A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on December 8, 2024.

This morning, we are introduced to Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. Jesus’ aunt Elizabeth follows in the steps of great biblical heroines like Sarah and Hannah who could not conceive a child. Gabriel has visited Jesus’ Uncle Zechariah and tells him that though his wife is considered well past child-bearing years, she will give birth to a son and they were to name him John. Furthermore, the angel Gabriel made it clear John would be held in the service of the Lord from the day he was born. Elizabeth and Zechariah were obedient to the angel’s instructions.

John grew up and many believe he joined a devout group of people who lived in a desolate area high above the banks of the Jordan River near the Dead Sea in an area called Qumran. This is the community made famous by the discovery of biblical scrolls by a shepherd boy back in the 1940s. It was a religious community that set itself apart and away from civilization because they wanted to focus on spiritual purity as they awaited the Messiah’s return. John’s community in Qumran was about getting prepared for God’s coming and John was calling people into that preparation mindset.

Listen to the text; hear the Word of God.

Luke 3:1-6

^3.1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip rulerof the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias rulerof Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ 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 the prophet Isaiah (40.3),

“The voice of one crying out 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 be made straight,
    and the rough ways made smooth;
⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”^[1]

When people today hear about John the Baptist, all types of images are conjured up in our imagination. We imagine he is a wild, unkempt-looking man. He wears next to nothing and yells at those who dare to listen to him. He seems like a grumpy religious fundamentalist. He focuses on scaring people into heaven with talk of fire and brimstone. Sadly, today’s text does not paint that type of picture of him at all and neither does is it have him proclaiming a dour, bad news message. The people of the first century would hear John’s words and hear good news, exciting news, that Messiah was coming.

This is the essence of what the Bible calls “good news.” The God of eternity is piercing into our concept of historical time and is coming in the person of the Messiah. When John quotes Isaiah 40, every Jew would know that it was about God declaring that the time of exile was over. The declaration ended warfare against Israel and Jerusalem. The words from Isaiah were quoting a liberation song the Jews had learned in their hearts that when the call to prepare the way of the Lord was given, their King, Messiah and Deliverer was close at hand and preparations needed to be made. Their Lord, they sang, is coming to restore the relationship with the people of Israel! The Messiah is going to set all things right once more. This was grand good news! John is calling them to go about preparations to help facilitate this Messiah’s welcome.

Luke begins his Gospel not with some once-upon-a-time there was this guy who came. No, Luke has Messiah coming into a very precise time-bound historical moment. He does it with great specificity. It would be as though he began chapter three with, “When Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were President and Vice-President of the United States and Donald Trump was President-elect. Kathy Hochul was governor of New York. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand were Senators. Francis was Pope to the Catholic Church. Robert Trawick was the General Presbyter for Albany Presbytery. A country preacher from Chestertown began to say, “Get ready, God’s moving back into the neighborhood!”

Luke places Jesus’ coming smack in the middle of our human history. John’s tone is excited and is resounding Good News to his Jewish audience.

Well, for most of his audience. Some did not like the idea of preparing for the Messiah’s return. You see, that would mean they would have to live differently. Some religious leaders were a little wary of this Messiah coming back. The Messiah’s presence means they will have to start relating to people in a different way. The religious leaders liked the social pecking order and prestige of their positions in the community as they had positions of power. The Romans did not care about the Jewish power structure if it did not interfere with Rome’s goals. Messiah would demand the religious leaders to toe the line he demands. No, the Jewish religious and social power structure, even under Roman rule, was only responsible to the High Priest. Messiah trumps the high priest in the power structure. Just like in churches across America, god-forbid someone come in and change up the status quo because, “We’ve never done it that way before.”

Yet, this is what John is declaring. All flesh will see the salvation, the healing wholeness, of the Lord God. Everything is scrutinized from the Messiah’s point of view from the political, economic, and cultural social structure. The norms of justice and ethics and how people treat and relate with each other is important to the Messiah. Messiah is coming home to restore, reimagine, and revitalize the relationship with His people. John’s message today is one of getting ready to be reintroduced to the Messiah. Our preparations are to get our relationship with the Lord in order so that we can welcome him into our home. This, beloved, was the highest priority that people who heard John’s words made. The season of Advent is our making it our highest priority in our world, community, church, and home as well.

Isn’t this what this whole Christmas thing is about? Isn’t it about God coming and restoring a new relationship with all Creation? Isn’t it about God coming to restore relationships with all people? Isn’t it about a divine reboot of an unjust political, economic, and religious environment and reshaping the ethics and ethos of a culture? Advent preparation involves embracing John’s declaration of the Good News. We must agree to be the agents of transformation in our community. As we were reminded last week, the Church is imperfect. Yet, she is the visible expression of Jesus in the world. She is the vehicle of change and grace for ushering in Messiah’s coming. And that, beloved, requires all of us to turn away from the old ways of religion, politics, and economics. It requires us to reject the power of the culture and begin afresh.

John’s words to us this morning ask us to reflect upon our Advent and Christmas preparations. This reflection involves both our faith community called First Presbyterian Church and our personal homes and lives. Are the preparations geared towards celebrating the Messiah’s arrival, or are they preparations for an enjoyable holiday? An enjoyable holiday is not a bad thing at all, but it is not the necessary one thing John is talking about; let’s remember our word ‘holiday’ is a derivative of ‘holy days.’ John’s call from the wilderness reminds us to reflect upon our own preparations. We must prepare for the Good News Messiah during these holy days. And all of God’s people said, “Amen.”

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801. They cannot be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

^[1] The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.