I didn't preach on Christmas Sunday but rather showed a marvelous video of the Christmas Nativity Story as told by children. Here's the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zduwusyip8M
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
The Straight Path
John 1:6-8, 19-28
The Bible is filled with all sorts of interesting characters. From David the king to Rahab the prostitute, from Isaiah the prophet to Paul the self-appointed apostle, there are all sorts of folks in scripture who can edify, enrage, and even entertain you. We heard about one of those special characters in today’s gospel reading: John the Baptist.
Now my Baptist friends are probably quick to claim him as one of their own, but John really belongs to all of us. But sometimes I wonder if we really want him. From the other gospels, we know that he was an odd character: rough clothing, strange diet. He lived out in the wilds and one can just imagine him with disheveled, unkempt hair and a big, bushy beard.
But he knew how to draw a crowd and indeed he was drawing crowds. People were flocking to John out there in the wilderness to get baptized; to get themselves cleansed and made right. And John was willingly doing it. But you know how someone who is successful independent of the authorities can be viewed by those same authorities: they’re distrustful and want to know why people are listening to him and not them.
It was the same with John. The religious authorities of the day were scratching their heads about John. Who is he and why is he so popular? It made those authorities sit up and take notice and get more than just a little worried. In fact, as we know, poor John was imprisoned and executed by Herod in not too much time after today’s scripture took place. It can be a dangerous thing when you make the authorities jealous.
John knows who he is though. He’s asked if he is the Messiah, the one who’s come to save Israel and John says, “Nope, not me.” They ask him if he’s Elijah, since Elijah was taken up into heaven and he says the same thing. Then they ask if he’s the prophet and again John tells them no.
“Well, if you’re not any of those, who the heck are you then?” they wanted to know. They were looking for credentials and the proper authority behind John’s popularity. “If you’re not the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet, what right do you have to do what you’re doing?” And that’s when John quotes scripture and tells them exactly what’s going on. Actually, John changes the scripture just a little to suit his purpose. But that’s neither here nor there. John in all his burly, wooly, earthiness let’s them know that he is making the way straight. What way? Well, the way for the Lord.
John is out in the wilderness making the path straight. Now mind you the wilderness to them is nothing like our wildernesses. We think of rugged mountainsides covered in trees when we think of wilderness areas. But to John and the others of his time, the wilderness is where he spent all his time. It was the desert: dry, barren, rocky. Travel is hard there and one doesn’t venture out into it without a little trepidation.
But John’s job, out there in the wilderness, is to make a straight path. But John, of course, isn’t talking about a physical path. He’s preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah. But the Messiah isn’t going to be the one that everyone expects. They’re waiting for a political savior; a mighty, army man who will free Israel once and for all. But John knows, and maybe the only one who knows at this point, what sort of Messiah is coming.
John is making the way straight through the baptisms he is doing. He is preparing the masses of people who are coming to him by preaching about repentance and turning to God. He’s making the way plain not necessarily so God can easily get to the people. God doesn’t really need that. No, John is making the way straight for the people to get to God.
The straight path that John is laying out is one for the people of Israel. He preached about repentance and turning to God, which is evidently what the people needed to hear at that time.
John the Baptist was a particular individual at a particular point in history. But there are John the Baptists all around us. They are the ones who are making the way plain for us to reach out to God. They’ve created a path for us to travel that leads to God. Take a moment to stop and think about those people who have created paths for you to find God. Perhaps it was a Sunday School teacher from your childhood. Maybe it was a parent, grandparent, or other relative. Perhaps it was even a preacher, but that’s almost too shocking to be true!
We all have John the Baptists in our past and perhaps some even in our present. They are the ones who are working to create a path that is straight from you to God. They are removing obstacles and filling in holes so your way is easy and direct. Maybe you, like those Pharisees from the first century, don’t recognize the importance of the people who have done all this. You might think that the way is easy because it just is. But stop and recognize the work that has gone into getting you to the point you’re at today. Recognize all that has gone into making you the faithful person that you are. It may have been a lifelong process or a journey of a few years.
