Sharing Good News

I get a great passage, as always.

I get a passage that's the third part of an actual whole passage,

which Russ started for us last week,

and the middle bit which we skipped,

although it is a very important bit of this entire passage.

So I want you to think, this is our passage,

but I want you to think a little bit back to what Russ said,

where Russ told us about the hope of salvation we have in Jesus.

That one day we will see the promises of Isaiah 40 fulfilled,

and its outworkings as written by John in Revelation 21,

come to pass, fully done, finished, no more tears, no injustice, no pain.

Old order of things has passed away, the new has come.

You know, that was what Russ told us last week.

We heard that this declared coming by John, in his high-vis jacket,

has actually come in Jesus, the Messiah.

We were reminded that those who follow Jesus

are those who are the citizens of the kingdom of God,

and will enjoy the fruits of that kingdom,

partly now, but one day forever.

And then we skipped the passage,

to which all those excited people that got inspired by those words of John,

were told actually to leave behind corruption.

The prayers were spot on this morning.

Injustice.

John specifically pulls out certain people and their jobs,

and the way that they were being unjust in the way they did life.

And then we get our passage.

So think about that.

You just heard John say a load of quite heavy stuff to people

about completely turning their lives around

if they truly get this message.

And the people were filled with expectation.

Sounds a little bit different in that context.

Expecting what?

What's John going to say next?

Uh-oh, is John going to call my career out?

What was that expectation?

Is John going to...

Did John see me do that last week?

And he's going to start picking on me as well.

What did that expectation look like?

But one thing we know is they got this message,

was a message of good news.

It was a message of the good news

that the Messiah they'd been waiting for had come.

But it wasn't a rosy message.

I actually wonder if John was a little bit surprised

with the amount of people that followed him into the desert.

Maybe they got the wrong memo.

Because they turned up to see this man,

you know, in his camel head,

eating locust and honey,

and probably didn't have his straighteners,

and just looking a bit rough.

Telling them this message of repentance.

Because this good news message that John preached,

this promise of salvation,

was also a warning

that the one coming means business.

And this business is administering God's judgment

on the state of the world

and the creatures and empires that distort it.

I like to think of John as a little bit like Brian.

I don't know if you recognise this.

The Life of Brian.

It's a film that actually predates me,

but it's still good.

It's a really good film.

Sorry, if you remember watching that in your 30s,

I'm very sorry.

Anyway, I was going to show a couple of scenes from it, actually,

but then every time I was like,

that's the perfect scene,

the watershed moment clocked in.

I was like, ah!

There's always something in the film

that makes it inappropriate for church.

But if you, in your own judgment and discernment,

go home and watch Life of Brian,

if you're old enough, etc., etc.

And you remember some of those scenes

where he's just this normal guy,

and he's got some good things to say,

but generally, people keep just following him.

And I feel like John was a little bit like that.

Because John gets mistaken for the Messiah.

No matter what he says, people keep following him.

He repeatedly told them he was not the Messiah.

You can think with Brian, it's the same issue.

He keeps saying, I'm not the Messiah.

And they're like, yeah, that's exactly the sort of thing

the Messiah would say.

And I know, because I've followed a few.

And there's another scene, and I love about it,

where he's in trouble for something.

There's a watershed moment.

And his mum comes into his house.

And there's a crowd of people waiting outside his door.

And she goes, what's going on out there?

And he goes, I don't know, mum.

They're following me around.

I don't know what to do.

And they go, Messiah, Messiah.

And she opens the door.

He's not the Messiah.

He's a very naughty boy.

I feel like John needed his mum in the desert

just to help him out a little bit.

Because these people were hearing the words of John

and hearing good news.

But they were also hearing some tough stuff.

And yet they didn't want to leave.

So there was weight and honesty and integrity

in these words that he was saying.

It wasn't fluffy.

It was real.

John's message proclaimed that the coming of the Messiah

meant getting your house in order.

It meant repenting of your role in the brokenness of the world.

Preparing through the symbolic image of cleansing

through the waters of baptism

for the real judgment of God.

Surely this isn't that good news.

For repentance means to change.

It means to stop and turn around.

It means to live a godly life.

Repentance means to be involved in the judgment process.

Looking at yourself and being honest about the things in your life

that do not reflect the life of Christ.

And often we wait till Easter to remind people

that baby Jesus became the man

who carried out the judgment of God

for the sin that infested

and still distorts creation.

But for John,

this was Jesus' primary purpose.

He believed that when the Messiah

made himself known,

that civilization as they knew it

would be fundamentally changed.

The empires would be toppled.

God's people would be renewed again.

And so his call to repent and be baptized

was about preparation for that moment

when the threshing floor

would be cleared

and only the weak,

the repentant,

the willing to be changed

would survive.

I know what you're thinking.

Come on Jay, it's Christmas.

It's not quite the jolly Christmas message

you'd expect two weeks before Christmas.

What's with the Debbie Downer?

If you don't know who Debbie Downer is,

I am Debbie Downer today.

Debbie Downer could be in the most amazing

Walt Disney show,

everything's beautiful and flashy,

and she'd go,

well, you know,

but I wonder if they really did do enough

health and safety checks.

Somebody could bring the biggest present out

and be like,

this is going to make your day amazing.

And she'd go,

yeah, well,

but is that paper recyclable?

And I just want to throw it out there.

You might feel like this about me today.

Oh, he's being a bit like Debbie.

I'm sorry.

And I am.

But like,

but like,

but like,

John,

for me,

the Messiah's coming

is a full gospel.

And it is actually good news.

It's not just we wait for the future to come.

It's not just we wait till the end.

It means now.

The good news for Christians

that we celebrate at Christmas

the incarnation.

We celebrate the arrival of salvation

physically on earth.

No longer does humanity have to wait.

The new way of life has come.

God has arrived

and changed the trajectory

of all creation

away from darkness

and back to its creator.

We are not in the waiting room.

The kingdom of God

is now and not yet,

but we forget the now bit

too often.

And Christmas is that time

where we see how serious

God is about it.

In a baby,

vulnerable,

in a manger,

God fleshed out

on earth.

For the salvation

of mankind

and all creation.

For me,

that's the message

that would drag me

into the desert

to see a guy

wearing some funny clothes

and eating honey and locusts.

I don't want us

to miss the significance

of that message.

We don't have to live

the corrupt narrative anymore.

Because God is making

all things new

right now.

And his people

are of the new creation

in Christ.

We are called

to actively seek

his kingdom,

life in our own.

This is the proclamation

of the good news.

And this message

still needs to be heard

today.

And maybe even

still proclaimed

by me and you.

It's heavy,

but it's freeing.

The burden

is light.

So let me finish.

I have a question.

This Advent season,

as we symbolically prepare,

being filled again

with the expectation

that like those followers

of John had,

that like millions of people

have had

since the incarnation,

for the coming Messiah.

Will you keep this season

to mince pies

and carol services,

amazing and great as they are,

come tonight,

it's going to be awesome.

Or will you heed

John's message?

Will you heed the message

of truly,

fully,

good news?

And search your heart

and choose again,

or maybe for the first time,

to turn towards Jesus

and accept his love,

to repent

and welcome the power

of his refining,

transforming spirit

into your life.

because it is for the latter

that the Messiah came.

So let me ask you

one more time.

Today,

as you embrace

this season of Advent,

will you choose afresh,

or maybe for the first time,

to accept the love of Jesus

and welcome in

his transforming spirit

into your life?

Amen.