Jesus is coming… Prepare the Way

Today in our gospel reading we hear of the coming of John the Baptist. We often think of John the Baptist as sort of a wild person, who lived in the wilderness, on his own, and wore camel’s hair clothing and ate locusts and wild honey. That’s the image we get from the gospel of Matthew.

Today we hear of John the Baptist described as the prophetic voice of one crying out in the wilderness, as the prophet Isaiah tells us; the messenger sent by the Lord to prepare the way for the Lord to come into the world, as the prophet Malachi describes him. 

John the Baptist appears in the wilderness near the Jordan River at a specific moment in time; that is, “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas…”

John appears in this particular moment in history, in the midst of these particular political and religious leaders, and speaks the Word of God that came to him…to prepare the way of the Lord.

John the Baptist, crying out in the wilderness, is a sign that God’s self is made known to the world at a certain point in history – this particular time and place among these particular leaders and events.

God’s Word is spoken into the world at the right moment in time through prophets – like Isaiah; like Malachi; like John the Baptist – prophets who have the courage to proclaim to the world the Word that God has spoken to them at that time and in that place; prophets who have the desire – the passion – lead the world closer to God and the coming of God’s holy kin-dom on earth as in heaven.

For those of us who wish that our religious life can be kept separate from our life in the world (that is, our life in the polis (the root word of politics), the city or state or country or world in which we live), our gospel reading this morning tells us that that is not how God intends our life to be.

God comes into the world through the words of John the Baptist at a specific moment in time; and it is a political act; an act that is meant to interrupt the status quo of the world at that time and to turn everything upside down and to change the way that people live.

The Jewish people, at that time in history, were living under occupation by the Roman Empire and life was harsh. Law and order was maintained by a strict social hierarchy (with the Jewish people at the bottom); high taxes required to be paid to Caesar; and a military presence on the streets. Might made right and violence against the Jewish people was the norm.

Anyone who stirred up good trouble against the Empire – who advocated for change; for nonviolence and love and peace – was put to death by crucification, a brutal and torturous way to die.

The prospect of death by state execution did not stop John the Baptist from speaking out and sharing the Word of God that came to him. He was on a mission; a mission from God; a mission to proclaim a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and the salvation for all people.

John the Baptist was on a mission to bring all God’s people into a right and holy relationship with God, by sharing God’s life-giving Word with them.

John called people to repentance – repentance means to change – to turn back to God in love and obedience (that is, to listen to God). Repentance leads to a change of heart (metanoia) and to a change of mind (thinking) that leads to a change in behavior.

John’s words proclaimed in the wilderness call us today to repent – to turn toward God in love and obedience (that is, to listen to God); to change our hearts and minds and behavior; and to turn toward our neighbor in love and service.

God comes into the world through the words of John the Baptist and it is an act that is meant to get our attention and to change us; to turn us back toward God and the grace and mercy that God offers us, because we are God’s beloved people; created in God’s own image; created to do God’s work in the world for the good of all creation.

John was given holy work to do and he did it well.…calling people to repentance, to turn back to God and God’s gentle reign of justice, mercy and love, so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

We may wonder today – What is the holy and prophetic work that God is calling Holy Trinity to do now – in this place – in this time? What is the life-giving Word of grace and mercy and truth that God is speaking to you for you to share with all the world? How is God’s Word calling you to change?

God works through ordinary people – like John the Baptist; like you and me – at a point in history – a particular time and place – in order to change the world – and to bring God’s kin-dom of love and righteousness and peace and joy and abundance into the world for all God’s people.

God works through ordinary people who are willing to hear the Word of God – spoken and proclaimed by the prophets – and who are wiling to let the Word of God change them – and who are willing – perhaps even eager – to share the Word of God with everyone they meet in the course of their daily life so that they to can be changed and turn toward God.

God works through ordinary people who are willing to be prophets; who have the courage to proclaim to the world the life-giving Word that God has spoken to them at a particular time and in a particular place and who have the desire – the passion – to lead the world closer to God and the coming of God’s holy kin-dom on earth as in heaven.

The Good News for today is that Jesus is coming..and is here among us..in this time and place…in this world now…offering us forgiveness and saving us from our sin and giving us life everlasting.

The Good News for today is that Jesus is coming…and is here among us…in this time and place…in this world now… as we prepare the way of the Lord and turn toward God and change our own ways.

The Good News for today is that Jesus is coming…and is here among us…in this time and place..in this world now… so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God and all peoples and all nations may be made well and whole and at peace with God and with one another.

The Good News for today is that Jesus is coming…and is here among us……in this time and place..in this world now…and God is working through you to proclaim that truth to the world…to speak the Word of God that has come to you…to prepare the way of the Lord.