(We are working on a transcript for this sermon. Please check back later)
(The following is the sermon transcript as delivered by Rev. Tab Ottmers on December 15 in the Year of Our Lord 2024)
The text for our sermon this morning, the third Sunday in Advent, comes from the Gospel reading that was just read. But in particular, when Jesus answers John’s disciples, He says, “go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them,” and especially this last verse, “and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
God’s grace, mercy and peace be unto you, from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please be seated.
“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” It also dawned on me as we read our Psalm today, that line in the Psalm where it says, “yes, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its increase.” Yes, the Lord is good, the land will yield. But what happens when the land doesn’t yield?
We find John the Baptist in prison. Today, we find John the Baptist suffering in darkness, in Herod’s dirty, dark dungeon. He prays to Jesus. He sends his men to Jesus and John wonders, perhaps, “the Lord is good, but I’m still in prison.” John the Baptist, in his time of darkness, teaches us where peace is found. That the good news, the gospel, the working of Jesus, frees you from all darkness, forgives you your sins, and gives you strength to persevere even in the worst of times.
Advent is about preparing for Christ, remembering that Christ will return one day. John the Baptist had first hand experience with what it means to Advent. What it means when Christ comes. When Christ comes into this world. When Christ comes by His preaching. When Christ comes by His presence, a battle always follows. A battle is inevitable. When Christ shows up, either by His word or by His sacrament, or when He’s going to return in person on the last day. A battle always follows. But you can be guaranteed that peace also follows. Where Christ is received by faith, peace is abundant. The land does indeed increase in its return.
Now, over the years, I’ve had a few friends who are pretty big dudes. They’re pretty physically intimidating. It’s part of the reason I love being around them. It humbles me. Every once in a while, I like to tussle with them. Just the mere presence of a large man invites competition. When he comes into a room, a little advent of his own, all the other guys want to test their strength against him. They want to start a fight, especially if there’s beer involved.
Our pride, particularly when a large man is in the room, all the other men, they wonder to themselves, “I could take him.” We always want to take out someone bigger than us. Not only physical size. Believe it or not, as a pastor, when people hear that I’m a pastor, they try to theologically spar with me. I have to admit, probably like my friends that enjoy a good fisticuffs, I too, enjoy the challenge. In our reading today, a battle does take place. This battle is not only physical–it is physical, John the Baptist was put in prison, put in shackles–but it’s also a spiritual battle is taking place in our reading today.
Jesus is stepping onto the stage. John the Baptist is becoming less and Jesus is becoming greater. The forerunner’s role is shrinking, so that Christ may increase. And the devil, and this evil world sees a formidable opponent. A big man is coming onto stage, Jesus Christ. He doesn’t look big. He isn’t physically intimidating. But the devil knows who Jesus is. This evil world knows who the Son of God is and a battle takes place. Even that selfish sinner inside all of the people, even who follow John, perhaps even John the Baptist–Jesus steps on the stage, and all of us who have that sinner inside of us wants to fight.
Even though Jesus is the Son of God from all eternity, even though He cannot be defeated, even though the devil knows this–evil is not sane. Even though the devil knows Jesus as the Holy One of God, he still wants to fight against Jesus. And so he has John the Baptist arrested. Not because John wanted to fight, but because John preached the truth. There is no logic that would have convinced Herod otherwise. There is no logic that will convince people who are stuck in sin. Evil is not logical, nor is it sane. Just like trying to convince a hot-headed little drunk man he can’t beat up my friend. They are determined to accomplish evil. John the Baptist, is in prison because he preached against Herod’s abuse of marriage. John was God’s voice, so Herod picked a fight. The presence of God in His Word arouses evil, even the evil in Herod’s heart. And it was a bar fight, nonetheless. A measure of a man, “who does John think he is? I’ll arrest him. I’ll flex my muscle.”
And we wonder now, John sitting in prison and sending his friends to Jesus to ask him, “are you the one who is to come?” We wonder, was John doubting? John had seen the Dove, the Holy Spirit, descend on Jesus at His baptism, and perhaps yet that bully of John’s sinful flesh still wondered, “are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?” But if you noticed, even if John was doubting, John still knew what to do. John still knew who it was he needed to go to, who John needed to pray to. If you think about it, John sending his disciples was a sort of prayer to Jesus. So John probably was feeling a little beat up, a little bullied. John probably was in a pretty weak place, a place where he wondered, “is waiting on Jesus a winning strategy?”
It is possible that John was doubting, but we do see, in the end, John remains faithful. John is able to give his own life for the truth, because Jesus answered his prayer. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?” This is how Jesus answers John’s prayer, and John’s prayer was half right. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?” Jesus was the one who is to come. But how does Jesus answer the second part of his prayer? This question about waiting?
John must wait on Jesus, and perhaps that’s the most difficult part of our lives as Christians, and probably what John was struggling with. He had to wait on Jesus. He could do nothing. Everything was out of his power. It wasn’t that Jesus was the wrong Messiah, but John had to be reminded of Psalm 27. “Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.” Isaiah 40, “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint,” John. Psalm 37, “be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Fret yourself not over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices.”
How many times do the scriptures encourage us and remind us to wait on the Lord? We love Jesus like John does. We trust Jesus, but if you’re like me, you often find it hard to wait. To follow Him through the darkness. And perhaps we get frustrated our sinful flesh gets the best of us. You too know this by experience. No matter how illogical our sins are, no matter how much we want to be faithful, that old sinful flesh in us is pretty stubborn. No matter how much we’ve hurt people in the past by losing our patience, it’s still so easy to fly off the handle. No matter how many times God himself has had mercy on you, no matter how many times he’s gotten you out of sticky situations, even protected your very life, it’s just so easy to take each day for granted.
