Sermon - 2013-12-08

This time of year, we gather together to see the celebration beginning.  We see the halls being decorated with wreaths, tinsel, lights, and other signs that Christmas is nearly here.  Yet Christmas is not here.  We are reminded of the time before Christmas, a time in which we are called to reflect, prepare and live into that life that God is creating right before our very eyes. The greens, the light and the songs remind us of the hope that we live in and the life that God continues to bless us with.

Today, we hear of John the Baptist.  The man who was born to Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, just a few months before the birth of Jesus.  For John was born with the very purpose to prepare the way for Jesus.  Yes, John was born to be a Preacher.  To help people understand that the time of the Messiah was coming and they should prepare their hearts, minds and lives for that day.  Yet, John was not sent to a great school, he did not have a great degree or learn from some great Preacher of the day.  No, John lived in the wilderness.  

It was here in nature that John learned, grew and understood God within the world.  For it was here in the wilderness that John began to understand the complex and simple things within a person’s life.  John was a man who went out in the wilderness to enjoy the world, the very creation of God.  God is still at work within the world.  God speaks to us through the wilderness, the animals, the soil, and the weather.  Yes, the closer you are to the Earth, the closer you are within the wilderness.  There God will find you and will show you his wondrous power.  Now before you men start nudging your wife hinting that “see even the pastor wants me to go hunting, to be closer to God so that I can hear God’s Word while sitting in the tree stand.”  

While God does speak to you and you are surrounded by his wonders, then God speaks to you the very Word of God that you shall need.  For then you have to do the work that God is calling you to do. We do not chose our God, but God chooses us.  Here in the wilderness, John hears the Word of God. But John is sent by God back to the people so that they can hear the Word and receive the Messiah.   

Once the person is filled with the Word of God, as they are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the person can not do anything but do the work that God has laid before them to do. John went into the area around the Jordan and proclaimed the coming of the Messiah.  Now this setting is very important because the Jordan River is the very river that the Hebrew people had to cross in order to enter into the Promised Land. Now they are returning to those same waters in order to enter into the relationship with God once again.  For the Messiah was coming and in order for people to get ready, they needed to repent.  They needed to be cleansed of their old ways and realize that they needed to change from serving themselves and cleansed of their filth that they thought they wanted.  To cleanse the people and help them change, John brings to the people a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People were drawn from near and far to come and hear the words that John spoke and to receive this baptism.  

The people were so desperate for change and wanted a better life for themselves, for their children, and wanted it to be like the days of old when God was with them.  They had an idea of how God was going to change the world, how God would topple the government that oppressed them.  God would save them like he did with their ancestors in the land of Egypt.  God would lead them back to the time of prosperity that their ancestors enjoyed with King David. The people had hopes and dreams that actually blinded them from seeing the Messiah standing right before them. It was not until Jesus came to the waters of the river Jordan and pointed to the man.  John baptizes Jesus, and then the very Word of God is spoken and the Holy Spirit is seen in the world.

However, the water was not what saved the people.  Their repentance, their change that they were called to, did not save them. Not even the world, with all it’s wonders, could save them.  No, these were the things that got in the way.  People too often focus on the thing and not the Word. They focus on the messenger and not the message.  

It was not until the Word of God became flesh and dwelled among them that they were told, "You can not save yourself, but I will save you".  You can not change enough, but I will change you. You can not clean yourself, but I will make you clean. All obstacles, everything, that stood between them and God had been removed.  God was standing right before them.  The work of their salvation, Jesus would do.  Jesus would go on trial and receive the punishment that we deserved, that we placed upon him, and then was sentenced.  Sentenced to death on the cross.  Rising from the dead, Jesus comes back and says the work of your salvation is done.  Now I am sending you forth to do the work of God within the world.  You are to go forth and deliver this Baptism of the forgiveness of sins.  You are to go forth with the Word of God, and you will go forth with the Holy Spirit leading and guiding you every step of the way.