ADVENT 3

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: ADVENT 3
PROPER: B
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: December 12, 1999

TEXT: John 1:6-8, 19-28 - "There was a man sent from God, whose name is John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light."

ISSUE: John's ministry captured the attention of the early church, as well as the people who came to know him. He was a striking contrast to the luxurious temple priests. He was attractive to the so many people who were fed up with the shame of their lives. John offers the beginning hope and purification for the age to come, with confident hope that the Christ will come for the salvation of his people. John played an important role then as the church and its people are called upon today. It is our role to bear witness to the light of Christ. This week we move from our need for repentance to our prayer to be "stirred up" by the power of God to be witnesses in the world.
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In the Advent Season, John the Baptist is really an important figure, as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. His message to prepare for the coming of the Lord, for one that John himself is not unworthy to tie the thongs of his sandal. Last week, I addressed the "repentance" aspect of John the Baptist. John called people who came out to see him in the wilderness to repentance, or change. Keep in mind that the people who came out to see John were the poor, the dispossessed, the disenfranchised. These were people who were fed up with being the people of shame. John calls these people to change their lives, and to be baptized to enter into a rite of purification and readiness for a Lord who would lead them out of their shame and if ready to greet him, they would enter into the Kingdom of God.
I also attempted last week to make us all aware of our need for change, and for a renewed readiness to accept the savior. We live in a period of history and in a country where the wealth and affluence is beyond anything or any country has ever before experienced in the history of the world. Inspite of how we think in this country that our wealth is the be all and end all of existence, we find that there are still great spiritual needs that need to be attended to. We still are the people of violence and cruelty. There is still a lurking evil in humanity, and in the human spirit that forces us to recognize that the human spirit, the human soul is in need of God's presence in our midst. We must attend to the fact that it must be genuine and sought daily in and through prayer: God be with us and help us to change that we may live in union with you, and truly be your people bearing witness to your love.
In the Gospel account today, from the Gospel of John, we have still another account of the work of John the Baptist that takes us a step farther in our need for repentance and redemption. Remember that John's Gospel account was the last of the Gospel accounts to be written. It has a very spiritual dimension to it, as it speaks to a people who have moved beyond the eyewitnesses to the John the Baptist, Jesus, and even the disciples. It is a call to be faithful and to stand firm in the teachings of Jesus Christ and loyalty to him, especially in a world where they may come to know significant persecution.
In this Johannine account, John the Baptist is bearing witness to the light. He is not the light, says the Gospel writer, but he comes to bear witness to the light. He has a very specific role beyond even just calling for repentance, but for witnessing to the light, to hope, to the coming of the Savior. Now the Temple authorities, who are anticipating some kind of a messiah, need to know John's identity. Who is he, and why is it that so many of the people are going out to him. Let me insert here that since so many people were going out to see John, he was developing a following of disciples. This discipleship may have sometimes caused confusion in the early stages of the development of Christianity. It has to be clarified that John is not the messiah, not the Christ, but only a forerunner of something greater yet to come. Thus, John Baptist in the story confesses that he is not Elijah, even though he as that prophetic image. He is not the prophet expected. Remember that Moses had said that "He (God) will send you a prphet like me from among your own people, and you are to obey him." (Deut 18:15f) John makesw no claim to be that prophet. All that John in his great humility claims is that he is "a voice crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'"
Another thing important about John the Baptist was that he was a priest, and he was the son of a priest, Zechariah. He was a rural priest of protest, and was not acting like the traditional priesthood. He protested the luxury and the decadence of the Temple priests in Jerusalem. They had become know for their luxurious living, their greed, even for beating peasants. They were by and large not a nice group of people. John's poverty and humility was a striking contrast to that along with his call for repentance and change, for the need for a new spirituality. John was not dressed in fine linens and living in luxury. He lived in the wilderness. the place of evil spirits, and he ate locusts, wild honey, and dressed in animal skins.
