Sermon: Preparing the Way (2022)

Delivered at Zoar United Methodist Church and Faith United Methodist Church in Greer, South Carolina on December 4, 2022, the Second Sunday in Advent

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Preparing the Way

Audio Version

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In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.  Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit worthy of repentance.  Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.  Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:1-12 (NRSV)

These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord
And these are the days of Your servant Moses
Righteousness being restored
And though these are days of great trial
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

From “Days of Elijah” by Robin Mark

As you probably know, there are two high holy days on the Church calendar: Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ, and Easter, when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.  Each of these times of great joy is preceded by a more somber season of preparation.  Though many people jump straight into celebrating Christmas at this time of year, people who follow the Church calendar observe Advent, a season of waiting and longing.  Some people also consider it to be a season of penitence like Lent.  During Advent, we hear stories of characters from the Gospel who are associated with the coming of Christ, and we hear passages from the Old Testament that are thought to point to the event.  One of these characters is a prophet named John, and one of these passages describes a highway to be built in the wilderness.

The second part of the Book of Isaiah, in which words of warning give way to words of comfort, begins with a scene that some commentators have described as a “heavenly council.”¹  Amid this divine gathering, God calls for words of comfort to spoken to God's people, who are currently far from home.  “Comfort, O Comfort my people,” God says.  “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.”²  The people of God repeatedly broke God's law and ignored God's prophets, and, as a result, they found themselves as exiles in Babylon.  Now God is saying that they have already paid double the price for their unfaithfulness and that their long exile is finally coming to an end.

Another voice in the heavenly council cries out, “In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  The voice says that valleys are to be filled in, that mountains are to be leveled, and that rocky ground is to be made smooth, so that all people may see the glory of God.³  God is at work, and there are to be no obstacles in the way.⁴  God is going to God's people in exile to gather them, as a shepherd would gather his scattered flock, and to lead them home through the wilderness.⁵

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read a quotation from this very scene:

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’”⁶

St. Matthew uses these words from the Book of Isaiah to describe a voice in the Judean wilderness named John, who cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  People come to him in the wilderness to confess their sins, and he baptizes them in the Jordan River as a sign of their penitence.⁷

It could be said that John is a bit eccentric.  He lives in the wilderness, wears strange clothes, and eats strange foods.⁸  Scholar William Barclay suggests that every aspect of John's life is an act of protest against society.  John lives in the wilderness, away from the hustle and bustle of civilization, so that he may hear God's voice in the stillness, silence, and solitude.  By rejecting comfortable clothing and donning the garb of the prophet Elijah, a robe of camel's hair and a leather belt, he reminds people of the ancient prophets who called the people to repent.  The food he forages, like locusts and wild honey, are the kinds of simple foods the poor of his day would eat.⁹

John is a fiery preacher.  To the religious leaders who come to him in the wilderness, he says, “You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit worthy of repentance...  Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”¹⁰  St. Luke tells us in his Gospel that, when the people who come to John ask him what they should do, he offers them practical ways of “bearing fruit worthy of repentance,” ways that they may demonstrate that they are indeed turning their lives around.  He encourages those with excess to share with those who do not have enough, saying, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.”  He urges those in authority not to abuse their power.  To tax collectors, he says, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”  To soldiers, he says, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”¹¹

God is at work once again, and, in the same way that the voice in the heavenly council calls for the removal of all mountains and valleys to build a highway in the wilderness, John, the voice in the wilderness, is calling people to build a highway into their hearts by removing the sinful obstacles from their lives.

We read in the Gospel of Luke that John was born to elderly parents under very unusual circumstances.  One day, a priest named Zechariah was burning incense to God, when a messenger of God named Gabriel appeared to him.  The messenger told the priest that he and his wife Elizabeth would soon have a son who would be filled with the Spirit of God, even before he was born, and that their son would grow up to “turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” and “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  At first, Zechariah wouldn't believe what Gabriel told him, so he was struck dumb.¹²  Nine months later, Zechariah regained the ability to speak upon naming his son John, and he began to prophesy.  He proclaimed that the dawn was about to break upon his people, who had been sitting in darkness, and he prophesied that God had “raised up a mighty savior.”¹³  To his newborn son, he said,

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.¹⁴

Something big is on the horizon, and, as Zechariah prophesied, John has a role to play in it.  Scholar N.T. Wright suggests that it is as if John is waking people up, “splashing cold water all over them and telling them to get ready for the greatest moment in Jewish history, in world history.”¹⁵

The Jewish people of John's day have been suffering with the proverbial boot of the Roman Empire on their necks, in the same way that their ancestors suffered as exiles in Babylon.  For a long time they have awaited a Messiah, a leader anointed by God to drive out their Roman oppressors, restore their kingdom to it's former glory, and reign during an age of peace and prosperity.  John, who understands that his role is to prepare the way, points beyond himself to Someone greater, lest anyone starts to believe that he might be the Messiah.  He says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”¹⁶  John is saying that the One to come is so great that he does not consider himself worthy to serve as a slave to Him.¹⁷  It could be said that, while John only pours water on people, the One to come will pour out the very Spirit of God upon people.

he Gospel writers believe, as do we, that the One for whom John came to prepare the way is Jesus, who will go to John to be baptized before He begins His earthly ministry.¹⁸  Jesus is the Anointed One sent by God, not to save one particular people from the oppression of an evil empire, but rather to save all people from the oppression of sin and death.

