Sermon "Preparing the Way, Pointing to theOne"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Sunday December 7, 1997
Luke 3:1-6
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Preparing the Way, Pointing to the One
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod Tetrarch ofGalilee, his brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and Taconitis, andLysanias Tetrarch of Abilene-- during the high priesthood ofAnnas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariahin the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan,preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Asis written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:"A voice of one calling in the desert, `prepare the way forthe lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall befilled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roadsshall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all flesh shallsee the salvation of God.'"
Luke 3:1-6
Almighty God, we bow in your presence. May your word be ourrule, your spirit our teacher and your greater glory our supremeconcern. Through Jesus our Lord, Amen.
"You can choose your friends but not yourrelatives." I wonder if anyone ever said that to Jesus abouthis weird cousin John the Baptist. He seems to appear out ofnowhere ~ the solo voice of one crying in the wilderness. We aretold elsewhere of his dress and diet which speak for themselves ~a leather girdle ~ camel's hair ~ locusts and wild honey. Heseems totally lacking in social skills ~ devoid of diplomacy ashe launches a message of doom and gloom. He is not my type, and,I imagine he is not your type. He is the ultimate loner ~ theoriginal rugged individualist ~ the desert prophet ~ yes, thevoice of one crying in the wilderness.
We can easily forget that John the Baptist was the product ofgood nurture. His parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, were both ofpriestly lineage. They were elderly, and, no doubt, it wasdifficult at times to understand their independent son. We do notknow when and why John left home. He was raised, however, bysolid, spiritual parents in the traditions of the faith. He knewthe pilgrimage, the people, and the places of his Hebrew roots.His dress was identical to that of Elijah, the forerunnerprophesied by Malachi. That prophetic voice had been stilled forcenturies until the baptist aroused people from their spiritualsleep with his clarion call. He was the fulfillment of the old,and prepared the way for the new. He was the prophetic hingeconnecting the past and the future by what he did in the present.This was a man of God who knew his place.
We live in an age of immediacy ~ instant foods, instantwinners with our lottery mentality, instant information in thecomputer world, instant gratification. There is little loyalty tothe past nor sacrifice for the sake of the future. ChristopherLasch in his classic, "The Culture of Narcissism,"notes the forgetful character of the late twentieth century U.S.culture: "To live for the moment is the prevailing passion ~to live for yourself, not for your predecessors or posterity. Weare fast losing the sense of historical continuity, the sense ofbelonging to a succession of generations originating in the pastand stretching into the future."
There is little loyalty in the workplace. Our language givesus away when we speak of "headhunters," "corporateraiders," and "hostile takeovers." Few athletesremain with the teams that signed them. Free agency reigns inprofessional sports. The assumption among religious shoppers isthat we operate in a buyer's market. The consumer makes choicesbased on present needs with little thought for the past or thefuture.
John the Baptist was a man of history, well connected. Wellacquainted with the prophecies of the past, he knew his place inthe present as he pointed and prepared for the one who would bethe future. Never take his sacrifices for granted. Our textaffirms that his message, however stern, struck a responsivechord. The crowds came ~ his congregation grew, but immediatelywhen Jesus begins to preach, John withdraws to the wings ~ thespotlight shifts: "He must increase ~ I must decrease."There is not one trace of jealousy, one ounce of envy. He knewhis place; he was not the way ~ he would prepare the way.
The message of John the Baptist was loud and clear; repent,change. It will not be back to the future. It will not be more ofthe same. It will not be business as usual. The old will give wayto the new. Isaiah said it this way: "Cease to dwell on daysgone by and to brood over past history. Here and now I will do anew thing; this moment it will break from the bud. Can you notperceive it?"
There is a nostalgia today in our country, there is even anostalgia channel on cable television. In some respect thenostalgic fascination says that the way ahead lies in the wayback and that the glory days are always in the idealized past. Ina world where chaos theory reigns, a world of accelerated change,we long for the past rather than prepare for the future.
A national survey indicated that attitude toward change is thekey to congregational effectiveness. The number one factor ingrowing congregations was "a primary mission to those notcurrently members," and, conversely, the number one factorin declining congregations was "a primary mission to currentmembers." It is a difference between maintenance and mission(this is one of the reasons we are committed to the Honduranmission) ~ a preoccupation with the present versus a focus on thefuture.
The paradigms are changing. We are in the midst of whatsomeone has called a "transition tidal wave." We needto know our place as people of Christ by preparing the way andpointing to the one. To repent is to be willing to go a differentdirection and be open to God's new breaking in upon us.
The issue is not whether we are conservative or liberal. Itshould not be a matter of gender or generation. The issue is howwilling we are to trust God for the future and be creators withGod of that future. How available are we to God's future?
In many ways John and Jesus were opposites; but to those onlyinterested in maintaining the status quo, neither was acceptable.In 1863 the commissioner of patents sent his resignation toPresident Lincoln citing his conviction that everything excitinghad been invented and patented, and there was nothing else forhim to do but preserve the past.
That is the tragedy when people of faith are limited to whatGod has already done to the pages of a Bible or the places offirst century Palestine and deny the work of the Holy Spirit. Godnot only came, but God comes! And God comes in the bread and cupwe participate in this morning. The meaning of advent is openingourselves anew to make room for God in our lives now. Then as weprepare the way, we point to the one who goes before us.
Amen.