John is baptizing, which was very popular act in these days among various cults. John's baptism is for purification, readiness for something grand, renewing, and just to come to people enveloped in injustice and shamefulness. John was unique, and his identity uncertain. Since John was looking for someone else to be the Messiah, the Christ, the one expected, then he himself was not seen as much of a threat to the Jerusalem authorities. But make no mistake about it, John was a significant prophetic priestly character for the early church, as he was the one who ultimately pointed to the one who was the Christ, Jesus. He is the voice and humble personality crying in the wilderness of evil for people to change and to accept Jesus Christ as their savior and their Lord. John calls for an inner holiness. He calls for repentance and change, but John also alerts and points to the search for the world's true light.
The importance of John the Baptist for us today is that John is the forerunner of what the church is meant to be in the world today. John is the epitomy of the church's role in the world today. Mind you, John made no claim for being a "hot-shot" or "big shot." He was not the Christ, not Elijah, not Moses. He was but a simple humble voice in the wilderness of evil and injustice calling for change among his own. He reduced their shame and called them to be honorable. He led them to the light, the light that was coming into the world, Jesus the Christ.
How do we carry on our priesthood in the world we live in. At our Baptismal Service we say to the newly baptized: "We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood." We all share, like John, in the priesthood. We dwell in the household of God, but we still live in a wilderness that can be quite deceiving and hostile. We live in a world that sometimes looks good and feels good, but there are subtle evil spirits that attack and destroy human souls and life. There is a long way to go for the human spirit to know its redemption. John knew well that people had to change. We know well even today that we can be very destructive and have very destructive behavior. As the church we have to make changes. So often we are ingrown. We are not open really to those in need, nor are we truly sensitive to human need and involved. We think basically of ourselves and our own needs. We enjoy thinking like the Jerusalem Temple authorities, who looked down upon the dispossessed, the sinful, the afflicted and the poor. We have to move away from the world at times and reclaim our spiritual side. We need to reclaim humility. We are not Elijah, Moses, or Christ. We are only those who look to the light and for the light.
The key to being a vital prophetic priesthood in the world is know Jesus Christ as truly our Lord. It is to know the story. It is to say the prayers, and become a prayerful people. It is to recognize our need to change, to confess, to be a people who confess that we are too enamored with the world's affluence. It is a call to loyalty, faith, commitment, and sacrifice. The church, and we are the church, in the world today, if it is really to be the church has to reclaim its sense of being missional, of being well trained people who pray to be 'stirred up" with the power of God. Note that the collect for today calls for God to "stir up His power and come among us." Some of us might say God forbid that God should stir us up to revive us. We like our comfortable sleepy ways.
Aren't you a little bored of all the uproar over whether or not it is constitutional to say prayers in school, when it is difficult to get people to say a prayer at a church meeting. We are offended that our children are not able to pray at school, when I suspect that we really don't do much about it in our own homes, and maybe even in our own lives. We are frequently thinking in terms of how things look on the outside, and not aware of what needs to be done in our own hearts and souls that we can become really people of God in the world who are spontaneous in our ability to communicate the loveliness of God in our lives.
It is, I think, somewhat discouraging that Christian churches often resort to begging and imploring their members to give sacrificially, and to take active roles in leadership. Isn't it somehow a little demeaning to think that we have to beg for leadership, and have bingo, fifty-fifities, fund-raisers, gambling of various kinds to keep the church of Jesus Christ as we know it alive in the world. We don't see ourselves as the church differentiated from the world. We see ourselves merely as another charity, as opposed to the the witness to the Light.
There are times when we may well forget and discount just how important we are as baptized members of the church. We are called to witness through prayer, giving, through study and knowledge of the Scripture. We need to seek a deeper spirituality and closeness to God in our own hearts so we can impart a true witness of love, care, concern for God' s world. It is important for us to recognize how God has worked in and through our lives and how to express that to others.
Many years ago now, when I was a young man in Seminary, some friends of mine and I would go caving in the Tennesse hills. And we'd crawl around in some very narrow passages which were often muddy. They were cold and dank. What's more they were so dark when the lights had been turned out. Darker than a million cypress swamps. For fun we'd experience the utter darkness by putting out our carbide lamps. Let me tell you it always felt good to relight them. After several hours in the cave, it felt even better to come to the entrance and see the sunlight once again. In a cruel and dark world, John the Baptist attempted to lead some people to the light of Christ. Since John that has been the work and mission of all those who are in the eternal priest of Christ, to lead the world toward the light, the light that is coming into the world. It is truly a special calling. May God stir up his power and come among us that we may be worthy to continue in this vocation.