Sermons for the Month

The Light Has Come! Have You Not Heard?
DATE: December 15, 2002
SERVICE: Third Sunday In Advent
TEXT: John 1:6-8, 19-28

“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN

It so happened that when I was in seminary my closest friends were all musically gifted. One played the cello, another played the flute, there were two accomplished pianists and organists, and the fifth person could write song lyrics at the drop of a hat. They all sang, of course. I was certainly the oddity with my lack of musical gifts, but they tolerated me because I so enjoyed what they were able to create, and I kept everyone organized.

One of the ways a couple of these folks used their talents was to take old, traditional Lutheran hymns and write new words for them. These were sung after Chapel on Wednesdays, when everyone gathered for a fellowship time that was called the convocation. Believe it or not, I have a file filled with convocation lyrics.

My favorite is: "At Trinity the Students Cry". Before I share some of the lyrics of this song let me add that, after we became friends, five of us discovered that we all had been awarded the same scholarship from the seminary. Five of these scholarships were presented each year to in-coming students. So, we not only shared a love for music, but also the not-so-wonderful trait of being over-achievers and perfectionists.

Now you'll understand the song lyrics. They are sung to the tune of, "On Jordan's Banks the Baptist's Cry", which we'll be singing later today. Listen to the first two verses.

"At Trinity the students' cry,
Announces that our grades were high.
Say what you will 'bout corporate sin,
Still we are happy when we win."

And

"We hail our grades as saving Lord,
Our refuge, and our great reward.
And let us all our hearts prepare,
Not to compete when we're "out there".

There's more … actually it's fairly insightful stuff, but I will not bore you with the details.

That rewritten hymn always comes to my mind when today's Gospel lesson is read, which often is accompanied by the singing of that hymn. When you think about it, it's quite a contrast to imagine John the Baptist standing on the banks of the Jordan river announcing that Lord is nigh as compared to seminary students who are supposed to be concentrating on proclaiming that good news, and yet are focused on the fact that their grades are high.

We do become so distracted, don't we? Our attention is focused on so many things - as individuals and as a church - that we may lose track of our purpose. John the Baptist does not have that problem, as is made clear in today's Gospel lesson.

John's job, we are told immediately, is to testify to the light - that is, Jesus - so that all might believe through his witness. This text makes it clear who John is not. He is NOT the Messiah. He is NOT Elijah. He is NOT the prophet. He is NOT worthy to untie the thong of the Messiah's sandal. There can be no misunderstanding; John is a witness to Jesus, that and nothing more. He wants to curb any rumors that he himself is the Messiah.

There were many opportunities for John to become distracted. He could have pretended to be someone other than who he was. He could have strung people along, not really giving an answer, in order to enhance his own popularity. But, no, after stating clear who he is NOT, John makes it clear who he is.

He quotes Isaiah 40:3, a text that we talked about last Sunday. His job is to be the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, "Make straight the way of the Lord." Unlike the prophet who first spoke these words, John was not talking about a road being prepared so that the people of Judah could return home from captivity in Babylonia. Instead, his task is to prepare a road for God to come to the people. His baptism is to prepare their hearts for the Messiah's arrival.

John is so clear about his role that he describes himself as being lower than a Gentile slave when says that he is not worthy to untie the thong of Jesus' sandal. Afterall, this menial task was one required only of non-Jewish slaves. He knows who he is and what he has been called to do and is not distracted.

He is a model for us, especially during this Season of Advent. As writer Fred Craddock said, "At Christmas over every song, cantata, party, gift, service of worship, act of charity, let the church first say, 'We are not the light but come to bear witness to the light. The Messiah has come, and it is Jesus."

We must make sure that people see Jesus. Everything we do as a church, and in our lives as Christians, should introduce people to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth we will celebrate in 10 days. There are many things that the church does, especially at this time of year. Just look at the calendar for December - Advent decorating, Tinsel and Tea gathering, the Messiah Sing, Preschool programs, youth caroling party, the Giving Tree, special music presentations, the First Night performance - the list could go on and on. These are all wonderful, positive activities as long as we never loose sight of the fact that our first task is to witness to Jesus Christ.

The same principle applies to the activities of our personal lives. As Christians this time of year is more than "the holidays", a generic term that includes everyone in the festivities. This is a sacred time. On December 24 we will join in a joyous celebration of our Savior's birth. This is our preparation time, our focusing time. This is our moment to remember in the midst of all the activity that we have a purpose and it's the same as that of John the Baptist. We are to bear witness to the light.

So, I wrote some more lyrics for "On Jordan's Banks the Baptist's Cry" that I hope reflect our focus this Advent season. Let me end by sharing them:

Outside our church the bright lights say
Outside our church the bright lights say
Rejoice in stuff and later pay
But we proclaim a greater word
The light has come! Have you not heard?

A baby small, our hearts' delight
Shat-ters the darkness of the night
His peace profound transforms us all
And opens hearts to hear God's call

May we today prepare the way
For Jesus to come in and stay
He comes! The Word among us dwells
The world's deep darkness to dispel.

AMEN

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