Monday, December 11, 2017

Second Sunday of Advent (B) 2017

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: Mark 1:2-3
Theme: A Voice For Time And Eternity


Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

There are some teachings and messages that are bound to specific times in history. These are messages that are appropriate to the culture and the people of the time. The ancient Romans believed in the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. They thought the Roman empire to be unconquerable, eternal. They thought the power of Roman emperors would never wane. In medieval Europe, peasant laborers were continuously indebted to wealthy landowners. Many thought this arrangement was part of an unalterable fabric of society. They thought it would always be this way. But times have since changed. We profess new ideas and live under new arrangements.

Yet, there are fundamental things that do not change and cannot change. There are messages and teachings that are not to be confined to certain eras of history. There are voices that must be heard and heeded because they address realities that have not changed. The voice of John the Baptist is one such voice. His message is for time and eternity. The prophet Isaiah details his message in this way, “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth and all mankind will see God’s salvation.’”1 John “went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”2

In John’s day, life was strictly regulated by agricultural practice, people walked most everywhere, communication was mostly verbal, cultural values were strict, Pontius Pilate was the governor of the land. Today our lives are not as bound to agricultural cycles, travel is rapid, and the methods are many. Communication is still verbal, but also written and increasingly visual and very rapid. Cultural values are diverse, and representative democracy governs the people. Yet, the message of John the Baptist is no less necessary and no less contemporary. People are in need. People are lost. People still need to be alerted to the coming of Christ, the Messiah.

John was the voice of one calling in the desert. Our concern is not the desert of Judea, but the spiritual desert that exists apart from faith in the true God and lives of obedience dedicated to the same. Apart from the power of Christ, the proclamation of His word, the presence of His Spirit, a desert always exists. But this desert is not recognized for what it is. In a world that seems to thrive, a world teeming with activity, a world pregnant with opportunity, a dynamic world of struggles and accomplishment, it seems nearly laughable to speak in the terminology of a desert. Yet we must see with the eyes of faith. We must recognize an urgency involved. The prophet Amos spoke to such a situation when he said, “’The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.’”3

Could there be more dire circumstances than to not have access to the word of the Lord? Could there be anything more despairing than to have no assurance of His presence? His love? His forgiveness? Amos warned the people that if they continued to trample the word of God under foot, He might well take it away from them. John the Baptist warned that because Christ was at hand, judgment against sin was also near. Dear friends, can we really think or say there is any less trampling under foot of God’s word today? Any greater reverence and respect for the Almighty? Any more humility and recognition of sinfulness among us? Of course, only the Lord knows but we certainly would not want to be presumptuous. Isaiah reminds us, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”4

Therefore, John proclaimed a message of repentance, but with a purpose. Recognition of sin is not an end-in-itself. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Christ the judge of sin and evil is also Christ the Saviour and forgiver of sins. To have the forgiveness of sins is to have life, hope and salvation. Christ is the Water of Life in a desert of despair. Christ is the Bread of Life amidst a famine of God’s word. Christ is the Light of the World in a universe of darkness. Christ is the Good Shepherd of lost and hurting sheep. Christ is the truth in a world of falsehood. Christ is the price of ransom for a humanity charged, convicted and condemned.

Dear Friends, what does John mean when He quotes Isaiah as saying, “All mankind will see God’s salvation?”5 He can mean nothing less than that the baby born in Bethlehem contains the fullness the Godhead. He can mean nothing less than that His death on the cross was an act of substitution, an act of sacrifice on our behalf. He can mean nothing less than that His resurrection from the grave proves death has been defeated and Satan conquered. He can mean nothing less than that God loves us so intensely and so personally that he spares no effort to give us present assurance and eternal salvation.

With the eyes of faith, we understand that His pardon of our offenses, His Spirit among us and within us, are not some mere religious talk or symbolic gestures. When Jesus Christ says you are forgiven, you are loved, you truly are. This is the promise of Holy Baptism. This is in the gift of bread and wine. This is the purpose of the entire life and mission of Jesus Christ. Apart from the forgiveness of sins, everything else related to Christ is secondary at best, insignificant at worst.

The voice of John the Baptist is a voice of the Christian church that must endure until Christ comes for the final time. The message is timeless, the need is undiminished, the opportunity is endless, the importance is unparalleled. God is coming to His people “and all mankind will see God’s salvation.”6 Christ came once in humility. He will come again in glory. Amen.



+ In nomine Jesu +

Second Sunday of Advent
10 December 2017
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt
1 Luke 3:4-6
2 Luke 3:3
3 Amos 8:11-12
4 Isaiah 64:6
5 Luke 3:6
6 Luke 3:6


No comments:

Post a Comment