Advent 4 - Rorate Coeli - December 18, 2011

The Church Season of Advent
Advent 4 - Rorate Coeli
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 18, 2011)

Readings:   
        Psalm 111   
        Dt. 18:15-19       
        Philippians 4:4-7            
        John 1:19-28

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel reading of St. John the 1st chapter, especially the following verses.

John 1:19-28

19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ." 21 They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No." 22 Finally they said, [to John the Baptist]"Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' " 24 Now some Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"  26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."  28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

Jesus arrived on Christmas once, about two thousand years ago.  Yet His presence is with us now continuously, even to the end of the age what a blessed comfort that is.  For wherever two or three are gathered, there is the Lord, incarnate in the flesh that He got from the blessed Virgin Mary.  So He is not really arriving on Christmas.  He is already here. 

Yet we in the Church still exercise a centuries' old tradition of preparing for Christ’s arrival.  We know that we need to be reminded that His presence among us is no small thing, and we should be examining and preparing constantly.  After all, He will also return again. 

So then what can we do to prepare?  Well, let's look at what John did.  When he was questioned by the Jews, he gave His testimony.  And John said was is, "I am not the Christ."  And he said, "I am the voice of one crying, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.'" And John also said, "There stands One among you whom you do not know.  It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose."

How do we simplify all these quotes by John?  We could summarize it this way: "The Lord God is among us in human flesh, and I am not Him.  I am not worthy of Him, for He is eternal and infinitely greater than me." And that is a confession that we all can make.  We are all sinners who are not worthy of Christ.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  He is here already, but we are not well prepared in thought, word, and deed.  Our preparation stinks.

 

“Make straight the way of the Lord”, John said.  And if our preparation is us cleaning up our lives and doing better, then we have mucked it up pretty badly.  Or worse, if we think that we have done a pretty good job cleaning up our lives then we are really not well prepared.

 

Thank heavens our preparation does not consist in our own efforts.  But God Himself prepares us by sending messengers before Him who get us ready. The road of life is not straight, though we always seem to hear that we should get our lives on the straight and narrow.  The road of life is not straight, it is more like a summer time on a Michigan Highway.  There are twists and turns, detours and accidents, making the wrong choice in where we should be, being in the place we shouldn’t be, disappointed when some runs into us, disappointed in ourselves when we run into someone else, our cars breakdown unexpectedly.  Sound familiar?  For every one of those highway challenges put yourself and your life, and your challenges in those same sentences.  And we end up with, I have sinned in thought word and deed, by the things we’ve done and the things we’ve left undone.  And so how are those twisty complicated challenges of life to be dealt with?  How is this road of life made smooth by the end of the season?

 

Well think of it this way, How do you get ready to meet a really important person?  The first thing you do is take a shower and get clean.  God thinks the same way.  He cleans us up by giving us His washing of regeneration and renewal.  He purifies us in the best bath there can be. John was the first human messenger through whom God gave out this washing.  The Jews recognized that this Baptism of John was something new, not like their traditional ritual washings.  John was preaching a Baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

 

The Jews recognized that John was claiming great power and authority for this Baptism.  So they asked him why he Baptized, if he was not the Christ and not Elijah and not the Great Prophet prophesied by Moses.  John said that he was preparing the way for the Lord, and the Lord was the important One, not John.  The Baptism John gave was the preparation for the coming of God in human flesh.

 

So it is today.  The forgiveness of God that He gives in Baptism has prepared you for Christ's coming.  As He comes among us in Word and Sacrament, and as He soon will return on clouds of glory, you must be found ready - and thank God, you already are!  For you are washed, you are cleansed, you are sanctified in Christ Jesus your Lord.  In Baptism, you are made a straight and level road.  Your life is set in order, so that all the rough spots of your life and potholes of your iniquities are made smooth by repentance and forgiveness; not that your life is perfect, but that God sees it as perfect.

 

This power of Baptism is the same for John as it is for us.  The power is in Christ and Him crucified.  It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.  The events by which God redeemed mankind were a future thing for John, since the Blood of God's Son had not yet been shed for the world.  For us, that event is already accomplished and sealed by His death and Resurrection.

You are Baptized into Jesus Christ’s His death.  You are buried with Christ so that you will also be raised with Him. Therefore, He has prepared you by covering you with the robes of His righteousness.  Jesus Christ gives you the ultimate, immaculate perfection as a gift.  His goodness is bestowed upon you in these holy waters, like the most beautiful clothing anyone could ever wear. 

So we are prepared for Christ by washing up and getting dressed in our best clothes.  Both things happen in Baptism.  Therefore, you are ready indeed, though there may be unsettling twists and turns ahead of you, have faith.  In the end of the season, Christ will come again.  The road has been made straight, your salvation is secure.  The true preparation was made in Jesus Christ’s redemption.  The path to eternal life is made straight.  Rejoice in the coming days as you hear of the road to Bethlehem, rejoice each day that Jesus Christ cares for each of you.  His incarnation was not for a just day, rather it is for you each day as He comes into your lives.  John cried out in the wilderness the Good news of Jesus Christ what blessed knowledge we have that Jesus Christ who cried out for you on the cross so that all those who believe and are baptized, there is nothing ahead of you that will take you away from the road He prepared for your eternal life. Amen

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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