No matter how much money God has blessed you with, no matter how many blessings God has given you, it’s just too easy to be tempted to think security and happiness is linked to our possessions. No matter how blessed you are with friends and family and perhaps even children, it’s too easy to take them for granted and consider them a burden. It’s almost as if our fallen heart and flesh wants to flex against God in the ways that he blesses us. God blesses us, and we’re like that hot headed little man that wants to prove we can do it without his blessings. Our flesh likes to size up God, perhaps even try to unseat him from his throne, thinking we know better. Or perhaps we shy away from the truth. Perhaps we’re not even willing to suffer a little bit for speaking the truth to those we love, when they go against God’s Word. John the Baptist was willing to go to prison. Our flesh likes to stand up to God, belly up. But Christ will not be deterred from His task, because God is not here to bully you. God is not here to fight you. God is not here to destroy your faith.
Jesus is not deterred from His task, even though John is in prison. Even though Herod is trying to unseat the God that John the Baptist says is the king over all. Jesus’ task will not be deterred because He’s here to preach. He’s here to free us from the prison of our sins. He’s here to win by dying. He’s here to rescue us from that bully that dwells in our flesh. Jesus comes to keep you from falling into unbelief. Because John was beheaded in prison, and yet he was willing to stay faithful. Our Lord kept John faithful even at seeing that blade coming straight for his neck, and that same God will keep you faithful. John died in prison, but John was truly set free. John was set free when he heard Jesus’ answer to his prayer, Jesus said, “go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard.” In John’s time of need, what did Jesus do? He didn’t free him from prison, but he preached to him. The blind receive their sight. The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who’s not offended by me. “Blessed is the one who’s not offended by me.” Something for us to remember.
Jesus didn’t knock down the walls of the prison for John, Jesus didn’t destroy Herod in a big, flashy, sort of mano y mano way, to show who is really stronger. Because God didn’t even want to fight against Herod. God doesn’t want to fight against you. God doesn’t come to earth, and his son Jesus, to fight against mankind, but to save him. John didn’t have to fight to be freed from prison because he knew, in Jesus Christ, he was free. Not only would he never be imprisoned by Herod for good, also his own sin would never imprison him. With Jesus, we are free. “Blessed is the one who’s not offended by me.” This is also for you. When Jesus doesn’t answer your prayers in the way you think He needs to. No, the answer to every prayer is to hear the working of Jesus. To hear the good news so that we may trust that Jesus is who He says He is. That we may hear the good news of His dying on the cross and being raised for our justification, and then to wait on Him. “Blessed is the one who’s not offended by me.” The greatest offense will be when Jesus is crucified. The greatest offense is not John being imprisoned and suffering and dying and losing his head. John was a sinner. The greatest offense is not you suffering or dying. For you are a sinner, just like John, just like I am. We deserve every bit of suffering and sadness in this world. We deserve every bit of it, for our sin, for our rebellion. But John, and we, are set free by faith in the promise that Jesus is the one, and he is the one who we should wait on, even now. Jesus forgives you all the times you’ve doubted. Jesus knows when you’ve been at your lowest, and He still loves you. Yet He might let you sit with John in prison for a little while.
But yet, even John staying faithful as a beautiful encouragement for us, there’s another beautiful part of our text, an amazing working of the Holy Spirit. What I find most amazing in this reading, in the working of the Holy Spirit, is that it worked faith in the hearts of all those who were witnessing this. Did you see it in the text at the end? Did you witness what happened? Even though all the people around knew John was in prison. They knew he was in prison just for being faithful. They all knew John’s days were numbered sitting in prison. They all knew that perhaps this same fate might await them. We read this in the text. Towards the end, it says, “When all the people heard this, how Jesus answered John’s prayer. All the people and the tax collectors too, they declared God just.” Can you believe that? I couldn’t even believe I read those words. Even hearing all the bad news about John, even seeing the sad situation that he’s in, these people heard the good news of what Jesus was doing, and the Holy Spirit convinced them to glorify God and to declare, “God is just. God is good. Rejoice, O people.”
Because while it might be a mystery why Jesus let John sit in prison, the greater mystery is God’s mercy on us. So he invites you to wait on him. To live by faith, because you have a big friend who goes with you everywhere. You’ve been baptized into Jesus. It’s no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you. You’ve got a big friend. He’s got your back. No bully can outmaneuver him. The devil can’t outsmart him. All of us who’ve been baptized. So don’t be surprised when trials and temptations come. It’s just a reminder that you’ve got a big guy with you. Not even death was able to defeat him. So wait on the Lord and be of good strength. John was called the greatest, but to the outside world, he looked weak, pathetic. It seemed as if Herod in the world was too strong for Jesus, but it is Jesus who wins. He is raised from the dead. And where is Herod? Where is Herodias? Where is the adulterous mistress? “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
The text for this second Sunday in Advent comes from our gospel reading where Luke is quoting from the Old Testament, from the book of Isaiah, “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.” God’s grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Or as I mentioned, today we contemplate that old motto from the Boy Scouts. “Be Prepared.” We are prepared today by hearing God’s Word, showing us our sin. We repent and then believe that, for the sake of Jesus Christ, we can have peace even in a world that is opposed to us and a world that has gone mad. You, in Christ Jesus, are well prepared. If you’re like me, at some point or another in your life, you’re about my age or whatever, you had a stint or spent some time in the Boy Scouts. Almost all boys my age had an experience as such. Some stayed in Boy Scouts until they reached–and even after they reached–the rank of Eagle Scout, which is quite the accomplishment, quite impressive. But the motto of the scouts, that I think is helpful for us today contemplating the gospel, is, “Be Prepared.” And, if you know, the point of being prepared as a Scout is that there never comes a time when you are fully prepared. You can never be fully prepared for every single situation that you find yourself in. However, the Scout Motto “being prepared” means you’re taught how to deal with circumstances that you can’t predict. You’re taught to be self-sufficient. You are taught that being prepared means you can be at peace when you face adversity. When you aren’t prepared, you can, in some ways, always, “Be Prepared.”