Whoever those John the Baptists in your life are, remember this Advent to give thanks for them. You may not be able to thank them directly for any number of reasons, but raise your gratitude to God for all those people in your life who have made the path straight and plain for you.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said,
"I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
'Make straight the way of the Lord,'"
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
The Bible is filled with all sorts of interesting characters. From David the king to Rahab the prostitute, from Isaiah the prophet to Paul the self-appointed apostle, there are all sorts of folks in scripture who can edify, enrage, and even entertain you. We heard about one of those special characters in today’s gospel reading: John the Baptist.
Now my Baptist friends are probably quick to claim him as one of their own, but John really belongs to all of us. But sometimes I wonder if we really want him. From the other gospels, we know that he was an odd character: rough clothing, strange diet. He lived out in the wilds and one can just imagine him with disheveled, unkempt hair and a big, bushy beard.
But he knew how to draw a crowd and indeed he was drawing crowds. People were flocking to John out there in the wilderness to get baptized; to get themselves cleansed and made right. And John was willingly doing it. But you know how someone who is successful independent of the authorities can be viewed by those same authorities: they’re distrustful and want to know why people are listening to him and not them.
It was the same with John. The religious authorities of the day were scratching their heads about John. Who is he and why is he so popular? It made those authorities sit up and take notice and get more than just a little worried. In fact, as we know, poor John was imprisoned and executed by Herod in not too much time after today’s scripture took place. It can be a dangerous thing when you make the authorities jealous.
John knows who he is though. He’s asked if he is the Messiah, the one who’s come to save Israel and John says, “Nope, not me.” They ask him if he’s Elijah, since Elijah was taken up into heaven and he says the same thing. Then they ask if he’s the prophet and again John tells them no.
“Well, if you’re not any of those, who the heck are you then?” they wanted to know. They were looking for credentials and the proper authority behind John’s popularity. “If you’re not the Messiah, Elijah, or the prophet, what right do you have to do what you’re doing?” And that’s when John quotes scripture and tells them exactly what’s going on. Actually, John changes the scripture just a little to suit his purpose. But that’s neither here nor there. John in all his burly, wooly, earthiness let’s them know that he is making the way straight. What way? Well, the way for the Lord.
John is out in the wilderness making the path straight. Now mind you the wilderness to them is nothing like our wildernesses. We think of rugged mountainsides covered in trees when we think of wilderness areas. But to John and the others of his time, the wilderness is where he spent all his time. It was the desert: dry, barren, rocky. Travel is hard there and one doesn’t venture out into it without a little trepidation.
But John’s job, out there in the wilderness, is to make a straight path. But John, of course, isn’t talking about a physical path. He’s preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah. But the Messiah isn’t going to be the one that everyone expects. They’re waiting for a political savior; a mighty, army man who will free Israel once and for all. But John knows, and maybe the only one who knows at this point, what sort of Messiah is coming.
John is making the way straight through the baptisms he is doing. He is preparing the masses of people who are coming to him by preaching about repentance and turning to God. He’s making the way plain not necessarily so God can easily get to the people. God doesn’t really need that. No, John is making the way straight for the people to get to God.
The straight path that John is laying out is one for the people of Israel. He preached about repentance and turning to God, which is evidently what the people needed to hear at that time.
John the Baptist was a particular individual at a particular point in history. But there are John the Baptists all around us. They are the ones who are making the way plain for us to reach out to God. They’ve created a path for us to travel that leads to God. Take a moment to stop and think about those people who have created paths for you to find God. Perhaps it was a Sunday School teacher from your childhood. Maybe it was a parent, grandparent, or other relative. Perhaps it was even a preacher, but that’s almost too shocking to be true!
We all have John the Baptists in our past and perhaps some even in our present. They are the ones who are working to create a path that is straight from you to God. They are removing obstacles and filling in holes so your way is easy and direct. Maybe you, like those Pharisees from the first century, don’t recognize the importance of the people who have done all this. You might think that the way is easy because it just is. But stop and recognize the work that has gone into getting you to the point you’re at today. Recognize all that has gone into making you the faithful person that you are. It may have been a lifelong process or a journey of a few years.
Whoever those John the Baptists in your life are, remember this Advent to give thanks for them. You may not be able to thank them directly for any number of reasons, but raise your gratitude to God for all those people in your life who have made the path straight and plain for you.
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