Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
When I was a kid, we got an above ground swimming pool. It
was about 3’ deep and about 16’ across. It was going to be my job to do the
site prep: remove the sod and level the ground at the place where the pool
would sit in the yard. If it’s not flat and level, at best, you won’t get a
full 3’ of water across the pool; at worst, a side could collapse from the
uneven pressure.
If you are curious, a fifteen foot circle has an area of
just a shade over 200 square feet. It was also about 3” high on one side. It
was hot, and the ground was hard, and Dad had to help me finish it that
evening, putting a straight edge across the surface so we knew where to scrape
a little more here and add a little there. The next day, we laid in a couple
inches of sand and stretched a tarp across it, set up the pool walls, put in
the liner, and began filling with water. When it was all said and done, it
wasn’t quite perfect – as I recall, one side was still a bit higher than the
other – but it was close enough for a bunch of kids to cool off in on a hot
summer day and get us out of our moms’ hair.
John the Baptizer was not talking about site prep for
swimming pools, or sidewalks, or even the foundation of a house when he was
quoting from the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.” The
Baptizer was speaking to the people of Israel and he was calling them to
repentance.
We’ve spoken of repentance before. You remember, the Small
Catechism defines repentance as sorrow for one’s sin and faith that trusts in
the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ. Christian repentance is grounded in the cross
of Jesus – His complete work and His complete and free gift for you, His
beloved. There is change involved – repent means “turn,” after all – changing one’s
behavior to be in line an in tune with the footsteps of Jesus. But, generally,
I think we have a rather soft idea of repentance.
Do not think of John’s preaching of repentance in this way. John
would have a much more radical, severe changing of heart. A better way to
understand the Baptizer’s call is “Be converted!” It’s the equivalent to Hamlet
saying, “there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.” Both Israel and
Jerusalem are corrupt from top to bottom, and that includes you, Pharisees, and
you, Saducees, and all who are following after you thinking you are good enough,
holy enough, and righteous enough to march into the Kingdom of God on your own
merits. Want to play the “son of Abraham card”? That’s not going to get you
there. Remember, Abraham lived by faith in the promises of God; you, you all
are placing your faith in your own way of living. You are lost – so lost, you are in danger of
eternal separation from God in the fires of hell. Change your life, change your
thinking, change where you place your trust and faith.
You have forgotten the commands of God and, more important,
you have forgotten the promises of God and unless you repent, unless you are
completely changed in your hearts, minds, and lives by the Spirit of God, you
too shall likewise perish. Prepare the way of the Lord, you brood of vipers;
make His paths straight, you slithering snakes in the grass, because the
Kingdom is at hand and He is coming with a vengeance, with fire and pitchforks
and wrath that knows no limits. You need to get yourself out to the Jordan.
Repent and be baptized. You need to redo the Red Sea. You need to redo the
Jordan. You need to redo the return from Babylon. You need to re-turn to the
Lord your God and prepare because the reign of God stands near in the work of
the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.
St. Matthew does not tell us know the message was received. Did
John succeed? Did the Holy Spirit drive the words of his preaching, penetrating
their unconverted hearts and minds? Did they listen? Did they repent? The text
does not say. We are left wondering – wondering why Matthew doesn’t tell us
this piece of information, but also wondering what of the faithfulness of these
being-lost ones. Others were coming; others were repenting; others were being
baptized; others were believing. But these – these, there is no story and no
happy ending. So, the question remains: did they repent? We don’t know.
There is another question here, one that lays below the
surface. Do you hear the voice of the Prophets that echoes through the
centuries. John and Isaiah continue to call to God’s people of every epoch,
age, eon and generation: “Prepare the way of the Lord: make His paths
straight.” To be sure, unlike Isaiah, we know that Christ has come. Unlike
John, we know that Christ came, not as an axe-wielding, pitchfork-bearing
fire-breathing bringer of damnation. Instead, He bore the sins of the world
into His own body, receiving the wrath of God Himself, reconciling the world to
God with His own death. He was numbered with the sinners, broke bread with
transgressors, touched lepers, forgave prostitutes, called tax collectors to
follow. He even absolved those who killed Him, and the one who mocked and then
confessed faith while hanging next to Him.
But, the words still call us to prepare. So, if the
camel-haired, leather-strapped, wild-haired Son of Zechariah suddenly appeared,
picking a grasshopper’s leg from between his teeth with a dirty fingernail
while honey glistened from his bushy beard strode down the aisle, turned, and
the voice cried from the wilderness of Mount Zion of Mission Valley, “Prepare
the way of the Lord: make His paths straight,” what would he mean?
Repent, of course. In Advent, there is plenty to repent of:
the materialism of the world around us, our desire for always more, for not
being content with what we have, for being jealous of what some have, for a bit
of arrogance in having more than what others have. Repent for being too busy to
find time with Jesus in His Word, for being too tired to be present when He
invites us to His table, for being too proud that instead of pretending to be
strong, we need to be weak among the body of believers for help and care. And, both our repentance and our being
baptized are grounded in the fullness of our salvation by grace through faith.
Because you are forgiven, because you are redeemed, because you are united with
Christ, because you are sanctified, because you declared holy by the Father, I
dare not call you broods of vipers, nor do I call you snakes, Pharisees or
Saducees. That is, at best unfair; at worst, it is completely inaccurate.
If John were here, what would his message mean? It would
mean this: strip away anything that would get in the way of Christ’s coming to
you right now. Prepare the way; make the paths straight. Knock down mountains
of business that prevent you from welcoming the Christ today. Fill in the
potholes of foolishness, there’s always
time to prepare. Straighten the curves of arrogance, “He’s waited this long…why
the fuss now?” Get rid of the boulders that trip you up with distractions.
Instead, with faith, with longing, with anticipation, with prayerful mindedness
and with Advent anticipation, know that the Kingdom is here. He is at Hand. Repent.
Come to the Table. Christ is here, Sacramentally present in bread and wine, in
body and blood, to strengthen you on this Advent journey as you await the day
He comes, not merely in bread and wine, but in His risen Glory and you see Him
as He is.
Enriched with that spiritually-strengthening food and drink,
empowered by the Spirit of God, enlivened by His word, every day prepare that
Jesus comes today – not tomorrow, not next week, month, year, or decade – He comes
today. Knock down the mountains and fill in the potholes that get in the way of
you welcoming Him with faith, hope and love. Amen.
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