Being prepared means you recognize you always need to be preparing yourself. Always growing, always learning, always being there. Today, John the Baptist is the Boy Scout of the Bible. He is the one to prepare the way of the Lord make straight His paths, and he does so by preaching and administering Baptism. As God’s people that is how we are prepared, both in John the Baptist day and today. John the Baptist prepares God’s people by preaching, “be prepared!” That is what echoes from his voice there at the Jordan River in the wilderness, that at this side of heaven, we as sinners and saints at the same time, we are always in need of God’s Word. God’s Word, which is active, which is relevant, which is always working on you, lest you close your ears. God’s Word is preparing us, first by showing us our sin, but then leading us to find peace in Christ. That Christ Jesus is the one who has given His life to prepare a place for us. That He is our rescue in a time of need. When you feel unprepared, when you look around and you think you have nothing, Jesus is your rescue. He is your salvation. In the thick trees and the dark forests of this unknown world and fallen universe, Jesus is who you are to follow. “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.” Like a Scout troop, we have our leader. He is Himself not showing us the way, but is The Way. He is the truth and the life. His cross is the tree of rescue.
And as we look to our text today from Luke, a couple of things that I wanted to point out to you, to show that John the Baptist is in a long line of Prophets, a message that even is relevant for us today. As you look at Luke, as we read the text, you may like me have realized Luke gives a lot of historical details. This is fitting for Luke, if you remember, because he’s a physician. He pays attention to details. He knows that details are important. You include a lot of details in a story when you’re telling the truth. When you lie, that’s when you try to be as avoidant of facts as possible, as broad and wide as possible, is when you’re telling a lie. Luke is recording for us today details pertaining to John the Baptist and what his job was. That he was a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Because it is important, not only for the people in John’s day, but also for us. If you’ve spent any time in the Old Testament, you recognize what Luke is doing. At the very beginning of our section for the Gospel reading today, he says, “in the third year of” or–I’m sorry. If you saw what Luke did at the beginning of our text, it reminds you of the Old Testament, where a lot of books of the prophets begin with, “in the third year King Such-and-Such did this.” Or on Tuesdays, if you attend our Tuesday Bible study, you recognize even how the book of Ezekiel started, “in the 30th year on the fifth day of the fourth month while I was among the exiles by the river.” Luke today is following a common pattern of the Old Testament, that of telling historical events that really took place and that are important. They are important for us.
So what is the detail that Luke is really pointing you to? Luke references everything in this opening to the statement, “the word of the Lord came to John.” That detail that triggers everything that continues on through the reading. Everything and all the events that we consider today revolve around the word that came to John. The word that came to John was from Isaiah, and how one is to be prepared. How God prepares the way for His coming. That God is not a God who’s far away. He’s not a God who protects himself, but a God who indeed wants to be with his people. And God doesn’t change. He still wants His people to be prepared, because he still comes to his people. Now that Jesus has ascended into heaven, that doesn’t mean God is far away and can’t be with us. So God sent John the Baptist to prepare his people. The people of God were not ready on their own. They needed God to work them, to tend to them, to prepare them, to lay the groundwork. So when the Word of God comes to John, what does he do? He went to all the regions, we are told, baptizing for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is what prepares you for the coming of Jesus. We have this reading today on the Second Sunday of Advent, to remind us that we need to daily prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. To remember we’re all scouts! To be prepared. As we read in the Scriptures, “give us a heart of wisdom that we may number our days.” We are no different than the people that Jesus came to. That is what Luke is trying to say, that this–of John coming–is part of the Old Testament, and how God always came to his people, but especially now in the New Testament, it is the same. We like to think that everything is fine and the status quo is acceptable to God. That is also what the crowds thought, who John the Baptist preached to, they went out to hear and listen to John. And what does John say? John doesn’t say, “Oh, good morning, everybody, nice to have you today. We’re going to have a wonderful service. You’re going to feel so welcomed and nice.” How does John greet them? “You brood of vipers.”
John, we’re going to call the District President and talk to him about your personality. You brood of vipers, you are not prepared. Matthew says John stressed this to the Sadducees and Pharisees. But Luke is different. Luke says this stern preaching of God’s law was for the crowd. And Luke says, you’re in the crowd. Who warned you of the wrath to come? John asks this question. And what He means to say is, who do you think you are? Don’t presume to say to yourselves. He follows it up right away.
