John the Baptist — Sermon by Rev. Bryan Biba

let us

pray overturn our captivity O Lord as

when streams refresh the deserts of the

South level the mountains and valleys of

our hearts that our souls may be

prepared for your

coming in the name of the father and the

son and the holy spirit amen you may be

seated

last month I'd had enough I was sick and

tired of my messy

Shed from the moment we moved in that

shed has accumulated more and more and

more

stuff more Lawn Care gardening equipment

more tools more

toys and more toys

and more

toys I was wondering maybe it got so bad

I'd have to buy a second shed just to

fit all the

toys but I was sick of it I was going to

clean house or rather clean shed one

Saturday morning a few weeks back Simeon

and I went outside and we took

everything out of the shed and we swept

it we cleaned it out

and then something amazing

happened I discovered some things that I

had forgotten about some things that I

needed and i' also found some things

that I no longer needed some stuff that

I could get rid of some stuff I could

sell for money and when it was all said

and done I had a beautiful clean well

organized shed I didn't need a second

shed I just needed to clean the shed I

had

this is a helpful way for us to think

about the ministry and message of John

the

Baptist John each Advent emerges from

the Wilderness and calls us all to clean

house to clear out all the stuff in our

lives that get in the

way throughout our life we have this

tendency to acquire more and more things

in the shed of our souls dreams desire

desires bad habits resentments and

grudges we need to take time to clean

out our

hearts lest our souls get filled with

garbage with stuff that we don't

need and when we finally do decide to

clean our hearts out it'll be like my

shed as soon as I opened my shed stuff

fell on my

head and isn't that true of our own

lives we open open up our hearts to

others and stuff falls on our heads and

on our loved

ones friends we need to clean house we

need to heed the call of John the

Baptist in Luke chapter

Luke 3 · chapter mention

3 so this morning we're going to look at

John's

Ministry his message and what it means

for us today open your Bibles to Luke

chap 3 it is a short but powerful Gospel

reading

Luke the great historian of the New

Testament the writer of the book of Acts

he sets John's Ministry in a particular

time and

place verse one in the 15th year of the

reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate

being governor of Judea and Herod being

tetrarch of Galilee and his brother

Philip tetrarch of the region of rraa

and tronus and linius tetrarch of

abalene

Luke is listing off the political

leaders who ruled over Judea at that

time and right from the start he is

signaling to us that the promised land

is under occupation it is not ruled by

righteous Kings but by corrupt Gentile

foreigners promised land has been

divided between the Roman Imperial

Governor Pontius Pilate and then three

Jewish client Kings Jews who were

complicit in the Roman Empire's rule who

were participating in and benefiting

from the subjugation of their own

people indeed this was a very corrupt

time in the

world but then Luke goes on to talk

about the religious leaders of Israel in

verse two it was during the high

priesthood of Annis and Caius and right

away we should notice something strange

is going on because according to the

traditions of the laww there was only

one high priest and that high priest

held that position for life like a

Supreme Court Justice why are there two

high

priests it's because the Romans had

gotten into the Habit that they had uh

done in many other places which is that

each time there was a new Roman

Administration ruling over a district

they would set up their own puppet

leaders they would appoint their own own

authorities people loyal to them who

would do what they said so even the

religious worship of Israel is corrupt

it's complicit in the rule of

Rome both the political and religious

leaders listed here will conspire to

execute Jesus at the end of the book of

Acts and right now Luke is setting us up

he's reminding us he's telling us these

names so that we will remember what they

will do but among all this great

corruption political religious there is

a sign of Hope a small glimmer verse

two the word of God came to John the son

of Zachariah in the

wilderness we learned about Zachariah

earlier in Luke 1 he was one of the few

righteous priests left in Israel during

a very corrupt time while serving at the

altar the Archangel Gabriel appeared to

him and announced that his Barren wife

Elizabeth would bear a son and that

their son would not just be a priest but

also a great prophet he says in Luke 1:

