Sermon for the third Sunday in Advent | The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel | Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 | John 1:6-8, 19-28 |
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
What do you wish for?
I wish to go to my car in the dark parking lot after the show without having to look around to make sure no one is lurking.
I wish I could read the newspaper without headlines of violence, dishonesty, or political conflict.
I wish there were no coronavirus, or cancer, or other disease.
What do you wish for?
The very fact that we wish for things means that our world and our lives are not complete.
Things are out of whack. Unbalanced. Broken.
It has been this way for a very long time. Only in the first chapter of the Bible are things right, in harmony, peaceable.
The rest of the Bible is the story of how things have gone wrong and God’s ongoing presence in history to put things right.
But the biblical story is no fairy tale – no simple plot of happily ever after.
It is the story of pain, suffering, and redemption.
It is the story of darkness, groping along, and being led into the light.
It is the story of hard work, facing trials and temptations, overcoming enemies, and being – finally – victorious.
By the time Isaiah 60 and 61 were written, God’s people had been overthrown by both the Assyrian empire and the Babylonian empire and exiled under foreign rule, with the Persian empire bearing down.
God’s people wished to celebrate the holy days together back home in Jerusalem.
They wished for familiar customs and language.
They wished things would go back to the way they used to be, yet knowing full well that whatever the future held for them, it would never be the same.
Sound familiar?
In the 21st. century A.D., we are suffering with the coronavirus pandemic. It is a common enemy, though there is much disagreement about how to cope with it.
We too wish we could celebrate with large gatherings like we used to.
We wish there were an end to masks and physical distancing and isolating and sanitizing.
We wish we could sing again.
We are as God’s people in exile in a foreign land, where we just cannot do things the way they are supposed to be done, the way we used to do them.
And we, too, know that whatever the future holds for us, it will never be the same as the past.
Note that this is not new. God’s people have lived through this before.
God has delivered us before and will do so again. God is faithful.
Listen to God’s promises.
Violence shall no more be heard in your land,
or devastation or destruction be heard within your borders;
you shall call your walls Salvation,
and your gates Praise.
19 The sun shall be no more
your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon
give you light;
but the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory. Isaiah 60:18-19
John the Baptizer came to testify to this light – the Light of God’s Salvation.
His name is Jesus.
He is clothed with the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness.
Because of him, God’s people will sing once more,
they will follow the ways of God’s righteousness once more, and
they will no longer do violence or be victims of violence,
They will no longer grope around in darkness like the blind, but will see clearly the way, the truth, and the life as the way of Jesus.
The darkness of this world
- with its pandemic
- and racism and genocide and
- religious wars and
- political brinkmanship and criminality and
- seductions of sex and gambling and drugs and violence
– the darkness of this world is coming to an end.
God is present in the darkness and is soon bringing us light – the Light that shatters the darkness and illumines the earth.
John reminds us that God is present in the darkness – God does not abandon us in the darkness – God is with us.
The Word of God calling us to trust rings out in the darkness.
The Word of God testifying to the Light calls out in the darkness of the wilderness.
God does not leave us in the darkness, but sends the dawn – the light that rises and dispels the darkness.
His name is Jesus, and he is coming, as surely as the sun rises each day.
For God enters the darkness of humanity and suffers its depths on the cross.
Then, with a glory brighter than the sun, Jesus rises from death.
Here is our redemption! Here is the Sun that never sets!
It is to prepare us for this Dawn of our redemption that John testifies at the Jordan river.
The Word of God calling us to prepare the way
– to make the road of our lives and our hearts straight and level
– is heard in the dark time of waiting and yearning and hoping and trusting.
And as we hear this Word, we prepare for the day when God’s righteousness and praise shall spring forth from God’s people in perfect harmony.
How do we prepare?
- By persevering in trust, even when we cannot see, do not understand, and wonder if the darkness will ever end. Cf. 2 Peter 1:19; 3:8ff
- By living so that when the light shines on us, we will not be ashamed of what it exposes.
- By testifying to the mighty deeds of God who called us out of darkness into his own brilliant light. 1 Peter 2:9
For God, who in the beginning said,
“Let brilliant light shine out of darkness,” is the one who has cascaded his light into us—the brilliant dawning light of the glorious knowledge of God as we gaze into the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6
In this Advent season, as we see the face of Christ in one another –
- be it in person, by Zoom, on Facebook or YouTube –
- be it in the acts of kindness we give and receive
- or in the personal changes of heart and habit we undertake –
we get a glimpse of this Light in the darkness and with eager joy, await the full dawning when Jesus Christ comes at the end of time.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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