This morning we continue with our preparation for the “advent” or coming of our King, Christ the Lord and our celebration of His birth on Christmas morning. This morning all three of our readings continue to hold a double emphasis, one of preparation for Jesus’ first coming, as we see John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus’ earthly ministry, and one of preparation for Jesus’ second coming at the last day.
Our text for this morning is the Gospel lesson and the account of John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus and His earthly ministry. Matthew does not say it specifically here, but elsewhere in his Gospel as well as in the Gospel’s of Mark and Luke we are reminded that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah (Matt. 17:9-13; Mark 9:9-13; Luke 1:17). John came to prepare the way for the Savior of the world. He came as “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
John’s message was not necessarily a politically correct message. He did not tell the people what they wanted to hear, what their itching ears wanted to hear. John was not swayed by public opinion and he did not preach about the felt needs of the people. As a matter of fact, John would not be considered one of your church growth practitioners of his day or even of our day today. Yet, the crowds gathered around him day in and day out to hear the message that he proclaimed. What John preached first and foremost was the real need for repentance and forgiveness. John preached a message of urgency, for the kingdom of heaven is near, after all, Jesus was there, right there in the flesh, ready to begin His own earthly ministry and to give His life for all.
John preached the need for baptism. John’s own baptism was merely a baptism with water. It was an outward sign and washing. He baptizes and he points to the baptism that Jesus would give and institute which would be a greater baptism, a baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism which Jesus institutes is a spiritual baptism, one which comes from outside oneself and works to give faith to the one baptized. The baptism which Jesus gives is one which gives and creates faith, one which strengthens and sustains faith.
John preached a warning against work righteousness. He reminded the people that they were not saved according to who they were, from what family they came, or what they have done. John is not telling the people what they want to hear, what good Christians they can be, or how they can be the people God wants them to be, rather he is telling them what sinners they are and how sinful they are. As he speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees he points out that they are mislead in believing that they have a birthright of salvation and he preached against their mistaken belief that they were saved by their good works which really were not good works at all because they were not in keeping with the will and Word of God.
John preached a warning against unbelief. Remember, the Pharisees and the Sadducees did have faith, but it was faith in the wrong thing or the wrong object. John’s warning is that the object of faith is important. John’s warning is quite appropriate even for us today, because the object of faith does matter. It matters just as much in what or in whom we believe as it does in the fact that we do have faith.
All of John’s preaching pointed to the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior to come. John was the way preparer for Christ. He was not to be the focus of attention, rather he was the one pointing to the one who was to be the focus of attention, Christ, God in human flesh who came to live perfectly, to fulfill all God’s laws, commands, and promises perfectly, to take our sins upon Himself and to give His life for ours on the cross. And that is what John did, pointing to Jesus and decreasing his role.
This morning we gather and we focus on this lesson from Matthew. We focus on the similarities between the people of John’s day and the people of today. And we focus on the similarities between John’s message and the messages we need to hear today.
Today, God comes to us through the means of grace, His Word and Sacraments. He comes to us as we read His Word, as we remember our Baptism, as we confess our sins and hear His word of absolution and as we partake of His body and blood in His holy meal. The Holy Spirit works through these very means to give us faith, to strengthen our faith and to keep us in faith until Christ comes again.
Today, God’s means of grace remind us of our need for forgiveness. God’s Word contains both words of Law and Gospel. We are reminded that we daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness. One quick review of the Ten Commandments reminds us that we have sinned both in the things which we do against God’s Word and in those things which we do not do in helping and being of service to others. We must hear the fact of our sinfulness otherwise we would not know that we need a Savior and if we did not know we need a Savior, we would not turn to Jesus as our Savior.
Today, God’s means of grace reminds us of our need for baptism. We are reminded that baptism is God’s way of coming to us to give us faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. Holy Baptism is the means through which God’s name and water are put on us, marking us and making us one of His own children. Baptism is not our doing, but God’s doing. Just as we did not choose to be born, neither do we choose Jesus nor choose our baptism. It is God who chooses us. It is God who calls us to and gives us faith, forgiveness and life.
Today, God’s means of grace warns us against work righteousness. We are not saved because we are members of a certain family or of a certain church or denomination. We are not saved by the good things we do, as if we could do enough good things to make up for the sins which we commit. We are not saved because we can be the people God’s wants us to be, as a matter of fact, we cannot be the people God wants us to be because we are conceived and born in sin and every inclination of our will is evil all the time.
Today, God’s means of grace warns us against unbelief. As we said earlier, the object of faith is important. It does not matter how sincere our faith is if our faith is in anyone or anything else other than our Creator. My sincere faith in a rock will not save me, rather it will most certainly bring me condemnation. There is only one way to heaven and we are reminded that Jesus says He is “the way, the truth and the life.” Here again, as we have said before, this exclusive claim, that there is one and only one way to heaven, is why we Christians are so hated by the rest of the world, because we believe what God tells us that He is the only way to eternal life in heaven.
And today, God’s means of grace points to the Christ to come. You may have noticed that we do not hear a lot about the Holy Spirit because His job is not to point to Himself but to Christ, and to point to Christ on the cross, that He gave His life that we might have life. I am not here to talk to you about myself and my life, I am here to point to Christ, yes, Christ on the cross and the fact that He gave His life for yours and mine. As we each live our lives as followers of Christ, we are not to point to our own lives, but we are to live our lives in such a way that they point to Christ. I will never forget what the dean of students said my first year in college. He said, “I do not want others to look at me and say, ‘what a great guy he is,’ but ‘what a great God he has.’” So is my hope.
Again, this morning we ask the question, are you ready? Are you ready for Christ’s second coming? If He came today, are you sure that you are ready? If you were to die and go to Him, are you sure you are ready? Are you in the Word, seeking forgiveness, and making use of the sacraments? These are the means that God has given to us to get us ready to meet Him.
Are you ready? Is your faith focused on Christ and His good gifts and blessings? Does the way you live reflect that your priorities are being about the business of the Lord or being about the business of this world? Again, as I said last week, does the way you respond to the Lord with your time, talents and treasure reflect that your life is centered around the Lord and your relationship with Him, or does it reflect that your life is centered around this world, making a name for yourself in this world or amassing a fortune or small fortune to pass on in this world?
As I alluded to a moment ago, if Christ returned tonight would you be ready? I am not sure if there are any more Joe’s Crab Shack restaurants still open and I am not advertizing for them, but I do remember the sign they had on their wall, it read “Free Crabs Tomorrow.” So, if you come back tomorrow, do you really think you will get some free crabs? How many of us live our lives with the thought that Jesus will not return until tomorrow and thus we live our life for today. Will we not be surprised if Jesus were to come back today instead of tomorrow. Certainly then we should live our lives as if Christ would return today and be ready.
Now is the time to be ready. God has fulfilled His first promise, He sent Jesus, true God, born as a true man, who lived perfectly, died perfectly and rose so that we might have forgiveness and life. Before His ascension, Christ promised that He would return. He will fulfill this promise as He fulfilled His first promise. Now is the time to be ready. Now is the day which might be the day of His return. Thanks be to God that He gets us ready, that He strengthens us and keeps us ready. Because by His grace, through faith in Jesus, which He gives to us, we know that we are ready. Thanks be to God for faith, forgiveness, life and salvation. And thanks be to God for stirring in us a response of faith so that we might say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.