Advent 2B - Sermon (2002)

I'm a bit behind the curve again this week...seems it just gets busier and busier! :)

Here's an Advent 2B sermon that I preached in 2002. I won't be preaching it this week, but will probably focus on what it means for the church to be a voice in the wilderness, calling the world to "Prepare the way of the Lord." So, I'm just providing this sermon as reference for anyone who might find it helpful in preparing a sermon, lesson, or devotional.

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon
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Good News!!! If there's anything that we love to share, it's good news. When good news strikes, we rush to tell others about it. We can't wait to get home to tell our spouse or kids, and if the news is good enough, we even tell strangers on the street. When good news comes, it changes our day and our very outlook on life. Dark skies turn blue, minor annoyances disappear, and the world is a brighter place. Good news can transform our state of mind, our perspective on the world, and the way in which we relate to people.

Our text today comes from the Gospel of Mark. Mark sets out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Greek word for Gospel is euaggelion, which is also the source of our word evangelism and evangelist. The most basic meaning of euaggelion is Good News, good message, or good tidings. And so, what Mark sets out to do, is put down in writing the Good News of Jesus. He tells his readers about the Good News which changes lives, transforms relationships, and alters our very perspective.

Mark begins his telling of the Good News unlike any other of the Gospels. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, followed by the visit of the Magi. Luke begins with the foretelling of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, followed by their births and subsequent visits of the shepherds. John begins with a theological affirmation, stating that Jesus is the Living Word of God. Unique to Mark are these opening words to the Gospel, found in Mark 1:1-8:

¹ The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
² It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way. ³ a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"
⁴ And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan river. ⁶ John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸ I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ

Did you notice how Mark begins his Gospel? The very first words of Mark's gospel are, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." He then begins writing, not about Jesus, but about John the Baptist. Mark considers John the Baptist to be the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Mark has Good News to tell, and he begins by talking about John the Baptist--the forerunner to Jesus.

According to Mark, John the Baptist is the beginning of the Good News! For Mark, the Good News doesn't begin with a chorus of angels, lowly shepherds, crowded inns, traveling Wise Men, or even with a baby in a manger. Mark begins by telling us about a strange man living in the desert who wore clothes made out of camel's hair, and aite locusts and honey. We imagine John the Baptist with unkempt hair, a long beard, piercing eyes, and a commanding voice. He appears to have taken a vow similar to that of the ancient Nazirites, to never touch or eat anything unclean, or to shave, or to drink any fermented drinks. God's power was among the ancient Nazirites in marvelous ways, as they were used by God to deliver the Israelites. Breaking that Nazirite vow meant certain defeat, as we remember in the life of Samson who allowed his hair to be cut.

John the Baptist certainly doesn't strike us as an individual that we would be very comfortable around. In fact, if John the Baptist were to suddently appear in today's culture, we might be tempted to lock him up or institutionalize him. And yet, Mark tells us that lots of people went out to the wilderness to hear his words. It appears as though he was never lacking an audience for his words, and that people were attracted to his message. After all, people are attracted to good news. They like to hear good news, and that's exactly what John the Baptist was preaching.

But, we have to ask the questions, "what did the Good News of John the Baptist look like? How did he share the Good News of Jesus Christ?" John the Baptist began his preaching of the Gospel with one word--repent. Mark tells us that John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John came to prepare the people for the Good News ahead.

Advent is a season of preparation. During advent, we are reminded that the King is coming, and that we must prepare ourselves for His arrival. Each one of our Scripture texts today highlighted this theme of preparation for the coming King.

Isaiah chapter 40 was written to the Israelites after spending 200 years in Babylonian exile. 200 years had passed since they were carried off. 200 years of silence from God. And then God speaks through the prophet, comforting the Israelites by telling htem that they have paid for their sin, and that their time of exile is over. They are told to prepare for the coming of God, and that He will set things right. "Prepare the way for the Lord. Make way! Prepare a highway for our God!" the prophet proclaims Before the Israelites could be restored from their captivity in Babylon, they had to prepare theselves--repenting of their former ways, and making way for God to invade their midst and set things right.

You might ask, "How does one prepare the way for the Lord?" The Psalmist answered that question in our call to worship this morning. Psalm 85:13 says, "Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps." The way of the Lord is prepared by righteousness. If we want to make way for God, we should live righteous lives. If we want to hasten His coming, we should live spotlessly and blamelessly. If we want to truly prepare ourselves this Advent season, we must examine our lives, asking Him to search our hearts and to purify us.

Peter speaks of preparation in his second letter, where he warns his readers that they must live lives of patient expectation. They must live in patience, knowing that it may be years before Christ returns, but at the same time, they must live expectantly, knowing that he might return today. Adn then, Peter asks this question, "Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?" In other words, "How will you prepare yourself for His coming?" Peter then answers the question by saying, "You ought to live holy and godly lives,...[making] every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him."

Throughout Scripture, preparation for the coming of God involves examination, repentance, and righteous living. During this Advent season, we must "prepare the way for the Lord" in our own lives. John the Baptist encouraged people to prepare the coming of Jesus by repenting. As we think about repentance, typically a number of words come to mind...regret, remorse, penitence, wrongdoing, sorry, forgivenss, begging mercy, apology. And yet, the scriptural meaning of that word is so much more than any of these synonyms found from the thesaurus.

In Scripture, the word repent carries the meaning of "changing one's mind, behavior, or attitude." Repentance involves not only an apology, but a change in lifestyle. When we repent, we change the direction of our life. We no longer do the things we once did, but we turn from them, and turn to God. A repentant person does not return again to do the things they once did. Instead, they are given a new life, with new direction.