John is teaching us to not be our own judges. Yes, the Old Testament calls us, “the righteous person is to judge all things.” The faithful person is to judge all things. But John the Baptist says, don’t let your own judgment of yourself lead to pride. Don’t be your own judge. Don’t presume to say to yourself, dear people, you’re always right. Don’t presume to always think that you have to correct everybody, especially in this age of the internet. It’s okay for other people to be wrong, that you are not called to have authority over. You don’t have to correct everyone. In fact, the world will go on fine if you keep your opinion to yourself and not start an argument. The Scriptures call us to judge ourselves and say, are we starting arguments and discussions for the sake of division, or to build each other up? We are called to weigh whether it is our vocation to call somebody out or not. Does God give us, in our vocation, authority? Because it is true, as we even read about John the Baptist, sometimes we are called to stand up for the truth. John stood up against King Herod, and that’s why he was arrested, and, of course, ultimately, why he’s beheaded. We are called to stand and speak for the truth, but you’re not called to do that to everyone. For the Sadducees and Pharisees, they thought their nationality was the source of their pride. “Don’t presume to say to yourselves,” John said, “we are children of Abraham.” What is it for you, dear Christian? You should be on the lookout for whatever the traps the devil lays for you. It’s never easy and it never feels good. John wasn’t coming to prepare the people to be comfortable, but to repent and to believe the Gospel. And we won’t believe if we are not first shown the wickedness of our own sin.
John isn’t interested in making you comfortable. He himself wore a Scout’s uniform of camel hair, and he lived in the wilderness. A true survivalist. But he knew that man does not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. So he preached. He preached a life of discomfort with the status quo. To not fall in love with the world. To not love your life. But John said to have a life that is prepared. John lived a life that taught–even by his clothes and actions–as prepared as you might think you are, the moment that you think you’re prepared, the moment you think you can sit back and coast through life, it is at that moment you are dead. It is at that moment that you need forgiveness the most. John’s life preaches that we need mercy. We need the axe of God’s Law to come down and chop down our trees of pride. We need the fire of God’s wrath and word to come and burn away our thoughts and unrighteous deeds. The axe is already at the root, which is good, because we need our sins to be taken away. We need to be purified. We need God to do the preparing. And he does. He sends his messenger still today. God has not left you.
When you find yourself in wandering thoughts that are impure and aren’t fruitful, or you catch yourself in deeds done in secret, repent. Turn from your sin. You always have a way out. God is able, we are told, from the stones, to raise up children of Abraham. If God can raise faithfulness from rocks, then dear Christian, do not despair. For he can also then raise you. Not a rock-hard heart, but he promises to give you a new heart, a heart that softened with repentance and love. If he can raise children of Abraham from rocks, thanks be to God, let it encourage you, he can raise you. By His Holy Spirit he restores our race by sending a new branch. Even though that family tree of humanity is infected with sin, even though it’s ready to be thrown in the fire, a new root blooms. A new tree to give you hope, a branch, a sprout, even in the dead of winter, when we have not prepared. When we find ourself without the necessities we think we need, when all the branches are brown and dead, God has made a way. A Way. The Truth. God has given us a Man of Life, who is God Himself, Jesus Christ. He is the last Boy Scout. He is the one who honors God with His life. Never lies, never cheats, not even the government, never steals. He doesn’t just help old ladies carry their groceries. He carries the load of sin of the world that would crush you. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus’ cross, the wooden tree that stands over all trees towering over all dead, is this tree that bears fruit for you. Fruits of mercy, fruits of strength, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control. It is in this cross that you are fully prepared, so that you may have peace. Remember, a scout is prepared. Not that he always has everything, but that he has confidence and peace that whatever situation he faces, everything will be okay.
We are prepared, not only when we lead lives of repentance, but when we believe for the sake of Jesus. We are prepared. We are ready for His coming because He’s done all that’s necessary. You are prepared for whatever crosses He calls you to carry, whatever burdens he places on you. Rejoice! Give thanks that you are considered worthy to suffer for the name of God. We are prepared because it is God who raises you up. Raises you up for righteousness. Be prepared. Scouts honor. After John baptized those in the river today, as we follow the text, after baptism for repentance and forgiveness, what does a life of faith look like? What is the voice of faith? What shall we do? So also for us who’ve been baptized and raised to life, John answers their question, well, what shall we do? Serve your neighbor where God has called you. John didn’t tell the soldiers, John didn’t tell the tax collectors who came to them, he didn’t tell them, “Oh, you need to become a pastor. Oh, you have to serve in church. That’s the only way of righteousness.” No, John didn’t make them all prophets, but he said, go and sin no more. Do not exhort. Be content with your wages. Be faithful where God has placed you. What shall we do? This is the question that the baptized should ask themselves regularly. Each day, each morning, as you rise and remember you’ve been baptized. John doesn’t tell the people to quit their jobs, but to bear fruits of repentance. Let your life show evidence of faith. Even the vocation of soldier, God blesses here in His Word. Even the vocation of tax collector. None of these jobs are sinful in-and-of themselves. Now it is possible to have a sinful job contrary to the will of God, like a drug dealer or a false teacher. But any job or hobby or task can tempt you to take your eyes off Jesus. Whatever age you are, whatever you’re male or female, whatever job you have, even retirement, has traps that the devil sets for you. In retirement, we can be tempted as busy-bodies, to not be keeping ourselves busy with profitable work for our neighbor, or even on the other side, at the vocation of student. You young people can be tricked into thinking that school and even a college degree is more important than Sunday school and the faith.
Even our very sex, as men and women, male and female. There are ways in which we individuals are weak and tempted. Men are tempted to be harsh. Are tempted to be harsh or to not involve themselves at all, not to stand up and be men. Women are tempted to meddle in other people’s business. Tempted to gossip and speak when they aren’t authorized to. Be prepared, God’s people. Know the weakness of your own flesh. Carry the axe of God’s Word and let it chop any root of sinfulness that might sprout up in you. Don’t chop other people’s trees first, but find the log in your own eye, and do not be afraid. The branch of Jesse has not come to be a hanging branch. That’s what Judas thought. But the branch, the tree of righteousness, has come to bear fruit of forgiveness for sinners. To cleanse and strengthen us to eat and find life. For you to feast and to share with others.
