Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Sermon for Advent 2: "Prepared"

+ 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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