December 4, 2005

Goat-Walking to Bethlehem

Isaiah 40:1-11
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8

Every year on the Second Sunday in Advent, as we are looking forward to and starting to prepare for Christmas and the coming of Christ into our midst, our sugar-plum dreams are disturbed by the intrusion of an outlandish, abrasive, unkempt character, who stridently tells us that we'd better clean up our act. Actually, Mark's version is much gentler than either Matthew's or Luke's.

Just when we're starting to savor the tastes and aromas of holiday cuisine, along comes John the Baptist with his diet of locusts and wild honey. Just when we're in the middle of shopping, parties, and fun, along comes serious John with his sermons on sin and repentance. Just when we think we're heading straight on the road to Bethlehem, along comes John, putting up roadblocks in our way, forcing us to take a more circuitous route. He's kind of like the Grinch who stole Christmas - no sugar plums dancing here, no tinkling of bells. (i) But, though John may seem to be out of place here, the power of his witness and that which motivates him, are an integral part of the meaning of Christmas.

To arrive at an understanding of that motivation, we need to take what may appear to be a slight digression. Have you ever tried to take a 2-year old on a straight-ahead, purposeful walk? It's almost impossible. Children of this age have a different agenda than we adults do. We want to get from point A to point B, usually as quickly as possible. But for little ones, it's not the destination that's important, but the journey, the meandering that takes place from the start to the finish. I'm sure you've seen the Sunday comic, "Family Circus," where little Jeffy wanders all over the neighborhood before finally arriving at the destination his mother sent him to. When we were toddlers, the world was still new and unexplored, a wonder-filled place. Every stone needed to be turned over, every mud puddle splashed, every flower sniffed, every creepy, crawly creature scrutinized. Ah, to be that age again!

A book was written a few years ago called "Goatwalking," and the author, who has more knowledge of goats than he does of youngsters, describes something similar to this kind of toddler traveling. Jim Corbett, a naturalist and theologian of sorts, focuses on the round-about, over-and-under wanderings that goats take as they meander about. Goat-walking as he describes it, is a mode of journeying that doesn't so much traverse the countryside as caress it. Since goats (and sheep for that matter) don't worry about where they're going, they freely roam wherever their feet take them. But such roaming is not limited just to toddlers and 4-hoofed animals. Corbett encourages all of us to engage in goat-walking occasionally, to sally beyond society's established ways, to follow our "inner leading." (ii)

Goat-walking is not all that common an activity. At Christmastime especially, most of us are so focused on the busyness of the season that we couldn't even think about what it might be like to do some goat-walking. We are so hung up on what one writer has called the "Way of the Crass," that we are unable to walk the Way of the Cross or the Way of the Christ Child. (iii) Perhaps it's time for us, like John the Baptist, to listen to another beckoning voice, to a different drummer.

John was a classic goat-walker, one who definitely listened to the directives of an inner voice, to the urgings of God's Spirit, and then acted upon them. The power of his witness, I believe, came from God, and because of John's own personality and the message he preached, hundreds of people from the city and surrounding countryside goat-walked their way out into the wilderness, filled with great hope and anticipation.

If you think about it, goat-walking has often been a favorite way of encountering God in the Bible. The people of Israel spent 40 years goat-walking, as they tried to find the Promised Land and the right path that would lead them into a faithful relationship with God. God has regularly chosen goat-walkers to be divine mouthpieces. The prophets were by and large independent and unpredictable folks, an odd lot if there ever was one, definitely goat-walkers by our definition. And how appropriate that it was to "professional" goat-walkers, those goatherds and shepherds who were out there on the hillsides of Bethlehem with their flocks, it was to them that the announcement of Jesus' birth was first proclaimed. The ones first on the scene who gathered around the manger, praising and worshipping the newborn King, were these simple, unpretentious goat-walkers.

As Christmas fast approaches, perhaps we should consider taking the time to slow our steps and broaden our horizons, and see if maybe we also can goat-walk to Bethlehem this year. Let me suggest four requisites to a successful goat-walk. First, is a willingness to be open. Each moment of our lives is a God-given moment, and thus, very precious. Be open to every moment. Be open especially to those moments when Christ is being born anew in you. Second, is doing less and being more, letting ourselves sit more than run, reap more than sow; accepting what God offers rather than taking what we can grab. We need to focus more on being in the moment and less on the frantic doing, doing, doing we normally engage in, especially as we approach Christmas.

Third, we need to loosen our hold, to let go and let God. Goat-walking gives us the freedom to stop trying to take charge of every little aspect of our lives, and allows God to take charge. (iv) Finally, there has to be willingness to change. John came "proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." The word repentance means a complete turn around, a radical change of direction involving the heart, the will, the whole person. Repentance involves turning away from something but also turning toward something.

Here is where what John the Baptist did is so important for us. Rather than the Grinch who stole Christmas, John is really a prophet who saves Christmas. Too many of us trivialize the holiday. We say it's just for kids, or we focus only on the warm, cuddly infant in the manger, while neglecting the fact that he became our Lord and Savior. John rescues Christmas by pointing us to the One who even now is reaching out and inviting us to come to him. John points us toward something - some One - who can save us from our sins, who can save us from ourselves.

The Gospel of Mark, probably the first Gospel written, starts off with these words: "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." What our faith offers to us is good news, good news which causes us to respond with rejoicing. And it is good news that allows us to have our new beginnings. So, let's engage in a bit of free-form goat-walking between now and Christmas, as we are open to new beginnings all around us, as we do less and be more, as we let go and let God, and as we are willing to change what needs to be changed. Let us remember always that God is always with us. This is the Gospel of the Lord. It is good news and can be trusted. Amen.

The Pilgrim Church of Duxbury
Rev. Kenneth C. Landall

i Emphasis, 12/5/93, p. 40.
ii Jim Corbett, quoted in Homiletics, 12/5/93.
iii Joe Dominquez and Vicki Robin, "Your Money or Your Life," quoted in Homiletics, op. cit.
iv Homiletics, op. cit.