16 he will turn many of the children of

Israel to the Lord their God and he will

go before him in the spirit and power of

Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers

to the children and the dis obedient to

the wisdom of the just and to make ready

for the Lord a people

prepared their son of course is John the

Baptist even before his birth the angel

tells us of his future Ministry how

he'll go before the Lord in power in the

spirit of Elijah indeed the Prophet

Elijah is the key to understanding John

the Baptist ministry you'll remember

that in the book of First and 2 Kings

which also tells us of a time of great

political and religious corruption that

Elijah was a faithful priest who was

called by God to be a

prophet he was the leader of a faithful

Remnant in a time when everyone seemed

to Bow their knees before Baal the Pagan

God but Elijah did not spend his time in

Jerusalem in Samaria in the centers of

power in the capitals Elijah spent his

ministry in the wilderness far away from

the centers of power he spent his time

with widows and orphans with the poor

the sick the hungry and occasionally

when he encountered the king he was uh

held him

account pronouncing the Lord's judgment

over

him so it's no surprise therefore that

John the son of Zachariah the great

priest and Prophet begins his ministry

in the wilderness far from the centers

of

power the book of First Kings tells us a

lot about how we should think about

leadership one of its most important

lessons though is applicable to the

ministry of John time and time again

Kings tells us that reform rarely comes

from the center of power most of the

time reform comes from the outside it

comes from the Wilderness from the

periphery from those on the

margins after all powerful leaders will

often use their power to perpetuate

their own status and

influence so when God raises up someone

to reform he does so by turning to the

Wilderness by turning to someone outside

the centers of

power that's where John is out in the

wilderness far from the centers of power

power but it's not just any Wilderness

we're told in uh

Luke 3 verse three he went into all the

region around the

Jordan and again your your Old Testament

buzzer should be going off in your head

the Wilderness around the Jordan was

critical in Israel's history after

wandering in the wilderness for 40 years

the people of Israel entered the

Promised Land by passing through the

Wilder nness around the Jordan we're

told in Joshua chapter 3 that as soon as

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

the feet of the priests who held the Ark

of the Covenant touched the shores of

the Jordan the waters parted before them

just as the waters were parted over the

Red Sea they passed through the waters

on dry land and took possession of their

inheritance all of this Old Testament

background helps us understands John's

message we get a summary of it in the

second half of verse three that he went

into all the region around the Jordan

proclaiming a baptism of repentance for

the Forgiveness of sins right here Luke

summarizes John's message let's break it

down a

bit first John is baptizing he's

baptizing in the very River Israel

passed through on their way out of

wilderness to the proom Promised Land

This is intentional John is echoing that

critical time in Israel's early life

remember Israel spent 40 years in the

wilderness wandering around it was a

time of refining their hearts were not

ready to receive the promises of God an

entire generation had to die so that the

new generation could pass through the

waters in a similar way John has

returned to the wilderness

and he's reminding Israel of the

promises of God he's reminding them of

their time in the wilderness their need

to pass again through the waters of the

Jordan it's a call to start over to

return where things began a call to

repentance the Greek word metanoia it

means to turn around and repentance has

three steps all of them are essential

for it to be true repentance

first we have to recognize that we are

going in the wrong

direction this requires wisdom and

discernment we have to see clearly and

honestly I had to recognize I had a

problem with my shed before I could

clean it out and a lot of us don't even

get there a lot of us are so blind to

the true nature of our souls we don't

realize that we need to change I like

the direction I'm going what's wrong

with it but when we do recognize we're

going in the wrong direction then

secondly we need to make a

decision decision involves the desire

for Change and the choice to

change see we may recognize that we're

going in the wrong direction but we may

not want to

change or we may want to

change but don't have the will to choose

to change

if

we never want to change then we'll never

choose something

different that's that second step making

a decision Lord I want to change I want

a clean shed I'm going to take action

and clean out my shed that's the third

step we take

action repentance is not real until we

change

Behavior once we choose to turn around

we must walk in a new way walk in the

path of

obedience me cleaning out my shed does

me no good if I don't keep it up it's

just going to get messy

again this friends is John's

message the people of God are heading in

the wrong

direction they've been corrupted by the

political and religious powers that be

the principalities and powers that are

at war with the Lord the only way for

Israel to avert

disaster is to return to return to where

all things started return to the

Wilderness pass through the

Jordan so that they can inherit again

the promised

land and what's so interesting and

radical about John's message is that

while it happens in the context of a

covenant a corporate

promise John calls out to individuals

that individual Israelites need to

repent to turn around and to return to

where they

started only then will God offer his

great gift the Forgiveness of

sins that's the goal of baptism and

repentance that God would see our sins

and wipe them

away but there's a

problem John knew there was a problem

the problem is that we cannot truly

repent without the grace of

God the problem is not our wrong

direction but our broken

hearts we can't recognize that we're

going in the wrong direction our hearts

don't desire to change we can't choose

something new because they are

broken we need God to act we need God to

clean house to create in us new Hearts

so that we can

repent and this is where we got to

change my metaphor a bit see we are the

sheds we are not the person cleaning the

shed the shed can't clean itself it

needs someone else to act someone else

to do something they cannot do and yet

how often friends do we try to clean our

own Hearts we try to clear out to do

better to try harder when we can't it's

something God through his grace must do

for

us the New Testament is clear that

repentance is a work that God does in us

it's only possible by the Holy Spirit

John knows this which is why later on in

chapter 3 in verse 16 he says I baptize

you with water water but he who is

mightier than I is coming the strap of

whose sandal I am not worthy to untie he

will baptize you with the Holy Spirit

and with

fire John knows that his ministry his

message it's only a sign it's pointing

to something greater it's pointing to

the action of God what he will do on our

behalf in the person of Jesus

Christ Christians often confuse the

baptism of John with the baptism of

Jesus they're not the same and as a

result there are many Christians who

think repentance is necessary before

baptism but that's old Covenant logic

that's John's baptism the logic of the

New Covenant is different because we

cannot repent without the grace of God

the Holy Spirit we need God to act first

we need God by his grace to recreate our

hearts to make us as the Liturgy says

regenerate by the Holy

Spirit through the waters of baptism the

Holy Spirit acts upon us and makes us

new creatures so that we might repent

following in the way of

John this is clarified later on in Acts

Acts 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19 there's a very interesting

