A, The Third Sunday of Advent - Isaiah 35:8 "The Way of Holiness: Prophets True or False"

Isaiah 35:8 (ESV) And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

Jesus speaks to the crowd after John the Baptist’s disciples are sent back to him to report that Jesus is “the one”.  Jesus questions the crowd as to why they went to see John.  After all, John was not a man dressed in soft clothing, he was dressed like a nobody, a wandering nomad.  And the message he brought wasn’t a gentle message to the ears that heard it!  No! John was calling Judea, those who lived in the region of the Jordan River and all of Jerusalem to repentance.

Other prophets before John weren’t treated favourably for calling Israel and Judah to repentance. We know of Elijah fleeing from the wrath of King Ahab and his vindictive wife, Jezebel, after he killed the false prophets on Mount Carmel.  Also, Jeremiah faced ridicule, arrest, and was dropped into an underground dry well as punishment.    

The author of Hebrews continues, “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:36–38 ESV)

John the Baptist knew the plight of being God’s prophet or messenger!  We also know he ultimately had his head chopped off for his trouble!  So why did he put himself in this situation?  Why did the prophets before him risk life and limb to call God’s straying people to account?  In today’s standards it seems like a foolish thing to do!

So, what is a prophet?  And what is a false prophet?  How do you discern the difference?  In the New Testament the Greek word for prophet is a “foreseer”.  Literally a prophet is shown something by God and then called to tell others what they have seen!  This could be a future physical event or something that is going to occur to a person or persons. But it always comes from the faithfulness of God to save someone from danger or error.

On the other hand, a false prophet is one who is faithful to themselves.  Who appears to proclaim on behalf of God but really leads people away from God’s faithfulness into deception, to believe the false prophet’s dreams and desires.  A false prophet glorifies the god of the self and not our Heavenly Father. Their dreams and desires  usually end up being the nightmares of those who are deceived by their message.

John the Baptist with his camel skin clothes, his diet of wild honey and locusts, shows us a couple of things.  He did not need the sponsorship of others to survive.  Therefore, he wasn’t promoting anyone’s message in exchange for favours.  Also, he wasn’t seeking honour for himself.  He was a dirty and dishevelled looking individual, doing a deed that disturbed and disrupted those to whom he was called to speak. John the Baptist was selfless, blunt and abrasive to those who could have comforted him with their comfortable positions.  Yet he just didn’t care about his wellbeing in the world, as opposed to his wellbeing in the face of God, who called him to be God’s foreseer of Jesus Christ.  

So why did the people flock to John the Baptist?  There was power of some sort that drew people to him.  Likewise, prophets and false prophets operate with power and authority too.  Many are led by prophets, and more are led to false prophets. Saint Paul rightly reflects to Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”  (2 Timothy 4:3–4 ESV)

Peoples’ ears never itch to be called to repentance!  No! But God knew that is what was needed!  John the Baptist’s preaching was induced by the Holy Spirit as was promised to his father, Zechariah, by the angel of the Lord who said of John, “…he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And 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 disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:15–17 ESV)

The only reason John, with his hard looks and message, drew and baptised people for the repentance of their sins, was that the Holy Spirit was doing the work of softening hearts!

To most today, even within the walls of churches, the way of John the Baptist, seems the way of foolishness.  However, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25 ESV) And “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 ESV) Also, “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18 ESV)

John the Baptist was not concerned about what people thought.  His care factor was zero and it shows in the way he dressed, in what he ate, in what he said, and to whom he said it!  Rather, he was concerned about God and the message he called him to proclaim. Led by the Holy Spirit, John walked the highway of heaven, albeit by the humblest of ways!  This way Isaiah names the Way of Holiness.  He may have looked like a fool following this way, but his foolishness shamed the wise of the world.

As God’s people we are called to follow the Way of Holiness.  Some are called to be prophetic speakers on behalf of God, for his glory, and patiently endure suffering from sinners inside and outside the church.  However, all are called to follow God’s word, on his Way of Holiness.  It makes no difference if it’s a bishop or a fledgling disciple, whether one is seemingly wise or foolish, none are above God or the word he sends through his messengers, no matter how unpopular it seems.