Be prepared, dear saints, for you have someone to follow. Your savior, Jesus Christ not only knows the way through the thick and dark forests and the unknown paths of this world, but He is the way. He is the light. He is the truth. He is life. He is for you. And if you are in Christ, you are prepared.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
The text for this second Sunday in Advent comes from our gospel reading where Luke is quoting from the Old Testament, from the book of Isaiah, “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.” God’s grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Or as I mentioned, today we contemplate that old motto from the Boy Scouts. “Be Prepared.” We are prepared today by hearing God’s Word, showing us our sin. We repent and then believe that, for the sake of Jesus Christ, we can have peace even in a world that is opposed to us and a world that has gone mad. You, in Christ Jesus, are well prepared. If you’re like me, at some point or another in your life, you’re about my age or whatever, you had a stint or spent some time in the Boy Scouts. Almost all boys my age had an experience as such. Some stayed in Boy Scouts until they reached–and even after they reached–the rank of Eagle Scout, which is quite the accomplishment, quite impressive. But the motto of the scouts, that I think is helpful for us today contemplating the gospel, is, “Be Prepared.” And, if you know, the point of being prepared as a Scout is that there never comes a time when you are fully prepared. You can never be fully prepared for every single situation that you find yourself in. However, the Scout Motto “being prepared” means you’re taught how to deal with circumstances that you can’t predict. You’re taught to be self-sufficient. You are taught that being prepared means you can be at peace when you face adversity. When you aren’t prepared, you can, in some ways, always, “Be Prepared.”
Being prepared means you recognize you always need to be preparing yourself. Always growing, always learning, always being there. Today, John the Baptist is the Boy Scout of the Bible. He is the one to prepare the way of the Lord make straight His paths, and he does so by preaching and administering Baptism. As God’s people that is how we are prepared, both in John the Baptist day and today. John the Baptist prepares God’s people by preaching, “be prepared!” That is what echoes from his voice there at the Jordan River in the wilderness, that at this side of heaven, we as sinners and saints at the same time, we are always in need of God’s Word. God’s Word, which is active, which is relevant, which is always working on you, lest you close your ears. God’s Word is preparing us, first by showing us our sin, but then leading us to find peace in Christ. That Christ Jesus is the one who has given His life to prepare a place for us. That He is our rescue in a time of need. When you feel unprepared, when you look around and you think you have nothing, Jesus is your rescue. He is your salvation. In the thick trees and the dark forests of this unknown world and fallen universe, Jesus is who you are to follow. “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.” Like a Scout troop, we have our leader. He is Himself not showing us the way, but is The Way. He is the truth and the life. His cross is the tree of rescue.
And as we look to our text today from Luke, a couple of things that I wanted to point out to you, to show that John the Baptist is in a long line of Prophets, a message that even is relevant for us today. As you look at Luke, as we read the text, you may like me have realized Luke gives a lot of historical details. This is fitting for Luke, if you remember, because he’s a physician. He pays attention to details. He knows that details are important. You include a lot of details in a story when you’re telling the truth. When you lie, that’s when you try to be as avoidant of facts as possible, as broad and wide as possible, is when you’re telling a lie. Luke is recording for us today details pertaining to John the Baptist and what his job was. That he was a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Because it is important, not only for the people in John’s day, but also for us. If you’ve spent any time in the Old Testament, you recognize what Luke is doing. At the very beginning of our section for the Gospel reading today, he says, “in the third year of” or–I’m sorry. If you saw what Luke did at the beginning of our text, it reminds you of the Old Testament, where a lot of books of the prophets begin with, “in the third year King Such-and-Such did this.” Or on Tuesdays, if you attend our Tuesday Bible study, you recognize even how the book of Ezekiel started, “in the 30th year on the fifth day of the fourth month while I was among the exiles by the river.” Luke today is following a common pattern of the Old Testament, that of telling historical events that really took place and that are important. They are important for us.
So what is the detail that Luke is really pointing you to? Luke references everything in this opening to the statement, “the word of the Lord came to John.” That detail that triggers everything that continues on through the reading. Everything and all the events that we consider today revolve around the word that came to John. The word that came to John was from Isaiah, and how one is to be prepared. How God prepares the way for His coming. That God is not a God who’s far away. He’s not a God who protects himself, but a God who indeed wants to be with his people. And God doesn’t change. He still wants His people to be prepared, because he still comes to his people. Now that Jesus has ascended into heaven, that doesn’t mean God is far away and can’t be with us. So God sent John the Baptist to prepare his people. The people of God were not ready on their own. They needed God to work them, to tend to them, to prepare them, to lay the groundwork. So when the Word of God comes to John, what does he do? He went to all the regions, we are told, baptizing for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is what prepares you for the coming of Jesus. We have this reading today on the Second Sunday of Advent, to remind us that we need to daily prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. To remember we’re all scouts! To be prepared. As we read in the Scriptures, “give us a heart of wisdom that we may number our days.” We are no different than the people that Jesus came to. That is what Luke is trying to say, that this–of John coming–is part of the Old Testament, and how God always came to his people, but especially now in the New Testament, it is the same. We like to think that everything is fine and the status quo is acceptable to God. That is also what the crowds thought, who John the Baptist preached to, they went out to hear and listen to John. And what does John say? John doesn’t say, “Oh, good morning, everybody, nice to have you today. We’re going to have a wonderful service. You’re going to feel so welcomed and nice.” How does John greet them? “You brood of vipers.”
