Third Sunday in Advent

Third Sunday in Advent (B)

December 17, 2023

Text: John 1:6-8, 19-28

            What do you look for in a sermon?  What makes a sermon good in your estimation?

            St. John the Baptist doesn’t care.  And neither do I. 

            John has a Word to proclaim.  A Word from God.  He is to cry out in the wilderness, whether anyone approves, or not; whether anyone cares to hear him, or not.  He is sent to prepare the way of the Lord, to go before Him, and herald His arrival, that the people may receive Him.  How?  We heard it last week.  Repentance.  John is to call you out for your sins.  He is to preach God’s Law in its full severity, drawing you into the baptismal waters, driving you to confess your sins.  And then, the Gospel in all its sweetness.  The forgiveness of sins.  John is to point you to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the One coming after John, the greater One, the One in anticipation of whom John baptizes with water, the One who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit. 

            When the priests and Levites, sent by the Pharisees, come to question John, clearly unhappy with his sermons and his ministry… Who are you to say such things?  Who are you to do such things?  Who authorized you to preach this message?  Who authorized you to baptize in this way?... John does not play their game.  He keeps on saying what he’s been given to say.  He keeps on doing what he’s been given to do.  All of which is unswervingly focused on the coming Messiah.  He is to point away from himself, and to the Savior.  When questioned concerning himself, he mostly says who he is not.  “I am not the Christ.  I am not Elijah.  I am not the Prophet.  And I am not worthy.  But here is what I am… I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.”

            The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare.  Make straight.  Because the true Light, which enlightens everyone, is coming into the world, to shine in the darkness, and the darkness will not, and cannot overcome it.  John is not the Light, but he is sent from God to bear witness to the Light, to preach the Light, to shine the Light into the darkness by his preaching.

            And that is what you should look for in a sermon.  That is the criteria by which you should deem a sermon good.  A sermon that shines the Light into all the dark places of your life, your mind, your heart.  Exposing the darkness.  Defeating the darkness.  And every dark misdeed.  That necessarily means preaching you don’t like.  Preaching that makes you uncomfortable.  Preaching that calls a thing what it is, calls evil “evil,” and good “good.”  Preaching that calls you to repentance for sins you like to do, and that you justify in your mind.  Preaching that rips you out of yourself, crucifies your sinful flesh, changes your mind, turns you from self and every self-obsession, to the God who created you and loves you, the God who became incarnate to suffer and redeem you, the God who would possess you whole, body and soul, sanctifying you to be His own.

            John is entirely caught up into that.  With single-minded devotion, he is obsessed with Christ.  Well, that’s what you should want in a preacher.  That’s what you should want in preaching.  But what do people think they want in a preacher and his preaching?  First of all, nobody wants to be made to feel bad about anything they think, say, or do.  They don’t want their preconceptions challenged.  They don’t want to have to change their minds.  They don’t ever want to be told they are wrong.  That’s what they don’t want.  What they do want, I suppose, may differ with every individual.  There are as many opinions as there are people.  Some want a good-looking preacher with a charismatic personality to inspire them with excitement for God.  Some want to be entertained, others educated, others to receive practical tips dressed up as biblical principles for living healthy, wealthy, and wise.  Just about everybody wants their own opinions confirmed as true, and one and all would like to hear that their own behavior is righteous after all.  Some would like clever sermon illustrations, others flashy Power-Point on a screen.  Some want poetic prose and eloquent rhetoric, while others want homespun and folksy familiarity.  And some (and perhaps they are the majority) just want the sermon over with already.  Perhaps you could add some other criteria to the list.  Because the “they” and “them” in these examples, should really read “you” and “me.” 

            John doesn’t care about any of that.  And as your preacher here in this place, neither do I.

            Christ.  It’s all about Christ.  The voice cries in this wilderness to prepare you to receive Christ, who comes to you.  And not just to prepare you.  We may be in the Season of Advent, but we are Christmas people, and Christ is here, now, on the scene.  The voice not only cries to prepare you to receive Him, but to give Him to you.  And to bring you into Him.

            His death for your sins.  His resurrection for your life.  His washing away of your iniquities.  His righteousness as your own.  His Spirit, now upon you and in you.  His Father, your Father, and you a beloved child of God.  His body.  His blood.  Given and shed for you, now given to you to eat and to drink.  A Feast of salvation.  A Repast of joy. 

            And see, when He is in you in that way, and you are in Him, caught up in the River of Life flowing from His pierced side, carried along by His living and life-giving Spirit... when you are brought into such single-minded devotion to Him, obsession with Christ and the things that come from Christ… you don’t mind finding out you’re wrong and that you’ve sinned in thought, word, and deed, because Christ is now your right-ness, your righteousness, and your mind is now captivated by Him.  Never mind entertainment, education, and practical tips for worldly prosperity.  Your attention is fixed on Him, as He fills you with all wisdom and knowledge, forming and informing every facet of your life, and prospering you eternally.  You want your opinions, now, to be conformed to His judgments, and your behavior, to His righteousness. 

            This newness of attitude, this newness of life, is given to you in the preaching.  Whether the words flow forth with high and lofty elegance, or in weakness and simplicity.  Whether the preacher is clever and good-looking, or the man now standing before you.  Because the Word preached is not the preacher’s word, and the power of that Word has nothing to do with the preacher’s personality.  And, by the way, the Word preached is not your word, to do what you demand with it.  And the power of that Word has nothing to do with your personality or personal felt needs.

            The Word is the speaking of God.  He sends the preacher.  To speak it to you.  “Who are you to say such things to me,” you may say.  The preacher is nobody, and no one should be under any illusions about that, least of all the preacher himself.  “Who authorized you to say and do such things,” you may further enquire, and the question, actually, is not wrong.  God did.  God authorizes this preaching and ministry.  God sent the Prophets, including St. John.  God sent the Apostles.  And God sends the called and ordained servants of His Word, to preach what He tells them, and to preach it faithfully.  Whether people will hear, or refuse to hear.  God has given the Office of the Holy Ministry for this purpose.

            I pray that you will hear and heed the preaching.  Repent and believe the Good News.  But I pray for even more for you.  I pray that you would fall into a deep and enduring and all-encompassing love for your Savior, who loves you and gave Himself for you.  That you would receive Him in all His fullness, with all His gifts.  I pray that you would hang on His every Word, enthralled by His Scriptures, yearning for ever deeper understanding, that it would form all you think, say, and do.  I pray that the Spirit would stir your heart and mind, always, and in everything, with the faith, and hope, and love, and JOY of Christ Jesus, as a blood-bought child of your heavenly Father.  And that such stirrings then would flow outward, spill over, in love for one another, and for the world that God so loves.  That is what preaching can accomplish in you.  The Word and the Sacraments.  Nothing else can do it.  It is all God’s work.  The Spirit is in the Word.  He makes it a powerful Word, to accomplish what He says.

            And now, I have preached it to you, which is to say, the gift is yours, if you will have it.  Beloved, have it.  Do not refuse it.  Lean into it.  Embrace it.  Cling to it.  Live in it.  Be obsessed.  Let it form you.  Let it permeate you.  Let it infuse all your relationships.  Let it prepare you by making the way straight.  Let it give you Christ.  Christ is yours.  You are Christ’s.  That is your life.  And that is all St. John cares about.  And me, too.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.