The 3rd Sunday of Advent
December 13, 2020
Prayer of the Day: Stir up the will of your faithful people, Lord God, and open our ears to the words of your prophets, that, anointed by your Spirit, we may testify to your light; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns wit you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
TEXT: JOHN 1: 6-8, 19-28
There was a man sent from God, whose name was 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.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said,
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord” ’,
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Some thoughts from Pastor Phil:
In 1964, my father, Ken, graduated from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Just two weeks before the graduation ceremony, my father was called into the Dean’s office, like every senior student was, to find out what region of the country he would be called to for his first call.
Some geographical background here may be helpful: Both of my parents were born and raised in New York City, on Staten Island. They were members of the same Norwegian-Lutheran church for their whole lives. The furthest south my parents had ever been was New Jersey – not exactly the heart of Dixie. So, can you imagine how my father felt when that Dean of Students told him he was being called to start a mission congregation in Florida? This was before Disney World, so the first thing my parents did was to pull out a map to see exactly where this so-called “Sunshine State” was located. The only thing my father remembers about further conversation with that Dean were these insightful words: “Ken, you have to start someplace. You have been a student of this seminary now for four years. It’s time to start practicing what you believe.”
The Dean at Luther Seminary reminds me of John the Baptist who is at the center of our gospel story for this third Sunday of Advent, because they are, in effect, saying the same thing: “It’s time to start practicing what you believe.”
Too often, John the Baptist gets a “bad rap” because it seems he has just one sermon: “Repent!” And I think the negative response to that sermon stems from our misunderstanding of the nature of “Repentance.” Too often, we think of repentance as sort of “coming clean,” or “fessing up” to our bad deeds and evil intentions. But in scripture we learn that “Repentance” is a comforting word and a part of God’s tender mercies for God’s beloved children. It reminds us that no failure is forever and that God, unlike most of us, does not hold grudges.
Both the Hebrew and Greek words for “Repentance” mean “to turn.” Turning to God comes first. We usually get that wrong. We think God is like us and, therefore, wants us to feel sorry for being bad before forgiving us. But this simply is not true. Rather, we are invited to turn to God, and in that turning, we turn away from the wrong path and are welcomed into God’s open arms.
You know, my parents did make that move. They packed up everything they owned into their 1962 Volvo and headed south to an unknown place called Orange Park, Florida. And after months of knocking on doors and worshipping in school cafeterias, some 100 charter members signed a document that, in effect, said, “It’s time to practice what we believe and turn toward God.” And that document also said, “The name of this church shall be Advent Lutheran Church.” They chose that name because Advent is a time to start anew, a time to start a new church year, and a time for us to renew our faith and “practice what we believe.” It is a time to turn to God and be welcomed with open arms. Amen.