If the Advent season calls us to prepare for the coming of Christ, and that preparation requires that we examine our life, repenting of any wrong that we find, then we must have a clear understanding of what it means to repent.

In order to repent, we must first recognize our current state. I find it interesting that John preached about the baptism of repentance in the desert. The wilderness reminds us of the barren wasteland of sinful living. The wilderness reminds us of the Israelite children who wandered in the wilderness for forty years. The wilderness reminds us of loneliness, dryness, and isolation. And yet, it was in the wilderness where John preached about repentance. In order to repent, we must honestly look at our lives and the direction in which we are heading. We must strip away any facades or pretenses which exist, and look at precisely who we are. It is only by careful scrutiny and honest examination that we can recognize our current state. Often, we must ask God to identify those areas of shortcoming to us, for we are blinded to our own weaknesses and failings.

Once we have honestly looked at ourselves and recognized our current state, we must admit our need for help. Rarely do we have the resources to effect life-change on our own. In a few weeks, the year will change, and people will begin talking about New Year's resolutions again. Comedians will begin making jokes about last year's failed resolutions, and the morning talk show will do a special on how to set realistic resolutions and how to meet them. To me, New Year's resolutions are often a testimony to our own inability to change our lives for the better. While the New Year is a good time to stop and examine our lives, we are likely to fail in our resolutions if we do not include God in that process, and ask him to help change us. Once we recognize our failings, we must admit our need for help. That help can be found through scripture, through prayer, or thorugh accountability in Christian community...but without help, we will not likely experience the transformation we desire.

In order to repent, we must confess our sins. Often, we get uncomfortable at this point, but we forget that God already sees our hearts and minds, and knows of our sins. By confessing those sins, we really are only telling Him what He already knows. By confessing sins, we open up a door of honest communication with our Heavenly Father who already knows more about us than we do ourselves. Mark tells us that "the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River." In order to repent, we must recognize our state, admit our need, and confess to God what He already knows.

The next step of repentance comes naturally. Once we tell someone we've done something wrong against them, we follow up with an apology. We tell them that we're sorry, and ask for forgiveness. Once we have confessed our sins--telling God what He already knows-then it's time to ask Him to forgive us. First John 1:9 offers this encouraging promise to us, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." And so, when we examine our lives and repent, we must ask for--and receive--God's forgiveness and cleansing.

It is the last step of repentance that is sometimes forgotten or left out. As I said earlier, a full definition of repentance involves turning around or changing one's mind. If we stop simply at asking for and receiving forgiveness, we have not truly repented, and we have not truly prepared for His coming. Throughout scripture, repentance is always characterized by a change in behavior. If we continue to live in sin, then we have not truly repented. Repentance is when, by God's grace, the very direction of our life changes. No longer living for self, we live for Him. No longer seeking our glory, we seek His glory. We remember that we exist to live spirit-empowered lives to His greater glory. True repentance is not characterized by asking God for forgiveness for the same set of sins every night before we go to bed. True repentance is characterized by turning from those sins and living our lives differently than we did before. True repentance leads to life-transformation, and can only occur when we ask God to make our paths straight.

I'm reminded of the story of a little girl who was known for her messy desk in school. One day, a visitor to their classroom announced that he was going to hold a contest for the cleanest desk, and that the next time he came, he was going to give a prize out to whichever student had the cleanest desk. One little boy asked him, "Mister...when will you come back? How long do we have?" The kind gentleman replied, "I can't tell you when I will come back, but when i do, I'll bring the prize with me."

The little girl who was known for her very messy desk announced, much to everybody's amuzement, that she was going to win the contest. Her classmates laughed at her, believing that she could never have the cleanest desk.

She replied to their teasing by saying, "Well, I'll just clean my desk every Monday morning."

One child interrupted and said, "But what if he comes back at the end of the week?"

The little girl replied, "Well, then, I'll just clean it every morning."

Another student chimed in, "What if he comes back at the end of the day?"

She thought for a moment and then said, "I know what I'll do! I'll just keep it clean all the time!"

Repentance isn't just coming to church and praying once a week. Repentance isn't just cleaning up once a day. Repentance is more than bowing your head at the end of the day asking God to forgive you for all the things you did that day. Repentance is a change in lifestyle. Repentance means to change your mind, or to turn around...to turn from sin, and turn toward God. Repentance is when, by God's help, you don't just clean up the desk, but you keep the desk clean all the time.

And so, on this second Sunday of Advent, 2002, we ask this question, "What does it mean to prepare the way for the Lord? What does it mean to make straight in the desert a highway for our God?" Individually and corporately, we must examine our lives, asking God to show us where we are, admitting our need for His help, confessing our sins, asking for and receiving forgiveness, and turning from our ways to follow His ways. To prepare the way for the Lord means to Make Way! to Repent! and to Watch! for His coming.

When we truly prepare ourselves for Christmas, we are preparing not only for a celebration of His first coming, but also in anticipation of His second coming. Our preparation is vital, lest we be unprepared when the Master returns. For the day is coming...perhaps just around the corner...when

...our eyes at last shall see Him, thro' His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav'n above.
And He leads His children on to the place where He is gone.

- Once in Royal David's City

Listen close...there's Good News just around the corner. It will change your life. Dark skies will turn blue, minor annoyances will disappear, and the world will be a brighter place. Make Way! Repent! and Watch! that you might be ready when he appears in all His glory!

Benediction: In all your Advent preparations, remain watchful with your eyes on Christ, whose birth in a manger is but a promise of his coming again in glory. And may the blessing of God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--be with you now and forever. Amen. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come!