Prepare the Way

A Sermon preached on December 14^th (Advent III) at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, John 1:6-8, 19-28

Last week’s Gospel from Mark was about John the Baptist, and this week’s Gospel from John is too. So clearly the church wants us to think about him – but who on earth is John the Baptist? Last week’s 5 verses in Mark actually told us a little more about him than today’s 10 in John. From Mark we at least know what he wore – something made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist – and what he ate - locusts and wild honey. We also know that he did not have an exaggerated sense of his own importance: “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.” (Mark 1:7) John’s John on the other hand spends more time telling us who he is not – not the Messiah, not Elijah, not the prophet like Moses – than who he is. Though like Mark’s John he also has a bit of a fixation with footwear: “I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” (John 1:27) 

Even in Luke’s Gospel where John’s father, Zechariah gets to make an appearance with his famous song or poem, the Benedictus – Canticle 16 in our prayer books – we really only get to hear what John will do, rather than who he is:

“You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.”

And I suppose we should not be surprised considering that we always refer to John by his function, the Baptist or the baptizer, rather than by a family name or his place of origin. So what was John’s function? According to today’s Gospel he was sent from God as a witness to testify to the light. So John must have knowledge or evidence about this light – Jesus – that no one else has. John calls himself the voice, so he feels called to pass this knowledge on, not to keep it to himself. In fact he points away from himself to the one who is coming after him. And finally it is his role to prepare the way, to make it straight. And one way in which he prepares the way for the Lord is though his proclamation and provision of “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” (Mark 1:4) to cite last week’s Gospel.

But of course this is all in the past, isn’t it? John witnessed, proclaimed, and baptized and prepared the way for the Lord who has already come. So it can’t have anything to do with us. Well I’m afraid it has a lot to do with us and we need to follow in John’s footsteps. For one thing, despite John’s testimony and witness, our Lord is still far too often the one who stands among us but whom many, too many do not know. (John 1:26) For another John’s role was to prepare for Jesus’ first coming. But we believe that he will come again. So who do we prepare for Jesus’ second coming?

I have good news for you, following in John’s footsteps does not mean having to wear clothing of camel’s hair, though nowadays that’s luxury item, nor do have to subsist on locusts and honey, though again they are supposed to be quite flavorsome and to taste like something between chicken and prawns. No, all you do have to do is to call people to repentance, to give people knowledge of salvation, and to proclaim a message of joy and celebration. That’s not much, is it?

Repentance is not restricted to a few sinners who have not kept to some strict moral code. There is a reason why we have a general confession almost every Sunday. We know that we all have not managed to love God with our whole heart the whole time, nor to love our neighbors as ourselves – both by deed and even more often by omission. We experienced individual repentance last week after church when a former warden publicly repented allowing a process of forgiveness by church members to begin – God had already forgiven him. But repentance is not just for individuals, societies also need to repent, to turn around, and to ask for forgiveness. Our role as Christians in John the Baptist’s footsteps is to identify the sins of the societies we live in and to call them and us to repentance. For example I am very concerned about the gradual increase in anti-refugee and anti-foreigner rhetoric that is even coming from mainstream political parties. I wonder if the CSU that was proposing a law requiring all immigrants to speak only German both at home, and in public knew or cared that it would not just impact Turkish immigrants and mosques, but also churches like ours? But even more worrying are the frankly racist demonstrations that are now spreading from Dresden through the whole country. These are occasions for us to call for repentance, for a change of mind and heart, which is what the Biblical Greek word for repentance, metanoia, literally means. Otherwise we will soon be calling for repentance for ourselves for what we have left undone.

And what about giving people knowledge of salvation? One of the many fault lines or dividing lines in Christianity has been and is the understanding of salvation. During the Reformation the flashpoint was do we earn salvation by our deeds and works or is salvation God’s free gift, Grace as we call it? Today’s arguments are more about whether salvation is individual and personal and for the next life or more social and concerning this life. What is being saved, our souls or this world? And what is key, strict moral codes or social justice?

Well the answer is – all of the above. Look at Isaiah’s proclamation, one we know so well as Jesus quotes from this passage to describe his own ministry. This is total salvation: physical for captives and prisoners, spiritual for the brokenhearted and those of a faint spirit. It is individual and social, it is about a right relationship with God and about justice and righteousness, it is for this world and the next for God’s covenant is everlasting. It is something we both receive from God, but also something we are called to help build ourselves. In the end of his letter to the Thessalonians Paul too describes both what the Christians in that city are to do: rejoice, pray, give thanks, follow the prophets, do good, keep away from evil, as well as what they can expect from God: that they will be sanctified entirely, as spiritual beings, as souls – living beings – and as body – social beings. God’s saving act is not just the once for all act of deliverance through Jesus’ death and resurrection, but also a steady effecting of blessing, like the growth of flowers and plants in the garden. (Isaiah 61:11) That’s the knowledge of salvation we are called to impart to the world and I think it is an attractive one.

And what about proclaiming a message of joy and celebration? I admit that joy and celebration are not attributes I would normally associate with John the Baptist – who I’ve always imagined as a rather dour, even frightening (and probably smelly) figure. But joy is what and who he is preparing the way for, for Jesus. A God who is with us. A God who knows our human condition, both our joys and suffering. A God who loves us. A God who comforts us. A God who forgives us. Those are very good reasons for joy and celebration and so it’s no wonder that Paul tells the Thessalonians to “rejoice always,” for if we rejoice, if we experience joy in our God in Christ Jesus, then the message of joy and celebration will proclaim itself!

It was only when praying last week’s Collect during our Wednesday morning Eucharist that I noticed that it actually summarizes what I wanted to say this morning about John’s prophetic ministry and what it means for us. So that is what I will finish with:  

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.