Advent II, Cycle C

December 7, 2003

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:  Malachi 3:1-4;  Philippians 1:3-11;  St. Luke 3:1-6

What is all this Advent business about?  I know some of us, Lutherans, have it all down-pat--or think we do.  Raised in Lutheranism, or something like it, Advent isn't foreign--but familiar; a return to familiar themes, familiar hymns, and a certain familiarity with the liturgical purposes of this time in the Church Year.  Advent, oh, yeah--Advent;  the four weeks leading up to Christmas--four weeks of preparing for Christmas marked by the lighting of four candles each week as a kind of "countdown" to the "big shew".  But--is that all that Advent is?  A countdown?  Like the big ball dropping over Times Square on New Years eve--except, it's candles, in a circle?  Not all of us were raised Lutheran, you know--and some of us Lutherans were not schooled all too well, in… Lutheranism.  So, this Second Sunday in Advent, for those of us who still aren't quite sure what else we ought to making of this Blue Season--it's not too late to ask, "What is this Advent business all about?"

     To find that answer, this morning, we turn to our lessons--in particular, to our gospel lesson from St. Luke, and as that's our text for the Second Sunday in Advent, it's fair to ask our gospel lesson--what's this Advent business all about?  And how does our lesson answer?  Well, as Advent means, literally, "coming", or arrival, our lesson tells us about one John, son of Zechariah, who was calling Israel to prepare for the Advent, the arrival, of one known throughout history as the Messiah.  We know the Messiah, as the Christ, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God.  In fact, prophets had been talking about this Messiah for generations, as we hear about Him, also, in our first lesson from the book of the prophet Malachi, who, speaking the words of the Lord, said, "See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.  The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight--indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts."  The messenger, whom the Lord was sending, can be understood to be both Malachi, and John, son of Zechariah--both of whom were sent to prepare the way of the coming of Messiah--the Christ--who would come to purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord God in righteousness.  The Christ was coming--but before he would come, there had to be preparations.  Malachi spoke of these preparations, as did the prophet Isaiah--but for a long time, no one really did anything about it.  As is the case with we sorry humans, we can hear urgent, impassioned calls to prepare--to make the path ready-- only so many times, until they become commonplace, and we go about our business as if we have all the time in the world to prepare.  "Messiah is coming?" we say.  Yeah, we heard that already--hundreds of years ago.  We'll get around to it--someday.  That was exactly the attitude of Israel, in the time between Malachi, and John.  The people were expecting a Messiah to come one day, just not one day in the near future.  So, they went about their daily routines without any thought to preparation for the Messiah's advent.  In fact, now that the Romans were occupying their country, they thought sure that when the Messiah came, he would be a ruler after the order of King David, who would save Israel, in a corporate sense--a Messianic King who would raise an army, attack the Romans and throw them out on their ear--and then take his rightful place on the throne of David, in Jerusalem.  Jews had pretty much come to think that salvation would come to them--in the form of deliverance from occupation--as deliverance from Rome--salvation, as a people--not as individuals.  Which meant, practically enough, that personal obedience, individual adherence to God's commands, had been ignored, or replaced by a watching and waiting for Messiah to come free them from the tyranny of the Romans.  That's what the coming of the Kingdom meant to most Jews--national salvation and a reign of peace, nationally.  The coming of the Kingdom of God, then, had little to do with individual behavior, obedience to divine commands, and one's personal relationship with God.  Most people were looking for the salvation of Israel, as a whole--so religion was important for the Temple, and the priests, and the religious establishment--not for individuals.  For the most part, religion was separate from the everyday lives of Jews in Israel--and folks went about their activities with no thought about personal preparation for the coming of the Lord. 

     Which is why, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, who was living a happy, contented ascetic life, in the wilderness, apart from the worldly, secular, lost people of Israel.  That's why John lived out in the wilderness in the first place--to reject the faithlessness of the Israelites--to not be stained by contact with the sinful Jews.  After centuries of prophetic silence, as Israel was lulled into moral laxitude, the Word of God came to John, to call him to leave his wilderness refuge, to call him to return to Israel for one purpose, and one purpose only--to be a new prophet, speaking in the old ways;  to be a new prophet, speaking again, the messianic prophecies;  to be a new prophet, attempting to stir up Israel, to jab the Israelites in the ribs, to get their attention, to tell them that salvation--the reign of God would not come in military terms, but that the reign of God would come near--and it would be personal!  John was sent to tell the Israelites that God was not happy with their disobedience, their faithlessness, their lack of preparation and readiness for the coming of the Messiah.  In short, John was sent to proclaim repentance--to call the people to repent of their sins--their lukewarm faith, their moral laxitude;  to call them to return to the Lord God, not first as a nation, but first, as individuals;  first, as persons, for whom and to whom the Messiah would come.  To symbolize this repentance, John called the people to be washed--to submit to a ritual cleansing that heretofore had been only for non-Jews, pagans converting to Judaism.  Before this time, Jews thought themselves clean and acceptable to God.  Before this time it would have been an insult to self-respecting Jews to call them to be washed, to be baptized, as if they were outside the covenant community--as if they were not already Jews!  But John's call made it clear--by their behavior, they had become unclean.  By their casual disobedience, they had turned away from God, and in His eyes, they were no better than pagans.  John was telling the Jews that they were stained, dirty before God--sinful, in need, themselves, of first, true repentance, then a ritual, ceremonial cleansing, in baptism, that would be the sign of a new life--a new relationship with God;  a relationship that would, indeed, make one ready for the coming of God's anticipated Savior--Messiah.  And just as that call was for the Jews, who thought they were already clean and religious, so also does that call come to us, this Second Sunday in Advent.  To remind us we're not so clean and religious as we might think we are.  To confront us with the fact that--to make ourselves ready for Messiah, we, too, need the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