Because some of us have been marinating in the way of the world for most of our lives, we’re deceived into thinking we can choose who and what we want to hear when it comes to God speaking to us.  How might it make you feel when someone chooses to ignore what you say?  Now consider how God feels about us when we choose to reject what he wants. 

Jesus endured similar anger and rejection.  “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (Hebrews 12:3 ESV)

This consideration goes both ways!  Firstly, you’re called to consider the hostility Jesus endured from sinners to save you.  Hostility that put him on the cross.  Secondly, you’re called to consider what could happen to you when you also act in hostile or passive aggressive ways towards those God sends in the name of Jesus to lead you to eternal salvation!  Are your actions in accord with the Way of Holiness?

In your consideration, let the Holy Spirit determine in you if you’re hearing God through those, he has sent to proclaim his word. Establish where your glory is going in your conduct. Is your foolishness, folly to the world, or is your foolishness, folly in the eyes of God? 

Consider your grumbling might be against God when you grumble against God’s called servants. We’re told, “Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.”  (James 5:9–10 ESV)

It’s better to be judged by the world as a prophetic fool and receive mercy from God who forgives repentant people who seem like fools.  Alternatively, it’s foolish to be judged faithful by the world and reject God’s faithfulness in sending you, his servants, even when their prophetic message seems foolish in popular thought.  All need to consider what foolishness to follow. Foolishness that follows the Way of Holiness, or foolishness that falls and follows a hellish way thereafter!

Every person needs to pray for the Holy Spirit’s help to test the spirits! To test the prophets, to test the bishops, to test your pastor, and establish which way is truly the Way of Holiness.  Not all ways are ways of forwarding the faith to future generations and glorifying God! Other “ways” that glorify itching ears, popularity, immediate gratification, visual growth, and deviation from God’s word might forward the fruit people want.  But when these ways are not the Way of Holiness, Jesus’ way, truth, or life, they won’t faithfully forward the eternal fruit God desires.   

We are called to, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:7–8 ESV)

However, don’t just blindly be led by those who lead.  After all, Jesus confronted the blind guides of Judaism, and they put him on the cross.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Therefore, allow the Holy Spirit to make sure your guides have been sent by Jesus to lead you to the cross for eternal salvation.  Make sure you are not re-sacrificing Christ on a false prophet’s cross of vainglory and eternal shame. Amen.

C, Second Sunday of Advent - Malachi 3:1-4 "My Messenger"

The text on TikTok, and the notice printed in the local paper read, “Jesus Christ appearing this Sunday morning at such and such a place and at such and such a time.” 

Would you be surprised God might use such a message to announce the coming of his Son to a spot near you?  The advertisement is nothing grand; its text does not stand out from other texts.  What if God chose to send a messenger or a message in this way, how might you react on hearing or reading of his coming?

For the purpose of this exercise let’s say the message is not false, but entirely true and Jesus Christ is coming to a venue near you.  The words of the ad are the preparation for his coming and the way he comes is to your church this Sunday. 

Excited? Scared? Perplexed? Thrilled? Perhaps you’re just a bit apprehensive that he’s coming, “Why’s he coming to my church?” you ask yourself.  “Where’s he comin’ from and how’s he gettin’ here anyway?” Rightly you’d be sceptical!

Malachi receives an oracle from the Lord.  He is a prophet, and this oracle is a word from God; a word of burden on Malachi’s heart if he doesn’t pass it onto the people.  It’s a word or an utterance which has overcome his heart and mind.  Put there by God himself to glorify God and raise the attention of those called to hear it.  This word was given to lift up, stir up, sit up, shake up, shape up!  But also, to ease, to exalt, to forgive, heal and help.

Malachi spoke in a time after some of the exiles returned to rebuild the temple in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra.  However, the messianic age did not occur with the reconstruction of the temple.  What they built was a building which stood in the shadows of the former temple of King Solomon’s day.

