+ 2nd Sunday in
Advent – December 10th, 2017 +
Series B: Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8
Redeemer Lutheran, HB
In the Name of the Father and of
the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
As of today, there are exactly
two weeks to Christmas Eve. Have you made your list and checked it twice? Are
you ready? Are you prepared?
That’s word of the day this 2nd
Sunday in Advent. Prepare.
Many of us spend a lot of time
preparing this Advent season. We wash the Christmas dishes that have been
tucked away since last year. We turn our homes around, trading pumpkins and
fall colors for Christmas wreath candles and the Advent calendar. And of
course, there are cookies to bake, family recipes to bring out of hiding, and
tables to prepare for family and friends.
Into the busy-ness of our holiday
preparations, John the Baptist bursts in. Only he doesn’t seem to care if we
bring out the crystal wine glasses or a red Solo cup; he doesn’t beg for our
grandma’s cookie recipe; and let’s be honest, you wouldn’t want John to bring
his famous locust and wild honey appetizers to your Christmas party, would you?
Probably not. After all, he’s
clothed in camel hair. His diet seems a bit questionable. And his living
arrangements in the wilderness don’t exactly sound like a welcoming bed and
breakfast. You see John is a simple man. And he comes to deliver his simple,
yet significant Advent message.
Prepare the
way of the Lord, make his paths straight…
John preaches God’s Word to
prepare his hearers for the Word made flesh. John proclaims a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins to prepare his hearers for the Lord who
forgives sin in his dying on the cross. John prepares his hearers for Jesus’
coming by pointing away from himself to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world.
This is why John the Baptist
makes us so uncomfortable. He reminds us that we are far too comfortable with
our sin; he reminds us how quickly we turn from things eternal to things
temporal…that much of what we worry and fret about will wither and die like the
flowers of the field: for the grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word
of the Lord endures forever; and most of all, John speaks the truth about our
sin.
This is how John prepares us for
Christ’s coming. John calls us to repentance and forgiveness in Jesus. So, John
bulldozes our pride, to build us up in Christ’s humble birth and death for us.
John plows through the hard
packed soil of our sin to reveal the depth of our disease; to turn our hearts,
ears, and minds into fertile soil where Jesus plants his life-giving Word.
Where Jesus’ promises take root, grow, are fed and nourished by Christ the
vine.
John is God’s weed-wacker, sent
to clear out all the weeds that choke and smother our hearing of God’s Word, so
that all we have to cling to is Jesus’ cross, our tree of life. This is the way
of the Lord John prepares us for, the highway that leads to Jesus crucified for
you.
John breaks our heart of stone to
prepare the way for Jesus who creates in us a clean heart and renews his Spirit
with us.
John prepares us for Jesus’
Advent the same way he prepared his disciples for Jesus’ first Advent, by
calling us out of the wasteland of sin, through the oasis of Baptism.
John’s baptism was a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the Jordan River. So, John continues
to call us back to the greater waters of our Baptism, to our Jordan River at
the font. In Holy Baptism we are repented, that is turned back to God;
forgiven; and cleansed, washed, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
You see, your Baptism is a lot
like the season of Advent and Christmas; through water and the Word, God
prepares you for Jesus who also comes to you and gives you new birth from
above. Unlike our favorite Christmas dishes that gather dust, get scuffed and
scraped, and eventually wear out and break – In your Baptism, Jesus cleanses
you with a promise that never fades, cracks, breaks, or corrodes. You are
washed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus who was born to save you.
John prepares us for Jesus’
Advent by showing us the depth of our sin, that he may show us our greater
depth of our Savior’s love in rescuing us from sin. John prepares us by calling
us to repentance. Confessing our sin may not feel like much of a gift or a
blessing, but it is. It’s God’s gift and his work in us. It’s a preparation,
just like John’s Baptism… repentance for
the forgiveness of sins; we confess our sin. And God is faithful and just to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, even our confessing our sin, is
the work of the Holy Spirit.
For unlike our holiday
decorations around the house, we aren’t the ones who turn things around in our
preparation for Jesus’ Advent. In Holy Absolution, Jesus works both repentance
in you and forgiveness for you. God’s Word reveals that we are indeed great
sinners, but that we have a greater Savior in Jesus. Comfort, comfort you my people, says your God. Your warfare is ended.
Your iniquity is pardoned. You have received from the Lord’s hands double
forgiveness for all your sin.
John prepares us for Jesus’
Advent, for his coming among us. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world. And Jesus, the Lamb of God, shepherds you to his Advent feast,
where he feeds you with the Bread of Life, his own body; he lifts up the cup of
salvation, his own blood, for the forgiveness of all your sin.
John prepares us this Advent for the coming
kingdom of Christ, the One who came by way of manger and cross and tomb, the
One who now comes to us by His Word and water and bread and wine, the One who
will come in great glory seeking not works but faith, trust in His Word and
promise.
And unlike our Advent and Christmas parties, you don’t need to
count calories at this feast of forgiveness; Jesus’ mercy and grace for you in
the Lord’s Supper will never rot, spoil, or turn sour; here, at Jesus’ table,
we’re fed with eternal satisfaction.
Come, the table is set. All is ready. You are prepared.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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