scenario there Paul comes to Ephesus and

there he finds some disciples and he

says to them did you received the Holy

Spirit when you believed and they say no

we've not even heard of the Holy Spirit

there's a Holy

Spirit and then Paul responds into what

were you baptized and they said into

John's

baptism Paul goes on John baptized with

the baptism of repentance telling the

people to believe in the the one who was

to come after him this is

Jesus and on hearing this they were

baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus

they were baptized again because John's

baptism wasn't enough and when Paul had

laid his hands on them verse 6 The Holy

Spirit came upon them and they began

speaking in tongues and

prophesying the book of Acts makes the

distinction very clear that what John is

doing in the water is very different

than what Jesus does in these

Waters in these Waters in the New

Covenant we have Recreation New Creation

regeneration God gives us a new heart he

cleans out the shed of our souls so that

we might

repent this indeed is what I learned in

Germany this was the teachings of the

reformers Luther Calvin kranner and yet

we're so tempted to make it about our

repentance about me proving that I'm

good enough that I'm contrite

enough that I can earn God's grace

through my

repentance John Cuts right to the heart

of

that God needs to act and to do

something new in

us so what does this have to do with us

today

with the season of

Advent how should we receive John's

Ministry and John's

message well let me offer you two

thoughts first we learn from John that

repentance is really a kind of

returning through holy baptism the Holy

Spirit has cleaned house he has created

in us new Hearts we are now capable of

repenting indeed that is why we baptize

infants so that that child can receive

the gift of God and learn what it means

to be truly repentant over the course of

their

lives for Christians repentance takes on

a different character it's less about

turning around and more about

returning returning to the grace of God

returning to our baptisms and the

promises given to us returning to God's

work in US

because over the course of Our Lives all

of us Drift from the path we neglect our

walk with Christ like my shed our souls

get filled with more and more stuff and

not all of it's bad some of it is good

but we can't know what's good and what's

bad until we let God Clean us out that's

what the season of advent is all about

Advent the beginning of the lurgical

calendar is about

returning we return to the place of

Israel before the coming of Christ we

long for God to do something new in us

to give us a new

beginning the Advent gospel is

simple if you need a fresh start it is

possible but it's only possible when we

return to the

Wilderness and we pass through the

waters of

repentance and then receive the

Forgiveness of sins the promises of

eternal

life the second thing I think this means

for us today is a word about reform like

John like the time of Kings we live in a

time of great corruption among our

political leaders among our religious

leaders among

institutions indeed in our own

Hearts just this past week I learned

from a friend about another Church

leader who had a fall from grace after

uh committing a moral

failure it's no surprise that people are

suspicious of

churches the news is full of how our

leaders fail us all the

time if we want reform if we want to

return we can't look to those at the

center of

power instead we should look to those on

the mark

those in the wilderness those away from

the centers of power if you think

something needs to change at this church

don't come to Craig and

I prayerfully discern what God is

calling you to do here and tell us we

want to know about it right but we're

not going to fix it for you no Leader's

going to fix it for you God has put his

spirit in each one of us so that we can

prayerfully and wisely discern how we

can join in his

work and whenever a prophet comes to

reform throughout scripture throughout

the ages it always comes from the

outside from the Wilderness from the

periphery indeed that's what Jesus did

as our reading from Malachi made clear

he spent time with the widows the

orphans the poor the hungry the sick

those in

prison that's what we are called to do

in m Matthew 25 when Jesus is talking

about the End of the Age the metric for

judgment is whatever you did for the

least of these you do it unto me and

that's why for Advent we have

opportunities for you to give for you to

serve a coat drive for refugees the dive

on Thursdays with the homeless uh the

ministry of the Kramers internationally

in Syria which definitely needs our

prayers today

as the church listens to the least of

these we develop a vision for what real

reform could look like reform that looks

like the kingdom of God because that's

the only reform that really matters our

sinful and lost world needs the kingdom

of

God and we learn and discern the kingdom

by listening to the voice of those

crying in the

wilderness and then we can participate

in the Fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy

in our own day that every Valley will be

filled and every mountain and Hill will

be made low and the Crooked shall become

straight and the rough places shall

become level and All Flesh shall see the

salvation of

god so let's take some time to reflect

on how God might be calling you to

return to his promises his to your

baptism

and what it might look like for us to

reform in our own day