Sermon 4th December 2022 – 2nd Sunday in Advent
Text: Matthew 3:1-12 – Be prepared
There is a lot of evidence
that Christmas is upon us. Shops are starting to put up decorations. Christmas
catalogues and specials are hitting our mailboxes. Christmas breakups seem to
be happening every couple of days. Maybe the Christmas cards have started to
arrive. There’s a lot of joy about.
Christmas is a special time of
year in the Church as we prepare to celebrate the true occasion of the origin
of Christmas – the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. So it might be surprising
that when we come to church during Advent, the preparation for Christmas, that
the readings don’t really reflect an air of joy and celebration. We are
introduced to an interesting character by the name of John the Baptist. He
doesn’t seem to live a life of joy - John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a
leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. He
doesn’t really exude much rejoicing. He addresses those who had come out to
hear him as a “Brood of Vipers” He doesn’t speak to them about a “gentle Jesus,
meek and mild”.
“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 axe 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.
And, yet, John is the
messenger of Advent. Advent is the preparation for Christmas – the coming of
baby Jesus. John is the advent of God to prepare the people for the coming of
Jesus also. He is - “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” He is preparing the people for
the coming of the promised one of God: “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.
As much as Christmas is a
joyous occasion as we celebrate with friends and family – giving gifts, eating
drinking and celebrating – the true message of Christmas is not the celebration
but what we are celebrating. And please don’t misunderstand me. The
celebrations are fantastic. I too look forward to it. But as Christians we know
that there is a reason for celebrating. And when we forget that we often hear
people’s comments of how they “hate Christmas” because of all the work and
cleaning up – the parking – the crowds. Because that’s all it is. But as
Christians we celebrate that God is entering into our existence – entering as a
fully human being.
This is true reason for
celebrating as Paul calls upon us: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his
people"; and again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all
the peoples praise him"; God didn’t have to do this, as John warned the
people. 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.” God knows we need more than just a Merry Christmas
filled with tinsel and decorations. We need
more than receiving the perfect Christmas item, or latest hi-tech gadget. John spells it out quite clearly what we need
for Christmas. We need a renewed Spirit
that will make us more attentive to God in our daily lives. We need the Holy Spirit to move our faith
beyond the routine of daily life. We need a purging fire that will make the love
and presence of God more real, tangible and intense so it will enlarge our love
of God and neighbor. That’s what John tells us God wants to give us, “The
kingdom of heaven is at hand...”
I don’t know about you – and I
might be wrong – but I sense that there is more excitement this year about
Christmas than we’ve seen for some time. Usually about now we see a lot of
objections to Christmas. We can’t have Christmas carols because it might offend
some people.
We must say “Happy Holidays”
to be inclusive. Councils not putting up decorations. I’m finding that there is
more acceptance and perhaps that’s because for the past couple of years we have
been in the wilderness celebrating Christmas because of Covid. Maybe John’s
voice is the voice we need to hear despite its harshness – to make a path for
Jesus as we celebrate this year.
But what is the path that
Isaiah is talking about that John was sent to prepare? It was the path of repentance.
To repent doesn’t mean to
simply be sorry. To repent means to begin seeing differently, to begin thinking
differently, both of which lead to acting and living differently. Our English
word repent comes from the Greek word – metanoia
Meta meaning to change – like
metamorphosis – metaphysics. Noia – means knowledge
So repentance is not just
feeling sorry for having done the wrong thing but a change of mind – a change
of being. To repent is to change - to live differently, because as we enter a
new mindset or as we develop a new way of seeing, we become aware that our
actions are out of step with God’s will for all creation. And I think that is
what Covid has done – as hard and devastating as it was on our lives it has
changed our outlook on life to value things we devalued or undervalued or took
for granted. Just think of the hunger for gathering together – the hunger for
Holy Communion as we lived in the wilderness. Our relationships – our
gatherings – our celebrations.
Sometimes it takes a time in
the wilderness to see what we truly value. Israel had been in the wilderness
for 400 years since their last prophet and John the Baptist and they were ready
to accept John as their Messiah.
But he said – no. God has
something much better planned for you. There is one coming after me – don’t
settle for less. In fact, John will later say – I must decrease so he may
increase. So the message of John today is to examine what it is in our lives
that we sometimes accept as 2nd best.
What obstacles do we put on
the path for Christ to bring true joy into our lives. We know some of the
cliché answers- money, possessions, careers, sports and the like. But it’s much
deeper than this and our wilderness experience during our lockdowns and curfews
have helped to reveal them. Maybe we took our faith for granted – our freedom
of religious worship for granted. We shouldn’t be afraid of the wilderness. Noah
journeyed the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights before reaching dry land Israel
journeyed the wilderness for 40 years before reaching their Promised Land. Jesus
journeyed the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights while being tempted by Satan
but during that time he was ministered to by the angels.
And now our wilderness
experience, which for many people is still continuing, has hopefully opened our
eyes to God’s presence with us during that time, as he was with Noah, Israel,
Jesus and others, and is now preparing us to celebrate with joy the coming of
Jesus at Christmas and as we wait for him to return in all his glory. Sometimes
in the wilderness we can’t see our way out but we know God will never abandon
us.
Even when there seems
lifelessness, like a dead stump, out of the stump of Jesse God brought a new
shoot to give hope. So may the voice of John calling from wilderness give you
hope with whatever wilderness experience you may be going through to bring you
joy through hope.
And may this time of Advent
prepare you for whatever Christmas brings to you this year as you celebrate
God’s precious gift in a manger – Jesus Christ our Lord.
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