John, we’re going to call the District President and talk to him about your personality. You brood of vipers, you are not prepared. Matthew says John stressed this to the Sadducees and Pharisees. But Luke is different. Luke says this stern preaching of God’s law was for the crowd. And Luke says, you’re in the crowd. Who warned you of the wrath to come? John asks this question. And what He means to say is, who do you think you are? Don’t presume to say to yourselves. He follows it up right away.
John is teaching us to not be our own judges. Yes, the Old Testament calls us, “the righteous person is to judge all things.” The faithful person is to judge all things. But John the Baptist says, don’t let your own judgment of yourself lead to pride. Don’t be your own judge. Don’t presume to say to yourself, dear people, you’re always right. Don’t presume to always think that you have to correct everybody, especially in this age of the internet. It’s okay for other people to be wrong, that you are not called to have authority over. You don’t have to correct everyone. In fact, the world will go on fine if you keep your opinion to yourself and not start an argument. The Scriptures call us to judge ourselves and say, are we starting arguments and discussions for the sake of division, or to build each other up? We are called to weigh whether it is our vocation to call somebody out or not. Does God give us, in our vocation, authority? Because it is true, as we even read about John the Baptist, sometimes we are called to stand up for the truth. John stood up against King Herod, and that’s why he was arrested, and, of course, ultimately, why he’s beheaded. We are called to stand and speak for the truth, but you’re not called to do that to everyone. For the Sadducees and Pharisees, they thought their nationality was the source of their pride. “Don’t presume to say to yourselves,” John said, “we are children of Abraham.” What is it for you, dear Christian? You should be on the lookout for whatever the traps the devil lays for you. It’s never easy and it never feels good. John wasn’t coming to prepare the people to be comfortable, but to repent and to believe the Gospel. And we won’t believe if we are not first shown the wickedness of our own sin.
John isn’t interested in making you comfortable. He himself wore a Scout’s uniform of camel hair, and he lived in the wilderness. A true survivalist. But he knew that man does not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. So he preached. He preached a life of discomfort with the status quo. To not fall in love with the world. To not love your life. But John said to have a life that is prepared. John lived a life that taught–even by his clothes and actions–as prepared as you might think you are, the moment that you think you’re prepared, the moment you think you can sit back and coast through life, it is at that moment you are dead. It is at that moment that you need forgiveness the most. John’s life preaches that we need mercy. We need the axe of God’s Law to come down and chop down our trees of pride. We need the fire of God’s wrath and word to come and burn away our thoughts and unrighteous deeds. The axe is already at the root, which is good, because we need our sins to be taken away. We need to be purified. We need God to do the preparing. And he does. He sends his messenger still today. God has not left you.
When you find yourself in wandering thoughts that are impure and aren’t fruitful, or you catch yourself in deeds done in secret, repent. Turn from your sin. You always have a way out. God is able, we are told, from the stones, to raise up children of Abraham. If God can raise faithfulness from rocks, then dear Christian, do not despair. For he can also then raise you. Not a rock-hard heart, but he promises to give you a new heart, a heart that softened with repentance and love. If he can raise children of Abraham from rocks, thanks be to God, let it encourage you, he can raise you. By His Holy Spirit he restores our race by sending a new branch. Even though that family tree of humanity is infected with sin, even though it’s ready to be thrown in the fire, a new root blooms. A new tree to give you hope, a branch, a sprout, even in the dead of winter, when we have not prepared. When we find ourself without the necessities we think we need, when all the branches are brown and dead, God has made a way. A Way. The Truth. God has given us a Man of Life, who is God Himself, Jesus Christ. He is the last Boy Scout. He is the one who honors God with His life. Never lies, never cheats, not even the government, never steals. He doesn’t just help old ladies carry their groceries. He carries the load of sin of the world that would crush you. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus’ cross, the wooden tree that stands over all trees towering over all dead, is this tree that bears fruit for you. Fruits of mercy, fruits of strength, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control. It is in this cross that you are fully prepared, so that you may have peace. Remember, a scout is prepared. Not that he always has everything, but that he has confidence and peace that whatever situation he faces, everything will be okay.
We are prepared, not only when we lead lives of repentance, but when we believe for the sake of Jesus. We are prepared. We are ready for His coming because He’s done all that’s necessary. You are prepared for whatever crosses He calls you to carry, whatever burdens he places on you. Rejoice! Give thanks that you are considered worthy to suffer for the name of God. We are prepared because it is God who raises you up. Raises you up for righteousness. Be prepared. Scouts honor. After John baptized those in the river today, as we follow the text, after baptism for repentance and forgiveness, what does a life of faith look like? What is the voice of faith? What shall we do? So also for us who’ve been baptized and raised to life, John answers their question, well, what shall we do? Serve your neighbor where God has called you. John didn’t tell the soldiers, John didn’t tell the tax collectors who came to them, he didn’t tell them, “Oh, you need to become a pastor. Oh, you have to serve in church. That’s the only way of righteousness.” No, John didn’t make them all prophets, but he said, go and sin no more. Do not exhort. Be content with your wages. Be faithful where God has placed you. What shall we do? This is the question that the baptized should ask themselves regularly. Each day, each morning, as you rise and remember you’ve been baptized. John doesn’t tell the people to quit their jobs, but to bear fruits of repentance. Let your life show evidence of faith. Even the vocation of soldier, God blesses here in His Word. Even the vocation of tax collector. None of these jobs are sinful in-and-of themselves. Now it is possible to have a sinful job contrary to the will of God, like a drug dealer or a false teacher. But any job or hobby or task can tempt you to take your eyes off Jesus. Whatever age you are, whatever you’re male or female, whatever job you have, even retirement, has traps that the devil sets for you. In retirement, we can be tempted as busy-bodies, to not be keeping ourselves busy with profitable work for our neighbor, or even on the other side, at the vocation of student. You young people can be tricked into thinking that school and even a college degree is more important than Sunday school and the faith.
