Are you ready for the big day—Christmas? I bet you’ve made your list and checked it twice—maybe more. Tree? (check). Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales? (check, check). That special gift ordered on-line that’s sitting in a shipping container somewhere at the Port of Los Angeles? (check, check, check, check, check). You can tell a lot about a person’s view of Christmas by their list. Consider the list I found in the Twitter-verse of an eight and ten years old:
Dear Santa, I hope you’ve been good this year. If so, here’s our list…
They made their list, but kind of missed the concept of the “list”. Well, don’t fret kids. Grown-ups’ kind of miss it, too. We make a list, but miss the bigger picture behind the big day. We decorate trees, throw parties and give gifts. We call this season Christmas. There is nothing wrong with that, if you’re the world. But for Christians, we also share a bigger view—not just celebrating the first coming of Christ as a baby in a manager—but also His second coming as a reigning King. We call this season Advent. Advent is Latin for “coming”. We recognize it with a four-week calendar of candle lightings, special music and scripture readings. Today’s second Sunday advent candle represents the love of God who promised to send his Son again to claim his church, to judge the quick and the dead.
Such a day—the Day of the Lord—requires an altogether different list. You need a Christmas list for Advent times—the recognition and preparation for His second coming. What should you want for the preparation of that coming? The Prophet John shared his list in Luke 3:1-6—the scripture reading for the second Sunday of Advent. Revealed in John’s message and ministry, his Advent list is short and simple: (Item 1) a change in direction and (Item 2), a change in construction.
First, put on your list, repentance—a change in direction. John’s message and ministry was the right message for the right time: You’ve got to change your moral compass in preparation for the second coming of Christ. Look at verse 3:
3:3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
First, we need to understand the times of the Prophet John. It was not unlike our times. It was a dark time for God’s people. Rome ruled with a powerful pagan hand. To Rome, Caesar was God. You faced the possibility of persecution if you did not bow. Israel had their own corrupt leadership. The three off-springs of Herod the Great ruled with a selfish and cruel hand. We should not be surprised. They descended from Esau, the twin who was more concerned with his stomach than the program of God. Then, there was corruption in God’s house. The priestly rule of Annas and Caiaphas was more concerned with personal gain than the divine righteousness of God. Power, greed, violence and lust ruled the day.
Not to worry, God always has a word and a man of his Word for the times. The word was repentance. The man was John. He was not motivated by power, greed, violence and lust, but by his mission identified in the Gospel of the Apostle John in John 1:6,7:
JN 1:6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Like John the Baptist, Jesus—the light—came the first time motivated by the word and prepared in the wilderness at a time when a dark world needed some light. Jesus was not just motivated by the word. He was the word made flesh according to John 1:14. Jesus was prepared for ministry in the wilderness, tempted by Satan to turn stones to bread. But Jesus’ reply gives credence to the power of the Word:
Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
John and Jesus were motivated by God’s word for dark times. So must you church.
You don’t need some smooth-talking, snake oil salesman-pastor-preacher in dark times. You need the Word:
• When you are under attack, you need the Word that says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.”
• When you are leaderless, you need the Word that says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Christ is your pastor.
• When you are loveless, you need the Word that says, “Greater love have no man than this that lays down his life for his friend.” You are a friend of Christ.
The Word from John to the people, then and now, is repent—change direction.
John’s cry to the people for baptism was a call for them to immerse themselves fully in acknowledgment of their sins, and to identify publicly with the coming Savior. Baptism was symbolic of the need for a spiritual washing. Repentance—metanoia in the Greek—means to have a change of your moral mind and heart. The basic idea comes from the Hebrew "shub", to turn from sin to God. Turn, but not 360—from sin back around to the sin that so easily besets us. But turn 180, from sin to God.
So, what sin is so easily besetting you that has you in a 360 loop? Turn and be blessed.
Turn from pride to God, for “blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”
Turn from lust to God, for “blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
Turn from abuse and violence to God, for “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
If you want to have a Christmas like no other, celebrating the first coming and prepared for second coming of Christ—repent—change directions. Put repentance on your Christmas list. It was on John’s short list.
Not only do you need a change of direction, you need on your Christmas list, a change of construction—a lifestyle and ministry that removes obstacles to salvation so it is available for all. In Luke 3:4-6, Luke quotes Isaiah 40:3 and 4 to introduce us to John the Baptist’s ministry as a way maker, an obstacle mover, a path straightener to the coming Christ. Look at verse 3:5,6:
3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 3:6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
John’s ministry had an end time view —an Advent end—when Christ returns so that “all flesh” will see the salvation of the Lord. To that end, John’s ministry was to remove all obstructions to seeing One who is our salvation.
Think of John’s ministry as one of metaphorical bull-dozer for metaphorical obstacles to God, namely our sins that get in the way of others getting to Christ. We’ve got some construction to do, especially, the church:
“Every valley shall be filled”: We need to fill our potholes of depravity with a life of right-living so no one stumbles over our lust on their way to Jesus. Sex scandals in the church keeps people away from the church and Christ.
“Every mountain and hill shall be made low.” We need to level the heights of our hubris with humility so no one stumbles over our puffed-up chest on their way to Jesus. Pride in in the church keeps people away from the church and Christ.
“And the crooked shall be made straight.” We need to straighten out our cheating ways with honesty so people won’t be robbed by our scams and schemes on their way to Jesus. Money scandals in the church keep people away from the church and Christ.
•“And the rough ways made smooth”: We need to mitigate our abrasive, divisive, unjust behavior with compassion and justice so people will not be treated as less than but equal to. Racism in the church keeps people away from the church and Christ.
If the way you live is a stumbling block rather than a stepping stone to salvation for all people—Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, gay, straight, black, white, Christian, Muslim, Democrat, Republican—then you should consider putting on your Christmas list some reconstruction to remove your sinful obstructions to Christ. Instead of a new “his and her” pick-up trucks wrapped in bows and ribbons parked out front of your home on Christmas morning, wish for matching bulldozers.
Don’t be in the way. Be a way-maker—like John—so all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Be a bulldozer, knocking down walls rather than putting them up.
CONCLUSION
You’ve made your list. You’ve checked it twice. You’re all ready for the celebration of the first coming of Christ. But if your list reads like the tweet of the eight-and ten-year-old:
Dear Santa, I hope you’ve been good this year. If so, here’s our list…?
You’ve missed the big picture for the bigger day—the second coming of Christ. For that you need an Advent list from the message and ministry of John the Baptist: (Item 1) Repentance—a change in direction and (Item 2)—a change in construction —a ministry of way-makings. Be good to yourself and others. It begins with a good list.
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