John is not the only voice who was sent to prepare the way for Jesus, for Jesus has called others to do the same.  For example, in the Gospel of Luke, we read that, at one point, Jesus sends out as many as seventy-two messengers in pairs to all of the places He is planning to visit.  He authorizes them to heal people who are sick and instructs them to proclaim to all who will listen, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”¹⁹  When these messengers return and joyfully report the miracles they have witnessed, Jesus says to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.”²⁰

In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that one day, after Jesus has ascended to Heaven, His disciples are gathered together in their meeting place when they hear the sound a loud rushing wind.  Suddenly, tongues of fire appear in their midst and rest upon each of them, and they find themselves speaking fluently in languages they did not know previously.²¹  The Disciples have been baptized with the Holy Spirit, just as John prophesied, and now they are able to use their voices in new ways.  They begin to proclaim to people of all nations that the crucified and risen Jesus is the true Lord of this world;²² they invite people to be baptized in His name so that they too may receive the Holy Spirit;²³ and they urge people to repent in preparation for His return.²⁴

Advent is a time of longing, waiting, and preparing.  In the same way that the Jewish people of John's day long to be set free from their oppressors, we long for the day when the world is set to rights.  In the same way that they waited for a king to come and save them, we wait for Christ, our King and our Savior, to return.  We prepare not just to commemorate Christ's birth on Christmas but more importantly to celebrate the day when, at long last, Christ's kingdom is fully realized on earth.

So how can we respond to the Advent call to “prepare the way of the Lord”?

First, we can prepare the way of the Lord by heeding the voices in the wilderness who are calling us to change our ways.  John's announcement that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” comes with a call to repentance, because the reign of Christ will bring great change.  The Greek word metanoia, which is translated into English as “repentance,” describes a change of mind and heart that results in a change in behavior.  Perhaps best way to prepare for the reign of Christ on earth is to allow Christ to reign in our lives right now.

Remember that it is the Holy Spirit, with whom Christ has baptized us, that enables us to change.  John Wesley once said that, when we are confronted with our sinfulness, we can experience peace if we remain focused on the grace of God and on the change it will effect in our lives.²⁵  Drawing from the imagery of the wilderness highway in the Book of Isaiah, he said,
So shall the sense of the sinfulness you feel, on the one hand, and of the holiness you expect, on the other, both contribute to establish your peace, and to make it flow as a river.  So shall that peace flow on with an even stream, in spite of all those mountains of ungodliness, which shall become a plain in the day when the Lord cometh to take full possession of your heart. ²⁶

Second, we can prepare the way of the Lord by being voices in the wilderness.  As followers of Jesus, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit who has been poured out upon us.  We too can challenge people to do what is right, like John; we too can act as agents of healing, like Jesus' messengers; and we too can offer good news to all who will listen, like the Apostles.  As we look to the past and future actions of God in Jesus Christ, may we not forget that God is always at work, even now.  God was at work in the days of the Exile; God was at work in the days of Jesus; and God is at work today.  A certain morning prayer I like says that God's love is “new every morning” and that “all day long [God is] working for good in the world.”²⁷  People need to hear the good news that, as St. Paul writes, “God works all things together for good.”²⁸

For many of us, the last few years have felt like an age of exile or a long trek through the wilderness.  We might not be far from home geographically like the Jewish exiles were, but many of us, myself included, certainly don't feel like we are where we were just a few years ago.  The pandemic brought a lot of radical changes into our lives, and in many ways many of us have not quite been able to return to normal.  Many people are suffering long-term health problems, and many people have lost friends and family members.  I personally lost a grandmother and a coworker to the ravages of COVID-19, and I am still living with a lot of anxiety that I did not have before the pandemic.  People still need to hear the good news that God is at work, even during difficult times, and that the trials we face in this life are not the end of the story.

The last few years have also shown us that as a society we have reasons to repent.  When we should have been working together to get through a difficult time, we managed to become even more divided.  When we should have put our own preferences aside for the common good, we proclaimed, “My will be done!”  We treated mild inconveniences as grave injustices, and, when we couldn't support our choices with the facts, we embraced lies.  A “brood of vipers” we are indeed!  It would seem that we still have a lot to learn about denying ourselves and taking up our crosses, as Jesus taught.²⁹

God is always at work, redeeming the world.  As you remember God's sending us a Savior two thousand years ago, may you remember how God has saved you personally.  As you look forward to our Savior's return to reign and to set the world to rights, may you anticipate how the Holy Spirit will continue to set things right in your own life.  As you ponder how God is at work right now, may you consider how God might be calling you personally to help “prepare the way of the Lord.”

Amen.


Notes:

1. Joel B. Green, William H. Willimon, et al.  The Wesley Study Bible (NRSV).  2009, Abingdon Press.  p. 860
2. Isaiah 40:1-2 (NRSV)
3. Isaiah 40:3-5 (NRSV)
4. The Wesley Study Bible, p. 861
5. Isaiah 40:10-11
6. Matthew 3:3 (NRSV)
7. Matthew 3:1-2, 5-6 (NRSV)
8. Matthew 3:4
9. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark.  2001, Saint Andrew Press. pp. 16-17
10. Matthew 3:7-8, 10 (NRSV)
11. Luke 3:10-14 (NRSV)
12. Luke 1:5-20
13. Luke 1:59-79 (NRSV)
14. Luke 1:76-77 (NRSV)
15. N.T. Wright.  Mark for Everyone.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 2
16. Matthew 3:11 (NRSV)
17. Barclay, p. 18
18. Matthew 3:13
19. Luke 10:1-9
20. Luke 10:17-18 (NRSV)
21. Acts 2:1-4
22. Acts 2:36
23. Acts 2:38
24. Acts 3:19-21
25. John Wesley.  Sermon 42: “Satan's Devices.”  sec. II.2
26. ibid.
27. https://www.ministrymatters.com/files/604/An%20Order%20for%20Morning%20and%20Evening%20Prayer.pdf
28. Romans 8:28 (CEB)
29. Matthew 16:24

St. John the Baptist Preaching was painted by Mattia Preti in the 17th century.