Even our very sex, as men and women, male and female. There are ways in which we individuals are weak and tempted. Men are tempted to be harsh. Are tempted to be harsh or to not involve themselves at all, not to stand up and be men. Women are tempted to meddle in other people’s business. Tempted to gossip and speak when they aren’t authorized to. Be prepared, God’s people. Know the weakness of your own flesh. Carry the axe of God’s Word and let it chop any root of sinfulness that might sprout up in you. Don’t chop other people’s trees first, but find the log in your own eye, and do not be afraid. The branch of Jesse has not come to be a hanging branch. That’s what Judas thought. But the branch, the tree of righteousness, has come to bear fruit of forgiveness for sinners. To cleanse and strengthen us to eat and find life. For you to feast and to share with others.
Be prepared, dear saints, for you have someone to follow. Your savior, Jesus Christ not only knows the way through the thick and dark forests and the unknown paths of this world, but He is the way. He is the light. He is the truth. He is life. He is for you. And if you are in Christ, you are prepared.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
The text for our sermon this evening, as we contemplate the names of Jesus given to us from this chapter in Isaiah, Isaiah chapter nine, the first reading each evening.
Tonight, we’ll contemplate Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, but especially the term “Counselor” Where does that come from? What is the context? Why is the word “Counselor” a wonderful name for our Lord.
So may God’s grace, mercy and peace be unto you, from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. We also see that term, that phrase, “Counselor,” mentioned in our Romans 11 reading. A counselor is someone who gives advice, gives counsel. And so today in Isaiah chapter nine, it brings the people relief to know that God is a counselor, because they had plenty of bad counselors, bad kings. But the Lord is always faithful in giving the gospel as the chief counsel. The counsel that we need to hear to stay faithful, to persevere in the faith is the Gospel.
We need to be on the lookout for temptations of bad counsel. Bad counsel that leads us to sin, or bad counsel that encourages sin that we get wrapped up in. “Wonderful Counselor.” Now, for our Isaiah nine reading, it’s going to take a little bit of historical context to bring you up to speed–where things are at. So bear with me here a little bit, and it’ll make sense why, when, in Isaiah nine, the people hear Wonderful Counselor, they’re very much looking forward to this, this Son, the Savior, who’s going to be coming.
In Isaiah nine, the context of this reading is for Israel. Israel had a king, and his name was Ahaz. This was God’s people, and Ahaz, well, he’s kind of in a bind. He’s at a point where he has to make a very important decision, and he needs good counsel. He needs good advice on knowing what to do. Israel is in political turmoil. There are foreign forces all around them threatening to invade. Not only that, but the other kingdom of God’s people, their brothers, they are threatening to invade them as well. So Ahaz now has to decide, because these foreign invaders, they’re offering Ahaz a truce.
They’re offering Ahaz a truce–that if he will bow down to them, if he will give to them the treasures that are in God’s house, if he would bow to their authorities, well, things would be okay. But before all this, God warns Ahaz, “King Ahaz,” he says, “Ahaz, I am your protection. I will be with you.” So now Ahaz has a predicament. Is he going to make a truce? Is he going to make peace, try to barter a deal with these foreign nations so they don’t attack him? Or is he going to say, “I’m going to trust God?”
Of course, from Ahaz’s perspective, as he looks with his eyes around him and sees the world superpower standing at the gates–to Ahaz, it doesn’t seem so clear on what he should do. Kind of like us, when we are facing difficult decisions, sometimes it’s not always clear what path we should take in life. Well, Ahaz, it’s not clear to him because he isn’t heeding God’s word. Remember what I said earlier. God had already instructed Ahaz on what to do. In chapter seven, when Ahaz, the king, hears of these foreign invaders, God sends the prophet to him and says to him, “Ahaz, be careful. But you can be quiet. You can put away all your fears. Do not let your heart grow faint, even though these foreign forces have devised evil against you, it shall not stand. It will not come to pass.”
God counsels Ahaz. Essentially, God says, “Ahaz, don’t worry about it. I’ve got your back. You’ve seen all the wonderful deeds. You’ve heard of them in all the history of Israel.” But something for us to take away from this–that God sends the Prophet and tells Ahaz, “I know what you’re facing.” Something we can glean from this is that when God is speaking to Ahaz, God knows exactly what is troubling Ahaz. God knows what is happening, in Ahaz’s life and the life of Israel. God knows the very thing that Ahaz is fearful of, and this is part of the reason God is a Wonderful Counselor.
God knows all things. God knows, not only what was scaring Ahaz, but he knows what scares you. God knows the doubts and the thoughts that plague your conscience. When you can put on a good smile or carry on day-to-day, but inside you’re hurting very much. God knows the things that plague your thoughts; the bills, the unknown, job security, health, the future. The wonderful thing about God coming to Ahaz in Isaiah seven and nine is that it tells us that the unknown is known to God.
And even with a king like Ahaz, who was not a good king, God still wants to assure him that God is trustworthy, he is a good counselor. God knows the dangers that lurk. God knows even the dangers that you don’t see because you maybe are blinded by one thing or another. And think of this too. God also knows the dangers that you think are so good. The things that the devil dangles in front of you that you think are just wonderful and think is exactly what you need. You have a heavenly Father that knows it’s dangerous for you, and so he will even protect you from what you want.