This temple lacked the physical appearance of the former temple, and also noted was a spiritual vacancy.  It seemed God no longer spoke as he had in previous times prior to their exile into the custody of the Babylonians. The Israelites and Jews looked back to the days when God spoke through the Judges, the priests like Samuel and Nathan, the prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.  God had spoken, and no one listen, and now God had stopped speaking.

Malachi was the last prophet to speak some 430 years before Christ was born.  He was the last to speak on God’s behalf against the perversions of popular practice. He was a lone voice echoing from the silence of God before God went completely silent for some 400 years. 

Malachi’s name literally means “my messenger”, he was a messenger, and we hear him herald the coming of two messengers, the last prophet, and then a great messenger, who himself would be the message.

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.  He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. (Malachi 3:1–4 ESV)

Malachi’s message is harsh and sharp.  They have not been treating the Lord as their God; their righteousness was not acceptable as righteousness before the Lord.  They were not following God in the way he had willed them; in righteousness “to” the Lord.  Their worship of the Lord was a show which God was going to test as a blacksmith would refine metals, and as a fuller would cleanse and whiten fibre for fabric.

To be clear what the washing agent was for a fuller in their day, was human urine.  Not the fresh stuff, but that which was left to sit for a while, so the ammonia content was stronger and better for cleaning and bleaching the fabric. 

So, the show was going to be refined by fire and stood on like fibre worked in ankle deep urine.  But this is only a picture of who is to come.  To whom is the refiner’s and the fuller’s image referring?

The one to come came some 400 years after the fact.  John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the refiner, the fuller.

…during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.  And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Luke 3:2–3 ESV)

But whom was he preparing and of whom did he proclaim?  He was calling the Jews and the Israelites to repentance for their sins against the Lord.  A preparation for the cleansing which was to come! This was preparation to make the people ready for the refiner, for the fuller.

John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16 ESV)

So, Malachi left his fellow Jews with a picture of one coming to wash in the widdle of one’s own waste fluid and made pure with fire to remove the impurities.

And this one is the One and Only Son of God, Jesus Christ.  He has come once, and he is coming again.  Yet he has already put the refinement and washing process into place.  And he is coming again to finish what he has started.  He is coming to gather the gold and the fabric gleaming in God’s glory.

Now depending on how one might look at this we might see the ammonia of urine and the fire of refinement as something to be feared, as hurtful, and void of love!  We lose trust in God because of the trials and tribulations into which we’re subjected and suffer. 

When one falls into this temptation, they are like those who love wearing dross rather than silver or gold, who seek to swim in the proverbial piddle and poop that comes our way in this life rather than those who wear the white garments to come out of God’s cleansing and testing process.

On the other hand, Christ encourages his children, those who trust him, those who look forward in faith, to endure and persevere under the refiners and fullers of this life as a holy preparation for that which is to come.  An eternity of silver and gold, wearing robes of righteousness as white and as bright as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

For we are told… when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:4–8 ESV)

Therefore, the refiner’s fire and the fuller’s soap, no matter how crude they may seem are only agents of cleansing and hope to focus you on Jesus Christ.  After all, Jesus has been submerged into the fuller’s fluid and fired with the refiner’s fires in the place of those who trust in him.

The message may not be printed in the paper, or read as a text on TikTok, that Jesus is coming to such and such a place at such and such at time.  But it is written on paper, in the Word of God.  He has been coming and has come amongst us when we gather in the Triune name, and in his Word to hear this teaching and promise of salvation and refinement.  Therefore, those who take their garments soiled in sin can make them as white as snow by washing them in the blood of Jesus.

You see Jesus has been baptised by the Holy Spirit into his ministry of the cross and with the fires of hell itself on Good Friday, so that the trials and temptations in your life might test us so we trust all the more the putrid and pungent plight of Christ being washed and refined for you, cleansing all of you this Sunday and every time the Holy Spirit calls and gathers us into Jesus’ presence. 

Jesus is the messenger!  He is the message!  I pray he is yours too. Amen.

A, The First Sunday after the Epiphany, The Baptism of our Lord - Matthew 3:13-17 "The Appearance of Righteousness"

Matthew 3:13–17 (ESV)  Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”  But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;  and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

You have just appeared from the water, you stand there fully undressed in your birthday suit, and ponder your existence.

