Sermon: 3rd Sunday in Advent

True confession…

I have always rather liked John the Baptist; his rather earthy flare, unkempt hair, lack of proper bathing habits and locust gourmet leanings. This is a man who loved to rough it and connect in the most uninhibited way with his creator. John the Baptist’s way of self-care and communing with God is every thing I am not. Just look at my perfectly parted hair, enjoyment of all things French cuisine, Brooks Brothers; John the Baptizer and I don’t have a lot outwardly in common. Yet still, I have always been drawn to his story, his prophesy, his desire for a deeper relationship with God.

There are no roses and lollipops, teddy bears and pleasantries with John; he is all business and he doesn’t play around. John the Baptist is the first century precursor to Dr. Phil. John has brought us a wake-up call unlike any other we hear in the gospel stories and my guess is they didn’t like what he had to say then or how he said it and we probably don’t really care for his use of descriptives today. But isn’t that what Advent is really all about? A wakeup call that rings loader than the old fashioned wind-up clocks!

John Dewy reminds us that the graphic language of Advent from a little apocalypse to John the Baptist is really for those of us wrapped up in consumerism, work responsibilities, and dislike for our fellow citizen of God, that we need God shouting at us to get back to the who we have been created to be.

John the Baptist isn’t trying to scare those who are listening, but instead he is trying to get us to think about the seriousness of that preparation for the coming of Christ on the last day.

The challenge for us baptized Christians is that the act of baptism often precedes the life of preparation. It almost seems illogical for us; you wouldn’t invest in the stock market without doing your homework, you hopefully don’t enter into a committed long-term relationship such as marriage without first going through a process of falling in love with each other. The preparatory work in our life as Christians often starts after baptism. And, it’s a preparation that continues until death. What are we preparing for?

Through Christ, we are inheritors of the Kingdom of God. We state; “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done,” this is our preparatory work. The work to be done as inheritors of the Kingdom of God is to be an active participant in this reality, the reality of the incarnation.

If we are going to become who we all ready have created to be 6than we have to throw off that which keeps us from becoming more fully who God intends for us to be. God is more interested in the wheat than in the chaff. And so, we are given another invitation in the life cycle of the church to give our attention to the wheat.

The prophet Zephaniah calls on Israel to turn from idol worship, repent of those that keep them from fully embracing God’s story, and be made new. I am thankful we get some TLC from Zephaniah, for the early chapters and verses sound more like John the Baptist. These final verses from the prophecy tell of the hope and outcome of that process of returning to God. They need to free themselves of that which they carry around like an anvil around their necks in order to rediscover who God calls them into being. This will usher in the Kingdom where God will gather the outcasts and exile and our shame turned into to praise.

Paul the Apostle exhorts his beloved church in Philippi to live more intentionally into that peace and love which passes all understanding. By doing so, we will be able to more authentically represent not only to the world but also to each other an affective example of healing and reconciling nature of God. Taking time to practice those things that have been learned and received, heard and seen, will give us a greater awareness of who God intends for us to be, an affective example of Christ to all in need.

Yet, we return to the Dr. Phil Show. In order for us to grasp what Zephaniah and Paul are saying we have to first attend to those things in our lives that keep us from becoming who Christ calls us to be. You and I must invest the time, energy, and resources…STEWARDSHIP…into who we already are, inheritors of the Kingdom of God. That is what John the Baptist is crying out for us to do in this season of preparation and anticipation. It is a new way of being human.

Advent and all the array of images and scripture that comes with it is really just calling us to check-in with God and ourselves and discover again a new way of being human. Where do we need to repent; change our story? Being human is not about you! We do not live in a vacuum, but within a community, a family!

The only way in which we will ever come to know the gift we have been given through Jesus Christ is by making it a point to look at that which we are loaded down with, those things which we put on ourselves and keep us from embracing the greatest love story ever known.

May you enjoy this season of joy, anticipation, and preparation, and may you discover that voice crying out deep within the wilderness…prepare the way of the Lord!