Sunday 12/08/13 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Preparing the way of the Lord”
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
New Testament Scripture Lesson: Romans 15:4-13
Gospel Lesson: Mathew 3:1-12
Greetings and God
bless on this the Second Sunday of the Advent Season! This season in the
Christian Calendar, were we are preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ. That birth
that happened so many years ago, that ushered in a new era of human history. Yet
before this birth, were the B.C. years, or the Before Christ years. In these
years people awaited the Messiah, and had hope that he would come. As I will
talk about next week, some might have even wondered what the Messiah would like
when he would come. In this sense, in a world of pain, of suffering, and of chaos,
when would the Messiah come to change and restore this world, countless people
cried out?
In this season,
we all know that the savior has been born already so many years ago, but we will
still await his birth symbolically, as we seek to recapture the hope, the joy,
the peace, and the grace that came down from heaven so many years ago. That
Jesus didn’t just come down to die for us, but that he also came down to be
among us. You see, in this season of Advent, we prepare for love itself to come
down from heaven, to take on flesh, and to guide us. I don’t know about you,
but this is a birthday party worth celebrating, as Christmas, is a large
birthday party for Jesus.
In this season then, we not only
celebrate the coming of the savior, but we celebrate what the savior gave us,
and continues to give us. That Jesus Christ walked among us. That Jesus Christ was
born as a fragile infant, because he loved us so much. In this way, Jesus
Christ will die for us when he is older, but he will be amongst us for 33-years
before he goes to the cross, and then is raised from the dead three days later.
In this season
of Advent therefore, we prepare for a savior that the hymn, “Oh, come let us
adore him” speaks of. Far beyond just dying for us then, the living God will
suffer with us. He will walk with us, he will talk with us, he will hunger, he
will thirst, and he will lead in the ways of justice and righteousness.
In this way,
we are awaiting the celebration, the birthday party, of our Lord and savior
that occurs on December, 25th every year. In this season of Advent
then, let us take stock of our blessings, and prepare to celebrate the God who
is coming.
For many of
us, this season in the Christian calendar is a happy time, a joyous time, a
time of family, a time of renewal, and a time of rebirth. While for some of us
though, this time of year is a hard, a lonely time, and a challenging time of
the year. You know though, I find it interesting that every year on New Year’s Eve,
that many of us make New Year’s resolutions. We are determined to change, to
turn from bad things, and to turn to good things. In this way, the birth of the
Jesus Christ, gives us the opportunity for renewing our faith, to change, and
to make new spiritual resolutions. Beyond just ourselves, it also offers us new
opportunities for God to use us, to lead others to Jesus Christ. You see in
this Advent Season, let us seek to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Let us seek
to tell people about the coming birth of the Lord, and why it is so important
now and forever. Let us seek to explain to all people, who the Christ-Child
truly was and who Christ still is today.
When looking
at the reading this morning from Psalm 72, it says, “Give the king your
justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.” God the king of the
universe, is about to send his one and only son to be among us. The Psalm
continues, “May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with
justice.” The savior of world is coming to teach us to love each other, to feed
the poor, and to clothe the naked. The Psalm continues even further, “May he
defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and
crush the oppressor.” We know that the child, Jesus Christ, who is coming to be
among us soon, overcame all evil, overcame this earth, and overcame the grave
itself.
When looking
at the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, or the letter to the Romans,
the Apostle Paul tells the church in Rome, that “whatever was written in former
days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the
encouragement of the scriptures we have hope.” Our hope my brothers and sisters
is in Jesus Christ our Lord, who very soon is coming down to be born, to lay in
a manger, and to teach us a new way of being. The Apostle Paul then encourages
the church in Rome to live in harmony, and to “with one voice glorify the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then the
Apostle Paul then says this, “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ
has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” The Apostle Paul concludes this
scripture by saying “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the power of the Holy
Spirit.” In this season of Advent as we prepare for the birth of Christ, may we
be filled with hope, joy, and peace.
In looking at
the gospel reading from Mathew from this morning, we hear the story of John the
Baptist. For John the Baptist was the one who “prepared the way of the Lord.” As
we should continue to seek to do in this Advent Season, and in doing so we
likewise are “preparing the way of the Lord.”