But you appear not from the Jordan, it’s the shower, or the bath!  And you do not appear before John the Baptist, nor the crowd looking on.  No!  Just the mirror, and yourself looking back at you.  What do you see, what is appearing before your eyes?  A blemish here, a lump there, not enough hair, too much hair!

Now a very important question for all of you, and I need a show of hands.  Who after emerging from the water has heard the words, “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased”?  Has anyone here seen the heavens open, and the Spirit of God descend like a dove?  I’m not speaking of the dove with one quarter moisturiser or dove deodorant either!

Similarly, those who were going to the Jordan did not hear these words either!  Well, not until Jesus appeared and was baptised by John in the Jordan.

So, what does God the Father see at the Jordan and what appears before him when we stand in front of the bathroom mirror?

What we see and what God sees are perhaps very different things.  Some of us might lament our lumps and bumps.  Some might flex their muscles, or brush and pluck their hair and say, “not bad, not bad at all!”  Some might look deeper into their being, into their position in life, their families, their work, their heartache, their goodness, their knowledge, or their happiness.

But what does God look for?  What disturbs or pleases God as he reflects on your appearance?

As the Israelites reflect on their lives and are baptised in the Jordan for the forgiveness of sin, Jesus also appears so he can be baptised by John.  What Jesus saw and what John the Baptist saw is shown to be different through their conflicting conversation as to who should be baptising who! 

John has been preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  John has been doing so in preparation for the coming of he whose sandals John was not worthy to carry!   Now the “Mighty One” appears and seeks to submit to this preacher of repentance in the Jordan.

John knows that Jesus does not need to repent.  Indeed, John reflects with refusal, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Matthew 3:14 ESV)

We know too that Jesus is different, but unlike John we already know that God said of Jesus from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 ESV)

Last week we heard that within the person of Jesus the obedience of Israel is fulfilled.  Here at the Jordan this great exchange begins.  The people of Israel come in repentance for the forgiveness of sins, by being baptised by John in the Jordan.  The child born in Bethlehem, whom Joseph was commanded to name Jesus, now appears to save his people from their sins.

The perfect telephoto eye of God, saw the full faithfulness and obedience of Jesus to save his people from their sins.   He also saw this perfect faithfulness and obedience “zoom out” to include the gentiles, through Peter, who said, “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,  but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34–35 ESV)

God your Heavenly Father, saw you, when Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptised, to fulfill all righteousness for you.

We now participate in this righteousness of Jesus.  Jesus has fulfilled all righteousness, and now we please God by trusting the fulfilment of it.  Like those who came in repentance and received a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, we were brought to baptism by the work of the Holy Spirit, so that baptised into Jesus’ death, the Holy Spirit sifts and separates sin in us and fires it on the cross.

God could see all this reflecting in Jesus when he rose up out of the waters of the Jordan.  He could see Jesus’ perfect life, he saw his sinless death, he saw the faithful atonement the Saviour made in becoming what Israel could not be, what humanity could not be, what you and I could not be.

God saw your unrighteousness, my unrighteousness, Israel’s, and humanity’s unrighteousness and sent his Son with whom he is well pleased to fulfil all righteousness.  He saw the unrighteous made righteous in Jesus’ baptism into his ministry of death and resurrection.

Like a scientist examining an atom under a microscope, God telephotos in on humanity to the “…nth degree”.  In doing so he saw what appeared and had to save us from the shortness of our sight.  When we looked at ourselves, we saw any righteous gift from God as our own righteousness.  And when God caused us to see our unrighteousness, we thought we could regain our righteousness through our own ends.

God our Father had to chart and map a plan of salvation for us.  He looked forward to the time when Jesus would fulfil all righteousness.  God, like an explorer, beholding the horizon of salvation with a telescope, prophesied through the prophets who saw, and proclaimed salvation was coming. 