     And you might protest, "But, I'm already baptized!  You're not saying I need to be baptized, again, are you?"  No, what we need is not a second baptism;  what we need, those of us who have been baptized--is to live a life, of baptism--of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. We need to make baptism and repentance, not something that happened once, a long time ago, and now it's over;  rather, it is to be something we live each day of our lives.  And how does one do that?

     Martin Luther began his 95 Theses--which inaugurated, in a sense, the Reformation, by writing, "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'repent', he intended that the entire life of a believer be one of repentance."  Luther also said that a believer should return, daily, to the waters of baptism, drowning that old adam and eve in us that needs to be put to death, to be raised up, as the new man and woman that Christ is making of us.

     Christians are to repent and be baptized the first time, as an initiation into a life of repentance and return to baptism--so that our life is an ongoing process of dying and rising;  of repenting and being forgiven;  of turning away from sin and disobedience, turning toward God and His will for us.  The problem Luther had with the medieval Church was that it translated the Latin, "penitentia"--as "doing penance" rather than "repenting".  People in Luther's time were good at doing penance--doing what the Church or priest told you to--to make up for the penalty for your sin.  They thought they were supposed to, "do penance".  They thought John the Baptist preached a baptism of penance, for the forgiveness of sin.  Which is a mis-translation of Scripture.  It's not about doing penance--it's about repenting.  The Greek word is, "metanoia"--a turning around, as in 180 degrees--it's about a change of heart and mind that sends you in a new direction in life.  Repentance is to be a dying and a rising--putting to death that in you that needs to be, drowned, smothered, extinguished, so that out of the waters of baptism comes a new person--a new being in Christ, not once, but day after day.  So that, the more Christ-like we become, the more prepared we are for the coming of the Christ.  So that the more we become like Him, the more Jesus will recognize us, when He comes.  That's how we make straight the path of the Lord.  That's how we fill the valleys, and lower the mountains, and even out the crooked roadway--so that The Messiah will come, again, and finally, all flesh shall see the salvation, of God.  And this repentance--this turning around--is not just for the non-Lutherans among us.  It's not just for those who weren't raised as Christians, nor is it for those who are not yet Christians.  Neither is it only for those seated beside you this morning--you know, the real sinners here.  It's for all of us, and for each of us.  It's for you, and for me, to live a life of baptism for the repentance of sins.  You, need to consider, what needs to be change in your life--and then, to make ready for the coming of the Lord, you need to turn your life around, and go in a godly direction.  That's what true repentance is all about--living repentance, that involves change, and renewal, and new life in Christ Jesus.

     If you're involved in an adulterous affair--you need to repent, turn around, and go in a Godly direction--perhaps, back to your wife and family.  If you aren't living a chaste and pure life, repent, put to death that impure part of your life, and be washed clean in the promise of your baptism.  If you are struggling with the shame and filth of being a victim of sexual abuse--drown that in baptism, let yourself be washed clean in the blood of Jesus, and come out, this Christmas, a new being--born anew, with Jesus, from the pure, immaculate womb of Mary.  If you are abusing drugs, or alcohol, decide, now, that you will repent, and turn away from that, turning toward, new life in Christ;  the gift of God's love in baptism has the life-changing power to cleanse you of your urge to drink and abuse unhealthy substances.  If you are in an un-loving, unhealthy marriage, don't put up with it the way it is.  Repent of past destructive relationships, and take whatever steps are needed to strengthen, improve, enrich, and re-create your relationships to reflect the love and presence of God.

     The call of John the Baptist, and the call of Advent, is for us to repent, return to the gift of your baptism, be forgiven, and then, be renewed in life, be restored to godly living, be resurrected, so that when the Christ comes, he will find the new you, that He created you to be.  And surely, there are some of us here, who are saying, already, "I can't do it.  I've tried.  It's too much for me to accomplish--I don't think I can change."  To us, the words of St. Paul come, from our second lesson,  "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for you…and I am confident of this--that the one who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ."  The promise is, "You are not alone, and you don't have to do it alone.  God began this work in you, he is at work in you now, and he will complete his work in you."  This baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, is a call, but it's also a promise--the promise of God's powerful, life-changing, life-transforming presence, that is with you always, even to the close of the age. I pray you that powerful presence, this season of Advent, as you prepare yourself, and your life, and your household, for the coming of our Lord.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.