—worship. Service should result as a natural overflow of our worship. Mary made an amazing statement when she responded to the angel who announced to her that she would give birth to the Son of God. She said, “I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants” (Luke 1:38, NLT).

I guess we’re pretty good at buying for others at Christmas time. We’re pretty good at mailing out greeting cards and inviting family over for dinner. But these efforts are not what I mean by service. Do you really want to experience the glory of God this Christmas? Then engage in some type of loving service to someone who can’t return the favor. Do you really want to get ready for Christmas? Then buy some toys for Project Angel Tree. Adopt a family to feed. Make a sizeable donation to the missions offering which will go to help Baptist missionaries who are away from their families this Christmas. Drop some money in the Salvation Army can.

On Thanksgiving Day some of you participated in the community project of delivering meals to needy families. I bet each one of you could testify that your service meant more to you than to the family you helped feed. Service helps you overcome that ever-growing mindset that says, “It’s all about me.”

Third, tell others. In other words, if you want to get ready for Christmas, then tell somebody the good news about Jesus. See how many people you can invite to church. Look at verse 9 in our text. “You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’”

These words remind us of the song “Go, Tell It on the Mountain.” The Gospel is good news, good tidings. It’s the message of God’s love that He showed us by sending His Son Jesus into the world on Christmas day. It is a message you should never keep to yourself. Shout it! Proclaim it! There’s no greater joy than to know that God used you to lead someone into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Christmas season is one time during the year that people are more apt to attend church. There are hundreds, even thousands, in the Chapin area who will not attend church at any point during this holiday season. For many, the only reason why is that no one invited them. You may not have the gift of evangelism. But you can invite people. Here’s the deal. You bring your unchurched friends to church with you, and I will tell them the good news of God’s love and grace.

Fourth, repent. To experience the most that Christmas offers, you need to make sure you have a clean heart before God. One of the most effective ways to prepare spiritually for Christmas is to allow God to do a power cleaning on your life. To repent means to make a life U-turn. It means you stop doing wrong and start doing right. To repent is more than just feeling sorry for your sins. It means you take the next step and say, “God, I admit that I’ve done wrong. I need you to cleanse and forgive me. And, Lord, I commit to you that I am going to turn away from the wrongs I’ve done.”

As I mentioned earlier, John the Baptist preached this message of repentance as he prepared the way for the ministry of our Lord. John’s message could be summarized in these words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). The verses we studied from Isaiah 40, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” are talking about John the Baptist. His message of repentance paved the way for Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In his book The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning courageously admits that 25 years earlier he had a drinking problem. He voluntarily entered a 28-day program. Part of the rehab was sitting in a circle with a leader and talking about the extent of their drinking. Around the circle they went, each one telling the extent, that is, except one man, Max. Max said, “I never really drank that much.”

They said, “Max, you’re in an alcoholic treatment center for a month. You weren’t sipping cokes. Tell the truth to yourself. Admit it.”

He said, “I’m being honest with you. I’ve never really had all that much to drink.” Each of the residents had signed affidavits, giving permission for the leaders to talk to anyone in order to find out information. There was a speaker phone in the center of the group. The leader said, “I’m going to call the bartender close to your office and we’ll just find out.”

So he called the bartender, and the leader asked, “Do you know Max so and so?” The guy says, “Oh, like a brother! He stops in every day after work and has a minimum of six martinis. Man, this guy drinks like a fish! He’s the best customer we have—a prolific consumer of alcohol.

The people all look at Max and he says, “Yes, I’ve had a lot to drink.”

Later in the session the leader asks, “Have you ever hurt anybody, a friend or family member, while you were drunk?” Some said yes, and others said no. They come around to Max and he says, “I would never, ever hurt anybody. Not when I’m sober, not when I’m drunk. I have four lovely children. I’d never hurt my wife, I’d never hurt my kids.

The leader says, “You know, Max, we don’t believe you. We’re going to call your wife.” As soon as Max’s wife starts talking on the speaker phone, Max starts breathing heavily. He knows something is coming that he has been unwilling to face. The leader says, “Mrs. So and So, has Max ever mistreated you or anyone in the family when he was drunk?” She said, “Yes, he has. It happened just this last Christmas Eve. He took our 9-year-old daughter shopping on Christmas Eve, bought her a new pair of shoes. He’s a generous man. On the way home, our little girl was sitting in the front seat enjoying her new shoes, and Max passed the bar and saw the cars of some of his buddies.

“He pulled in. It was a cold, wintry day, 12 degrees, with a high wind chill. He made sure all the windows were rolled up snugly. He left the car running so that the heater was blowing, and he said to our daughter, ‘I’ll be right back. You just play with your shoes. I’ll be right back.’

“He went in the bar and started drinking with his buddies. He didn’t come out of the bar until midnight. In that time, the vehicle had shut off and the windows had become all frosted over and locked up so tight she couldn’t get herself out of the car. When the authorities opened up the car and rushed her to the hospital, she was so badly frostbitten that her thumb and forefinger had to be amputated. And her ears were so damaged by the cold that she will be deaf for the rest of her life.”

The wife describes this to the group, and Max falls off his chair and starts convulsing on the ground. He just couldn’t bear telling himself the truth about what he had done. He couldn’t face it. He was going to live the rest of his life in some fantasy world of denial about what he had done.

Why do I bring this up? If I had the time, I could pass a microphone down the aisle and I could say, “What is that one sin that you feel so desperately bad about that you can’t even bring yourself to acknowledge that you actually did it? The one that you can’t bring out of the darkness into the light to let God forgive it? ” What is the one sin that keeps you under a cloud of guilt day in and day out?

Repent. Come clean. That way you are getting ready for the glory of God to be poured out on your life this Christmas.