God knows what the threats are to your life and your faith. And as God affirmed to Ahaz, he also promises you, “I know what’s standing at the gates, and you have nothing to fear.” He’s a Wonderful Counselor.
And this is the first part of Jesus’ name, that we consider here in Isaiah nine. Wonderful Counselor. He knows all things from eternity, even born as an infant. God himself in the flesh, being born, he is omnipotent. But when He comes as man, he sort of puts all his wonderfulness, that omnipotence, that stuff we wish we could be like God, that the devil tempted Adam and Eve. But even that wonderfulness, His omnipotence, that’s not what saves us.
It’s not what saved Ahaz. God warns Ahaz again in chapter seven, he says, “if you’re not firm in your faith and trust in Me, you will not be firm with anything.” God says, “Ahaz, if you don’t trust me to be your protector, your warrior, then you will fall.” But God’s Kingdom is not threatened. It is Ahaz’s earthly throne that God is warning him about. God is not afraid that his kingdom is going to be weakened by a weak king. God’s kingdom isn’t threatened by a king who, unfortunately, is going to listen to bad counsel.
Ahaz doubts. Even if no one would trust and believe in God, His kingdom would still persevere forever. Even now, because Jesus Christ is crucified and raised. But what God desires for Ahaz is that he would take his counsel and live. God desires that Ahaz would live by faith. This will save not only Ahaz’s soul, but this also will save all the people of the kingdom that Ahaz is ruling over that are subject to him. Because, you see, even though Ahaz knew the wonders of God, Ahaz, in the end, turned his back on God.
He tried to make a truce with those foreign nations, and he lost everything. Ahaz turned from God’s promises in chapter seven of Isaiah, when God said, then, “Ahaz, I will give a sign to you, even though you are going to reject me, there will be a sign to show you that I am trustworthy. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and they will call His name, ‘Emmanuel,’ God with us.” And this is what is interesting about this text in Isaiah seven–is that even though God knows Ahaz is going to reject Him, God still gives him the promise. He says, “Ahaz, even though you are going to fall, even though you are going to sin, I will not leave my people without hope. I will not leave them without a testimony.”
What did God give Ahaz in this time of his unknown? First, he rebuked Ahaz. He says, “Ahaz, if you rebel against me, I will bring a day upon you and your people, a day of terror that has never been seen.” But then, even though Ahaz turned from faith, God still gives the Gospel for his people. Even though the people have been led by a bad counselor, Ahaz, a king who took wicked counsel, the good news is that God would act. That God himself will be the Wonderful Counselor, the Almighty God, that God will speak counsel. The wonderful aspect of God is not just that he’s going to tell Ahaz how to defeat God’s enemies. But in this promise of the of the Messiah, Ahaz and all the people are promised their sins will be defeated. Their doubts. Because so often we are like Ahaz. We do falter. We do know the wonderful works of God. We’ve read them. We were brought up with them in Sunday School. We hear God’s counsel, but we are weak.
Our sinful flesh will get the best of us, and we look around like Ahaz. We doubt or we think we can handle our sins on our own. We think we know the plan of life and how it should go. We think we can win the fight against our flesh instead of repenting and living by faith. Because these enemies that are coming to Ahaz and all the battles of the Old Testament, they’re all pointing to the great battle. The battle of good and evil won by Jesus on the cross.
This is all connected to that prophecy. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive.” The death and resurrection of Jesus shows us that God is trustworthy. He is the victor over our sins. So tonight’s reading from Isaiah nine is addressing the people who are suffering because of Ahaz’s unfaithfulness. Isaiah nine presents a contrast to bad counselors. That Jesus Christ not only comes to die for us, but then He gives us good counsel. Just as God counseled Ahaz, your Savior counsels you through his word, the Gospel is the counsel that we need in a time of doubt.
That’s the point of God coming to Ahaz and stressing faith, saying, “if you are faithless, you will fall for anything.” Even though Ahaz wouldn’t see this Messiah, this child born all the generations after him, when the child is born, if Ahaz would have trusted God, His faithfulness would have been celebrated.
If Ahaz would have trusted God and not partnered and trusted in false gods and kings and politicians, then the people too would have been spared being led into slavery. If you notice, how Isaiah chapter nine started. It said to people who are in darkness. And for us too. We may not be kings over kingdoms. We may not be over many people, but you do have a place where God has called you to serve. And nonetheless, just like Ahaz, God calls you to live by faith. And not just that these things took place on the cross with Jesus, but we believe everything he did was for our sake. For the forgiveness of our sins. Ahaz needed to hear the mercy and love of God, and so do we. We need to be reminded that Christ is Emmanuel. God with us.
So Advent now is a time for you to remember this story of Ahaz. To slow down. While the rest of the world gets caught up in the hustle and bustle of shopping and Christmas. We’ll get there, but first we ponder. We contemplate why it is this child had to be born. What is His kingdom like? He’s a wonderful counselor. It’s a time for us to slow down and see how we have been like Ahaz and doubted. To see how even our sin has cast darkness on others. As you see the light on the Advent wreath this Advent, remember verse two, “those who dwelt in the land of deep darkness on them a light has shined.”
But pray that God will use you to be a light. Pray that God would save you from following Ahaz’s path into unbelief. You have enemies all around you. They are tempting you to not listen to your Counselor. Pray as we count the Advent candles as they’re being lit. Our Psalm today has a perfect verse, “keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.”
And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.