And the prophets looked forward to this happened till the last great prophet, John the Baptist, who baptised the promised Saviour named Jesus when he appeared.  All the prophets bore witness to Jesus Christ, “that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”  (Acts 10:43 ESV)

So next time you appear having come out of the waters of a bath or shower don’t just look at yourself in the mirror but truly look!  Behold!  See that when God looks at you, he sees the full scope of Jesus’ work for you and within you. 

From his birth and baptism to his death and resurrection, behold, see it was for you!  Behold, see his continual bestowal of the Holy Spirit into you! 

Behold, see the Holy Spirit leads you from the alpha to the omega of salvation perfected and finished only in Jesus Christ. 

Behold, see that having been made holy in Jesus Christ, God’s word to him, is his word to you!  To you a sinner whom the Holy Spirit leads to reflect on God’s word and repent. 

Because of Jesus’ faithfulness, now, God is your Father in heaven!  Because of Jesus’ faithfulness, now, God shows no favouritism!  Because of Jesus’ faithfulness, behold, now God says of you!  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Amen.

A, The Third Sunday of Advent - Isaiah 35:8 "Way of Holiness"

“What then did you go out into the wilderness to see?  What then did you go out to see?  What then did you go out to see?”

Three times Jesus asks the crowd, “What did you go out to see?”  Was it a reed swaying in the wind of the wilderness?  No!  Was it a man in fine clothing?  No, you only find them in king’s houses!  Was it a prophet?  Yes, John the Baptist, dressed in camel’s hair clothing, living off wild honey and locusts!  What a strange, peculiar fellow!

Jesus asks the crowd these questions after John’s disciples take news back to John in prison.

They return after, “Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.’”  (Matthew 11:4–6 ESV)

In seeing and hearing Jesus, they heard and saw what was prophesied many years before.  Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, “They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.  Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;  then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy”  (Isaiah 35:2c–6a ESV)

People had gone out into the wilderness to see, hear, and be baptised by John in preparation for Jesus’ coming.  Jesus points out that this event had been previously forecast and quotes from Malachi three verse one.  He says, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.” (Matthew 11:10 ESV) 

Not only does he proclaim John as messenger, but also that John is preparing the way for him, not only as Christ, as God’s Anointed, but that he actually is God, the Son of God.

Now hear the exact words from Malachi chapter three to see how Jesus reveals himself as one with the Lord God who is speaking through the prophet Malachi, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1 ESV)

God was sending a messenger to prepare the way of God, for God’s coming, and here Jesus says to the crowd, the way is now prepared for you, for my coming!  John the Baptist came proclaiming and preparing the way of God, God was now with them, both God and person in Jesus Christ.

This event, however, had come about through John sending his disciples to ask Jesus,  “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  (Matthew 11:3 ESV)

It sounds like John had doubts.  John was languishing in prison.  After John baptised Jesus, John’s ministry of preparation was complete.  Jesus had come and was now baptised into his ministry of death and resurrection. 

Jesus declares, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. ” (Matthew 11:11a ESV)  But now John was free to be less than the least in the kingdom.

If we think of John the Baptist as the greatest, born of women, it is quite amazing that he needs to ask if Jesus is the one who is to come.  After all, he is the most privileged among prophets.  He not only proclaimed Christ’s coming, but unlike all other prophets physically witnessed him.  And after refusing to baptise Jesus, arguing, “I need to be baptised by you”, John agrees to baptise him, fulfilling all righteousness.

But Jesus says, “ Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11b ESV)  What is this riddle that Jesus says?  John the Baptist, the greatest of all and most privileged of all prophets is less than the least in the kingdom of heaven!

What Jesus does in front of the crowd with John’s disciples is fascinating, he takes these men and sends them back to John with his word.  John’s disciples are now Jesus’ disciples witnessing to John the least in the kingdom of heaven.  And this needs to be so!  Jesus has to be the Saviour of all called into the kingdom of heaven!

One might think John was being foolish, enquiring if Jesus was the one or should they look for another!  Perhaps the crowd thought this too when John’s disciples came asking if Jesus was the one.  But what Jesus says and does is good news for the crowd and for us.

