Gospel: Luke 3: 1-6
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 ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5Every 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;
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
Sermon for The 2nd Sunday of Advent
The words we speak to our children become their foundational words. The words we use when we describe them, talk to them, or talk about them are imprinted on their identity. On a very basic level the child who grows up hearing they are beloved and good will take on a very different identity than the child who grows up hearing that they are not wanted and bad.
John the Baptists very identity is formed not just by the scriptures of old, and the words of the prophets, but by the words of his parents. Elizabeth and Zechariah laid a foundation for John. When John was born Zechariah was unable to speak. He had been made mute, after questioning the angel’s announcement of his son to be. Imagine months of silence reflecting on God’s action in your life – unable to speak to others, unable to communicate, but to have that time to wholly reflect on the miracle God was about to do.
When John is born, and he is about to be named, Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth confidently states that his name will be John. She knows. Despite family protests, who want to insist the boy be named after his father, Zechariah confirms that his name will be John. Immediately he is able to speak and the first thing he does is praise God in a song.
Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, you have come to your people and | set them free. You have raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of your servant David.
Through your holy prophets, you promised of old to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us, to show mercy to our forebears, and to remember your holy covenant.
This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship you without fear,
holy and righteous before you, all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God’s people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
These were John’s foundational words. Zechariah’s hopeful trust in the promises of God coming true in this baby’s birth. This not just any lullaby – but foundational identity stuff. In the same breath singing the truth about God and the truth about John. What God has done and will do, ad what John can do and will do. The very next verse confirms that John was strengthened and encourage. Luke writes in his gospel 80The child grew and became strong in spirit…
Telling our children that they are beloved, valued, and important is foundational. Telling people that God loves them is foundational. We must start with that foundation if we are to build anything.
John ministry is to clear away all the debris, all the hoops people think they need to jump through in order to have a relationship with God. Clear the way because God is doing a new thing. Repent and turn towards God, participate in this ritual cleansing baptism. Washing with water was a a part of converts becoming Jewish, but John implores the whole people Jews and non-Jews to wash, placing all on a level playing field, a level road before God.
Like Zechariah before him, John is laying a foundation for the people. He lays the foundation for Jesus’ ministry, for God coming into this world in real time. The word of God is coming. The same word that came to Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and others – comes to John, and then comes itself into our world. This word, spoken, written, incarnate, has power. Our words have power too. Our words have the power to lift up and heal or to dismiss and crush. Our words have the power to lay a foundation for a child – or an adult for that matter – when it comes to building up their identity rather than tearing it down.
As God promises to make all things new, even the very foundation will be new. The people’s relationship with God, the very foundation of it will change as God comes into this world to walk among us. The season of Advent serves as the foundation for Christmas. Both in the sense of Jesus coming among us born as a child in Bethlehem, and in the sense of the second coming of Christ into our world.
This is the God whose birth we will celebrate in a couple of weeks. This is the God who is so committed to us that he chose to set the world right by taking on our pain and despair, by living in and enduring all of the brokenness of the world without becoming enslaved to that brokenness as we are. This is the God who intends for ALL FLESH to know and experience that love. This is the God who, and this is the truly amazing part, uses the vulnerability and fragility of life and creation to strengthen and renew all of life and creation. This is the God who defeats death by dying – making a new foundation for us.
May we be able to speak the words –
to give God’s people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Pastor Erin Evans
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