A LITTLE BOY NAMED JESUS

Malachi 3:1-4; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 Are you having trouble trusting God? Are you in a bad place in your life or are you in a state where you would rather not be living? When we look at John’s background, we learn that John’s father-to-be struggled with his faith in God verses the reality of this world- since Elizabeth was past her child-bearing years; they’re old. God got angry this man named Zechariah – because he was a high priest; he was a role model to others as to how our faith should be lived – faith in God does not need to be questioned. Yet, Zechariah had questioned his angelic messenger about his wife becoming pregnant with a baby. "Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.' The angel answered, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time'" (Luke 1:8-20). Zechariah was struck mute because of his unbelief for nine months until the birth of his son, John the Baptist. Perhaps Zechariah grew in wisdom and displayed this in his actions - throughout that time and shared his wisdom that through God all things are possible to those who choose to believe! Zechariah did not pass on a legacy of suffering from a lack of faith to his infant son, instead John was born filled with the Holy Spirit the scriptures say. No wonder he is John ‘the Baptist!’ Is there an area in your life from which you have not been able to believe God can deliver or free you? Keep listening, because today can be the day you begin anew. Today is a fresh start. John says - Repent of your unbelief. Place your faith totally in God’s hands today. **** Let’s look at where John came from. We’ve heard about John twice in the gospel so far. His first act is a leap within his mother’s womb upon the arrival of Mary when she visited her cousin Elizabeth, John’s mother-to-be. As we read of it in Luke 1, Mary’s first order of business after being told she would be the mother of the Messiah was to see her cousin, who had received her own surprise in recent days in finally bearing a child of her own. No sooner does Mary come into sight, and the child within Elizabeth reacts as though someone had poked it with a cattle prod. The jolt was enough to fill the child’s mother with the Holy Spirit, who then pronounces the first of what would become untold billions of blessings on the Virgin Mary. Could that be the moment when Mary conceived the baby when the Holy Spirit blessed her with an infant? *** Isaiah 40:3: The Bible says, “A voice calls out, ‘In the desert, prepare the way of the Lord’” and another version says, “A voice calls out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’” Either way we find ourselves in the wilderness as the place to be when preparing to meet God’s Christ. Either we begin to proclaim this message in the desert OR we say that the way of the Lord begins in the desert. Either way or both ways, John’s message brings us to a place that most people prefer not to associate with Advent or Christmas. But maybe this is where the gospel needs proclaiming today. Maybe this is the place where we need to see God initiate his saving activity today. *** Where does God need to work and where do we need to proclaim the reality of his saving work? In the desert. That is, in the cancer clinic and the Ronald McDonald House, in the Emergency Room in hospitals, in the ICU, in the AIDS clinic, in the place that’s no longer safe to call home because of the abuse and threats, in the inner-city slum, on the battlefields of Iraq, in the prisons of this land. In THOSE places prepare the way of the One who will take all that is crooked and rough in us and will make it straight and smooth and right and full of peace. *** I would like you to leave today remembering that wherever you are in your life, mentally, emotionally, physically, economically or spiritually, the little boy named Jesus of whom John preached is the same man we proclaim as our Lord and Saviour. A boy who many would watch grow up with other children, a boy whom others would wait for something magnificent to happen and a boy who would grow into a sinless man, live a life of Love, and die on the cross for you and me – and rise from the dead so that we could live a NEW LIFE, and receive a fresh start. The little boy named Jesus is the reason we anticipate Christmas with Hope in our hearts, in the middle of the desert – John proclaims that there is GREAT HOPE for everyone, so be prepared and choose to believe in the impossible at the very beginning of your journey – and if you doubt, in the desert, God might take your voice away like He did with John’s father Zechariah until Elizabeth gave birth to John. ***NOTE: This is a riff I once did from the ending of Fred Craddock’s sermon “Have You Ever Heard John Preach?” which you can read in the anthology edited by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., and Thomas G. Long, A Chorus of Witnesses: Are you ready to make a fresh start? Have you ever heard John preach? It's the most refreshing thing in the world! It's new birth, gospel-style. It's a fresh start. It's good news. One preacher says, “It's like going to the doctor convinced you've got a tumor the size of a basketball pressing on your abdomen only to be told it's just gas. Take some Rolaids and go home. A new start. Good news!” “It's like getting called into the boss's office convinced a pink slip was coming only to get promoted to be the head of a whole new department in the firm. A turn-around, a reversal of fortune, good news.” “You get on the phone and gush, "Honey, you won't believe this but . . ." and then you go on to make her believe it anyway because it's true.” *** John offered that. A new start. A fresh beginning. The Messiah is coming, John says. He's coming soon and he's going to dip you right into the life-giving waters of no less than the very Holy Spirit of God. But don't get me wrong: none of this means that everything will become instantly hunky-dorey in your life. For instance, if you are celebrating Christmas this year without a certain loved one who died since Christmas last came and went, that's going to hurt. The gospel doesn't say it shouldn't hurt, but only that through the hurt shines the light of Christ. For now at least, even the gospel can't fix everything. Relationships fracture. People up and die on us before we get the chance to say we're sorry. It hurts. John the Baptist knows that. The One for whom John prepared the way knows that, too. Jesus doesn't leave the room in disgust if you find yourself weeping in front of the Christmas tree--as though your sorrow is ruining Jesus' holiday cheer. NO! Instead, Jesus catches a salty tear or two on the tip of his finger. Hear Jesus quietly whisper, "I know. I know. That's why I came in the first place." *** John helps us to see and remember that. John takes a buzz-saw to the tinsel and glitter of it all, but he's not finally wrecking anything but building something more lasting, more real, more full of the gospel. John is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It starts here or it starts nowhere. Because if it starts here, the gospel will have some longevity to it. If it starts here, the gospel can endure long after we put the decorations away on the first of January! If it starts here, the gospel will have depth to it even if we find ourselves merely going through the motions this month because of how sad we feel on the inside. If we start out right, we may finish right, too. And then – in between the start and the finish, our lives will bear the gospel fruit of repentance, showing that we really do get it. Let me ask you: Have you ever heard John preach? If you haven't, you should. Because the gospel tells us that the only way to get to Bethlehem is to travel through the desert first. Well, that's not really true. You can get to Bethlehem without going through the desert. But if so, then once you get there, you won't find Jesus. . (adapted from Scott Hoezee Associated tags: The Lectionary Gospel, Luke, Year C) Have you heard John preach about a little boy named Jesus? Me either – but he certainly prepared the way of our Lord and Saviour, and now that we have ears to hear – let’s preach it too – like Francis of Assissi said: Preach the gospel always – and if necessary, use words! This Christmas – will you start new? Amen.