Why?  Because those in the crowd are the blind, the lepers, the dead, and the poor.  They are the least in the kingdom of heaven.  But they are greater than he whom they went out into the wilderness to see!

Why are they greater and what’s this to do with us?  And with you confirmees too, about to affirm what Jesus has done for you in baptism, and continues to do in you, through the Holy Spirit? 

And not just the confirmees, but all you who are least in the kingdom of heaven.  Who continue in the faith, daily returning to your baptism into Jesus’ righteousness!  Seeing and hearing the Word of God!  Seeing, hearing, eating and drinking Jesus’ body and blood!  Hearing and receiving the forgiveness of sin!

Like the crowd, Jesus asks you, “What then did you come to church to see?  What then did you come to see?  What then do you see?”

Like John the Baptist suffering in prison, we will leave this place to go out and see many turmoils and tribulations in this life.  What seems to be a foolish question by John the Baptist, we realise is the same folly that assails all of us.  All humanity from the greatest to the least are tempted to lose hope in Jesus Christ, from the wearing effects of sin within, and a world without hope.

But like John, when we’re tempted to question if Jesus is really the Christ, if he is really the Son of God, if he really died for my sins, if my sins are really that offensive to God, or if my sin really can be forgiven, we are called to look out of ourselves and see Jesus Christ! 

We are called to see him born in the wilderness of our world.  We are called to see him on the cross.  We are called to see him resurrected in glory at the right hand of the Father.  We are called to see him daily drowning the darkness within, with the light of his holiness shining the way so you and I do not go astray.

As you leave here and walk through the darkness of these days, follow Jesus on his road of righteousness.  The prophet Isaiah says, “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.” (Isaiah 35:8 ESV)

Many have departed this way and entered back into despair.  How can that be so,  if this way belongs to you and me?  Isaiah tells us, even if we’re fools, we cannot go astray from this Way of Holiness?

These are those who are rejecting the Holy Spirit.   The Holy Spirit keeps human beings from foolishly walking from the way of Holiness, the way of forgiveness, the way of salvation.  These are they who toss away God’s robes of righteousness in knowing Jesus, for robes of good and evil that make them once again unclean in spirit and in life.

But not you, when you patiently endure having your foolishness cleansed daily in the Way of Holiness, the Way of Jesus Christ, the way of perfect complete forgiveness!

Therefore, God’s call for all of us, recorded in the book of James, is one of perseverance and patience, “until the coming of the Lord.  See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:7–8 ESV)

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28–29 ESV)

In these weary times the temptation is to go astray.  But let the Holy Spirit keep your eyes open, to see the right way!  The Way of Holiness, Jesus’ Holy Way!  Amen.

C, Advent 3 - Zephaniah 3:14–20 "On that Day, At that Time"

Zephaniah 3:14–20 (ESV) Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.  The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.  I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.  Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.  At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.

On that day, at that time, God has made a promise to you. 

What is the promise?  What is the time?  What is the day?

Zephaniah announced these things, to Judah and Jerusalem, when the Assyrians had been the dominant force in the world.  The northern kingdom of Israel had long been carried off by the Assyrians into captivity.  Israel and their kings no longer existed. 

Judah and Jerusalem with all other nations were under oppression from their captors.  So powerful were the Assyrians they had captured southern centres far into the interior of Egypt.  Under their influence, King Manasseh, and then his son, King Amon, led Judah in practises of shameful proportions.  Child sacrifice, fortune telling, mediums and talking with the dead were commonplace along with Baal and Asherah worship.

These were the darkest of times for Judah.  The twelve tribes of Israel were all but gone.  God promised to act, on that day, at that time!  On God’s behalf, Zephaniah announces judgement on Judah and the king for what they had done.

And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice — “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.  On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.’  Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” (Zephaniah 1: 8–9, 12–13 ESV)

The people of Judah responded against the violence, blood, and sins of King Manasseh and his succeeding son, King Amon.  King Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed him and place Josiah on the throne of Judah at the tender age of eight.  This boy king reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem in a renaissance of peace, rebuilding the temple and the worship life of Jerusalem.

