Year A Advent 4 2025 Make A Place

 Year A Advent 4, 21 December 2025

St George’s Episcopal, Fredericksburg, VA

“Make a Place”

Collect: Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Isaiah 7:10-16

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.”

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Nesting is something parents do to prepare for a newborn—creating a space of love and welcome. I remember those days vividly: finding the perfect crib, painting waves on the nursery walls for our nautical theme, every brushstroke saying, “I love you” to someone we hadn’t met yet. Advent is like that. It’s the Church’s nesting season—a time to prepare room for Christ. We get the room ready. We build the furniture. We may paint it with warm and inviting colors. 

Part of our preparation is getting in the mood. Often we do it with singing. We sing this every year: 

O holy Child of Bethlehem,

descend to us, we pray;

cast out our sin and enter in;

be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels,

the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us,

our Lord Emmanuel!

That hymn is a prayer of preparation—asking Christ to make his home in us. 

We see it also in the collect for today, the 4th Sunday of Advent: 

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself… 

My family will be moving soon, and we are eagerly awaiting the day when soon the home being built will be done, all inspections approved, and closing finalized. It is a first for us, having always moved into older homes, to get a new construction has been fascinating to me.

When they poured the slab for the foundation, I got excited. The walls went up. I could really see it then. When they installed the roof, I knew it was good and on time for us to be in by our expected due date, and the interior would be safe and dry if inclement weather happened. Insulation, wiring, drywall, every step of the way I was fascinated, hopeful, and excited. And now the reality is setting in. 

It is a smaller house than what we are in now, with the kids in school we can downsize for the next stage of our lives. We can choose what we keep, and what we part ways with. These choices are when we really see how this one choice will affect the rest of our lives.

What we keep, what we chuck. One of my favorite thinkers, Dr. Dallas Willard, says that that is what defines us as humans, our treasures. Or as Jesus put it, 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [Matthew 6:21]

I love when children show me what they treasure, whether it is a stuffed animal or a special rock that is like no other, at least to them. When someone shares what they love, they are really sharing who they are filtered through what they hold most dear. Whether a story of a favorite memory, or a piece of art they made, I always thank people for sharing with me because it is a piece of their heart.

We protect and cherish what we treasure. And we make room for that. In our packing, my wife and I talked about our keepsakes, which is just another word for treasure, which leads to what we value the most. She has her treasures and I have mine, and we have our treasures, the memories of our 33 years together and the life we have made with one another. Thankfully, from the beginning, our faith has been a huge part of our joint life, and for that I am so grateful.

What we choose to be a part of our lives, and what we leave out, is the foundation of discernment. And as followers of Christ, we are called to be discerning. Discernment is not choosing the path between the good and the bad. That is common sense. Discernment is choosing the path between the good and the good, and listening for that still small voice which tells us what is the right, and good, and true, and what is not. Discernment is often hard to see looking ahead, but in looking back we wonder how we could have chosen any other path.

Professor Willard also tells the story of growing up in Tennessee during the expansion of electricity under the Tennessee Valley Authority.  He remembers the family meeting with his parents and uncles and aunts where they all discussed whether they were going to bring in this new and potentially dangerous idea, electricity, into their homes on the shared family farm. They pondered what it could mean, both the good and the bad.  One thing that they did realize was that whatever it did bring, it would change everything.  He goes on to say that that last statement was more true than they knew.  

After taking electricity into their homes, it changed the rest of their lives.  They could not believe what a difference instant light made. They were overjoyed with refrigeration. Their fears were forgotten because the new was so different and so much better that they embraced electricity with all their hearts. He says it is the same with Jesus and his teachings.

So we stand on the cusp of Christmas, with New Year’s coming close behind. If you are like me, I can hardly believe how this year has flown by, and at the same time how this has been a hard one. At the end of the year, however the year went,  I try to do two things. I review my calendar, to see how I really spent my time. And I go over my spending for the year. That used to be my checkbook, but now my spending is on a screen. My time and my treasure, or money rather, says what it is I really hold most important. Am I spending those precious resources the way I want to spend them? That is my discernment that only I can do.

But I say I follow Christ, and this preparatory season of Advent, is that nesting to commit and get ready for Jesus. As I said, our collect speaks of “a mansion prepared for him.” And to make a mansion requires a lot of time, a lot of talent, and a lot of treasure. And I have to discern a path to get to that. By the things I keep and the things I release.

Mary and Joseph did not have a lot of choice when it came down to nesting for them. Jesus arrived at the least opportune time. They were far from home, away from relatives. And yet, we see them making do with where they are and what they have. A stable. A manger. Because it really comes back to the love that surrounds the event, and not the stuff that goes along with it. 

What is it you need to run towards and embrace to make that room for Christ? What is it that needs to be released? Only you can answer those questions. 

I will close with this. 

In high school, my a capella choir sang a hauntingly beautiful song based on a medieval devotional poem by Robert Herrick. Though written in the 1600s, it could not be more timely, or pertinent to today.

Christ’s Part by Robert Herrick

Christ, He requires still, wheresoe'er He comes

To feed or lodge, to have the best of rooms:

Give Him the choice; grant Him the nobler part

Of all the house: the best of all's the heart.

It’s not too late. It is still Advent. May we prepare that place for Christ. Amen