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Second Sunday in Advent, 12/06/2015
Sermon on Luke :1:68-79; 3:1-6, by Beth A. Schlegel
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Today’s preacher is Zechariah - husband of Elizabeth and father of John.
His sermon is the Benedictus - which we sang together as our Psalmody just a few moments ago.
What a wonderful sermon this is!
* It brings to a close the age of prophecy which could only point to the distant future
* and it opens the age of preaching which points to the God who is here and now.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, he has come to his people and set them free.
He has come - what good news! The visitation of God is now.
The salvation of God is present.
Zechariah speaks of God’s presence to deliver his people
much like those in an airport awaiting the arrival of loved ones on a delayed flight
might watch the plane still in the air making its landing pattern and say:
“Here comes Aunt Betsy now! She’s here! She’s finally here!”
Zechariah’s joy cannot be contained -- for this visitation of God is no overnight stop, it is no obligatory inspection of branch offices, it is not a brief vacation from heaven’s business;
NO, this visitation from God is none other than the full accomplishment of heaven’s business.
It is nothing less than God’s kingdom come, God’s will being done,
It is God hallowing his name among us, his people.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, he has come to his people and set them free. We cry joyfully!
OF course there are those -- sadly -- who hear this sermon of Zechariah and don’t believe it’s for them.
* They hear it and say to themselves: “I don’t belong to Israel;
* I am not a slave to be set free;
* I have no enemies intimidating me, blackmailing me, threatening my life;
* No one hates me.
* I already worship without fear; I am already holy and righteous
* - I live a good life, I never hurt anyone,
* I pay my taxes and have my car inspected. I even brush and floss twice a day.
Me -- confess sins and receive forgiveness? Ha! HA Ha!
Now if you want sinners, let me tell you about my neighbor Jake. . . .
But these blind, stubborn, hard-hearted people condemn themselves,
for they do not see their sin and its life-threatening consequences.
They cannot open their hearts to receive the Savior who has come
* and their sins, therefore, remain unforgiven.
* We should all tremble at the possibility and pray: Lord, have mercy and preserve us from this, we beg you!
Zechariah’s son John went out into the wilderness dressed in funny clothes for a preacher
- poor rags - and he ate whatever poor scraps he could find in a place that grows no food.
Why did John do this?
I wonder if he didn’t do this precisely so that we could see with our eyes where sin drives us -- to poverty and starvation.
This is what John embodies –
- but then with his mouth he gives God’s people - and they are God’s people who hear his Word and believe it!
- by the Word of God he gives us knowledge of salvation.
Salvation has become such an overused term, that it has the danger of being empty.
But when it is God’s salvation, it means what it says.
When a swimmer takes a lifesaving course, it is to learn to save the life of those who would otherwise drown.
* God’s salvation rescues us from the danger that surrounds us because of our sin.
* God’s salvation saves our very life for eternity.
* God’s salvation carries us through the raging waters of Baptism, lifts our weak body onto the firm foundation of his Word and revives us with his Holy Spirit.
All of this he accomplishes by the forgiveness of our sin in Jesus Christ!
John preaches out in the wilderness to say to those who hear, “You can continue in your wicked ways and end up as I am. (pointing to himself, poor and starving and who would lose his head).
OR (pointing to Christ) “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
Jesus - Immanuel - God with us - is the salvation we long for which comes to us here and now, for unlike John, he is risen from the dead.
It is God’s tender compassion toward us, Zechariah tells us, that compels him to come in the flesh - in Jesus.
He could have put a sign on creation that reads: Live at your own risk! and left us all to ourselves.
but instead, God provided lifeguards - the Commandments, the Psalms, the Prophets, and now John -
Messengers of his Word to show us the way of life.
But when our life was in greatest danger, he sent his Son
- not a messenger, but the Word himself
- so that all who put their trust in him will find refuge and safety.
It is this living Word of God -- Jesus -- who is present here and now to set us, his people, free by himself forgiving our sins.
It is Jesus who now says to us: “You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High. . . for you will go before me to prepare my way, to give my people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” And sends us out into the world to do exactly that.
God uses our mouths to proclaim the Good News of his salvation
+ and he uses our fingers to point to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, the Savior;
+ and he uses us to speak to others the forgiveness which Jesus Christ himself speaks to us.
In this season, when even the unbelieving world speaks of peace and joy and hope -
* there is no more lasting peace
* no greater joy
* and no truer hope
than the news that Jesus bore the sins of all upon himself.
Just as the lifeguard, seeing a swimmer drowning and calling out for help,
does not stop to inquire as to whether the person is worth saving,
but just dives in to save that person,
so there is no penitent sinner, crying “Lord have mercy!”, whose wrongdoing is so great that Jesus will not have mercy and forgive.
Christ’s forgiveness of our sin gives us new life - life we otherwise would not have.
Jesus’ forgiveness shines light into the darkness and guides our lost feet onto the way of life.
Jesus’ forgiveness changes us from slaves of sin to children of God and heirs to the Kingdom of heaven. And our lives change to reflect that new identity.
And so we, together with the whole Christian church on earth and in heaven, sing with gladness and joy:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, he has come to his people and set them free. Amen