Zephaniah prophecies not just the restoration of Jerusalem and Judah but he promises the renewal of Israel. He says, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”(Zephaniah 3:14 ESV)

At that time, God overthrew the Assyrian empire by the hand of the Babylonians.  However, the peace of Judah was not to survive, and the Jews were exiled to Babylon for seventy years.   In Psalm one hundred and thirty-seven we hear of the bitter anguish of God’s people struggling under God’s judgement.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!  Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!  O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock! (Psalm 137:1,4-6, 8-9 ESV)

Zephaniah’s prophecy stood partially fulfilled and stayed that way till the coming of Christ Jesus some five hundred plus years later. On that day, at that time, God fulfilled the prophecy of Zephaniah.

Yet, on this day at this time, we seem to be in the same predicament as that of the Jews.  Apathy and testing on a global scale are fragmenting God’s people into fault and failure.

Many are departing from the faith because God seems to be not conforming to their day, and he seems to have not acted in their time.  Am I guilty, are you guilty, are we culpable for seeking to nail God to our time frame?

Equally, we in the church have forced others out, through our judgement, because they have not conformed in our day, and at the time, of our desires and expectations.  Are you and I called to repentance for not allowing God to work in his day and in his time?

And with our idols of expectation, how are we using ourselves, our times, and our possessions in the service of furthering God’s kingdom as we wait for the return of our Saviour?  I fail dismally, just as the Jews failed, and as we all do in God’s church.

It is the day, and it is the time, to weep and repent because many of God’s baptised children are choosing not to remember Zion!  Are you one of them?  Is God no longer your highest joy?  Would you rather bless and weep over Babylon and her little ones, rather than remember Jerusalem?

In that day, at that time, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9 ESV)

And of the Christ, John the Baptist prophesies, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:17 ESV)

So, what does that mean for us in this day, at this time?  What does this mean for your guilt or for your lack of it?

On that day, at that time, you were baptised into the Holy Spirit and the fire of Jesus’ baptism, perfect life, death, descent into hell, and resurrection from death and the grave. On this day, at this time, believe your guilt is forgiven!

The crowd, the tax collectors, and the soldiers, at the hearing of John the Baptist, were cut by his words and asked, “What then are we to do?”  Your guilt or a disturbing lack of it might make you ask the same. 

The answer is given by Jesus himself, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  Then they (the crowd) said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:27–29 ESV)

And he also says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16 ESV)

On that day, at that time, Jesus has come, and he will come again.  On that day, at that time, he has given you the Holy Spirit in baptism.  On that day, at that time, you were baptised into three pm Good Friday and are baptised into your Easter Sunday resurrection from the dead.  But you also have been baptised into eternal life with Jesus that continues on this day and at this time.

Despite all the difficulties, even though we struggle to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, we wait for the day and the time of Jesus coming to take us home.  On that day, at that time, God’s eternal love will be completely realised.  Let his love of forgiveness, quieten you now on this day, at this time!  

“On this day at this time, the LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.” The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.” (Zephaniah 3:15 ESV)

In confession and absolution, we say or sing, “I will confess my sins to the Lord.  Then he forgave the guilt of my sin.”

So, let us confess! Then, let us believe! God is forgiving our iniquities and will remember our sin no more! (Jeremiah 31:34 ESV)

Let God clear the enemy from within you.  Your old Adam, and his human spirit, your human spirit, is your greatest enemy.  Christ has conquered him though!  And has removed all judgements and blame against you. 

Therefore, as Paul says to the Philippians, I say to you, on this day, at this time, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.” That is, let the reflection of Jesus, from within you, be known, to everyone! 

“The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything.” That is, do not be double faced about anything because Jesus is with you! “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 

And this is the promise, that, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

Amen.

C, Advent 2 - Luke 1:76-80 "Salvation Through Forgiveness"

Luke 1:76–80 (ESV) And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,  because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

There was silence in the land of Judah for four hundred years.  God was absent since the days of the prophets when Malachi was called to petition problematic priestly practices. Now Zechariah stood in the temple at Jerusalem to fulfil his priestly duties.