John the Baptist himself was a simple
man, a man of and called by God. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness in
Judea. Some might have thought him crazy. For he lived in the wilderness alone,
he wore an outfit of camel hair, and ate nothing but locusts or grasshoppers and
honey. This very eccentric man who lived in the wilderness, who ate grasshoppers
and honey was called by God to call people to repentance. He was called to tell
them to turn from evil and from darkness. He said that kingdom of God is near.
He said that the Messiah is coming very soon. He then started baptizing people
in Jordan River, to spiritually cleanse them of spiritual impurities. Even the
Pharisees and Sadducees came to the Jordan River for John the Baptist to baptize
them, but when they did, John the Baptist said, “You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”
John the
Baptist goes on to say, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one
who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his
sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” John the Baptist
concludes this gospel reading by saying, “His winnowing-fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary;
but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
You see John
the Baptist, like us should be challenged in this Advent Season to “prepare the
way of the Lord.” Many of also know that one day that John the Baptist was in
the river baptizing, that he saw Christ approaching. You see without ever
meeting or seeing Jesus Christ, John the Baptist said in the gospel of John
1:29, “Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!”
John
the Baptist’s purpose, his calling on this earth, was to the “Prepare the way
of the Lord.” Are we in this Advent Season just excited about the birth of
Christ, or are we also telling others all that Christ is coming to do and
continues to do for us? Are we ourselves, “preparing the way of the Lord?”
I would
like to close this morning with a story called, Mr. Smith, by Betty Killebrew.
Here is how it goes, “This morning a man came into the office where I work to
transact some business with us. He was a slight fellow and had a little trouble
pushing in our heavy front door; but other than that, he seemed pretty chipper.”
“Mr. Smith (his actual
name) was cheerful and businesslike and extremely likeable. We chatted for a
few minutes and he mentioned that people had been telling him to retire for a
long time, but he thought the Lord would tell him when it was time. I learned
that he is already retired from a factory position but buys and renovates
little houses. The fact that he had already retired from a factory was not
surprising because he looked to be around seventy years old—but when I asked
his age, he told me he was 89.”
“This old gentleman
mentioned to me that he had suffered from a heart attack followed by surgery
and then by a stroke only last year—and on the day his heart became more
painful than he could endure, he drove himself to the hospital. Apparently, at
the hospital he mentioned that he had his car in the parking lot and would be
going home when they were done with him. The nurses told him they wanted to
talk it over with his doctor first.”
“By the time he went to
surgery, his heart was in such bad shape that he remembers little of the next
couple of weeks, but he says that his heart was so bad it wasn’t really even a
heart anymore. He says that during his surgery every artery was either replaced
or stinted and that his heart was repaired with numerous patches.”
“After the fact, his
heart doctor told him that he had “died on the table” and that he and the other
doctor in the operating room had tried everything to bring him back. When the
heart surgeon gave up, he pulled the sheet over this old man’s head and went
out to tell the nurses—but when he came back into the room, Mr. Smith had
grasped the sheet in a fist and pulled it off of his face. The old man chuckled
as he told me that the doctor told him he had said, “Don’t ever do that to me
again,” but he says the doctor is a character and he thought that was just a
tall tale.”
“However, the fact
remains that the Lord spared this old fellow for some reason, which of course
is known only to Him; but if he always cheers people up and gives them faith
and hope as he did for me today, that may be the purpose the Lord had in mind.
To me Mr. Smith was the blessing of the day.”
“When I told him he made
my day brighter, he replied, “Everyone needs some “up” now and then.” He says
he’s had a good life because there were always such good people around him
throughout his lifetime. He particularly mentioned his mother and his wife,
saying he couldn’t say which one was the best woman.”
“To someone like me who
fully understands how important the people in your life are to your happiness,
I was impressed when he articulated the sentiment. In fact, I’d like to say
that all in all, I’m very grateful to God for sending Mr. Smith to the office
today. He was carrying a dose of good cheer that I really needed.”
In the same way my
brothers and sisters, let us in this Advent Season, let people know about the
ultimate “Mr. Smith,” Jesus Christ. Let us “prepare the way of the Lord,” in
this Advent Season. Amen.
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