The glory days of Israel and its kings were long past.  The Jews, a fragmented dispersed people, after the rule of Alexander the Great and his Greco-Macedonian government,  now were being ruled by Rome and their appointment of Herod as the subordinate King of Judah.  To the displeasure of the Jews, Herod was not a Jew but an Edomite.

Zechariah came about his turn of duty in the temple through being chosen by lot.  Zechariah would have been honoured to have been chosen to perform this task.  His life would have been a quiet existence and this service at the temple would have been a high point even though events at the temple would have been far less grand than during the time of David and Solomon. Little did Zechariah know things were about to change.

And change things did!  Four hundred years of silence from God and then an angelic messenger speaks to him while he is in service to God.  Now having heard the message, Zechariah is struck with silence as a result of not believing he and his barren wife, Elizabeth, were to have a son and name him John. 

The angel says of John, “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 disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (Luke 1:16–17 ESV)

Four hundred years beforehand, Malachi had proclaimed similar. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” (Malachi 4:5–6a ESV)

The silence of God for four hundred years is broken.  Now Zechariah endures nine months of silence, knowing God was to announce the Christ through his son which his wife, Elizabeth, was carrying. 

After John’s birth and at the time of his circumcision, full of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah’s lips are loosed, the silence is broken.  Zechariah praises God for John and what John was born to do. To be the messenger of God preparing the people for the way of the Lord.

Here again, Malachi had announced this, some four hundred years beforehand, saying, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1 ESV)

Even during Jesus’ journey to the cross, he points to what Malachi had prophesied about the witness of John the Baptist. Jesus says, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:26–28 ESV)

But before Jesus’ ministry began, John had also been silenced.  He grew and became strong in the Holy Spirit, but he was consigned to a place in the wilderness until it was time to fulfil God’s mission to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins… to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:77& 79 ESV)

So, in God’s time, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ” (Luke 3: 2b–6 ESV)

When Zechariah’s lips were loosed, he reveals how John was going to prepare people for Jesus. This is by a knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins.  Sin was put on the agenda.  John was proclaiming and giving a baptism of repentance to all who heard his call. John the Baptist was showing people that they were in darkness and needed a light.

We too are being prepared for Jesus’ coming!  Advent is a time of light in the darkness.  John the Baptist was called to be a messenger of light in the darkness, today as we travel through Advent towards the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, we too are called to see the shining light in the midst of our darkness.

However, what most of us seek for a saviour is not Jesus.  There are so many other things in the world that promise empowerment, luciferous light, and love.  It seems since we have seen the salvation of God, we struggle to stay in the light, and hinder hearing the Holy Spirit reveal Jesus through his word to us increasing faith.

We live in a dark world.   But we are further deceived when we relegate the darkness as something we are without, as if we are not contributors to the darkness.  We live in a dark world because of the darkness within!  Within each of us burns the light of human desire that seeks to make us shine as lights of the world. 

We all do well to determine what kind of light we are seeking to shine.  Are we reflecting and shining knowledge of salvation?  Or are we shining a knowledge of our good and evil? 

This light of good and evil is a little light of Lucifer.  It is a deception leading one away from the light of God. Many are finding themselves and many more will find themselves in complete darkness and all alone. This light of Lucifer is a temporary temptation to follow a light that’s transitory then terminates. This light does not give us the gift of the knowledge of salvation.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5–10 ESV)

It’s time for us as the church of God to allow the light to shine on sin. It’s time to practice the truth!  Just as people came to John the Baptist confessing their sin, and received a baptism of repentance, we too are called to return in repentance to our baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Know and believe you have the light of Christ within you, willing you to confess your sin, so you receive the forgiveness of sin.  The Holy Spirit is shining the light of Jesus in the darkness within you, so you can stand before God without the consequences of sin. We have had our darkness demolished and it continues to be destroyed with the love and light of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Dear Heavenly Father, when we seek relief from long-felt grief turn us to the light of Jesus. When temptations come alluring, send your Holy Spirit to make us patient and enduring; guide our feet into the way of peace show us that bright shore where we weep no more. Amen.