SERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT
JOHN CAME PREACHING BAPTISM
Theme: Baptism.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. In today’s Gospel, “John the son of Zechariah… went into all the region
around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins.”
Dear Christian friends:
This year’s Advent Midweek theme is “A Baptismal Look at Advent.” You
might not feel surprised at that. You might even say, “Gee. More preaching
about Baptism.” I am increasingly interested in finding more and more ways to
proclaim to you—and to impress upon you—the abiding importance and daily
significance of your Baptism. I have told you before that I think every Gospel
of the Church Year could produce a sermon on Baptism, but I think I have been
looking too narrowly at the topic. We probably should think that way about
every verse in God’s Bible, including the Old Testament, which was written long
before Baptism was given to us. I wish I could think of a hundred illustrations
or more that will make the daily benefit and importance of your Baptism come
home to roost for you, as well as for myself. (You may trust that I need to
grow in my reliance and trust in Baptism just as much as anyone else does—and
only God in His powerful Word
can make that happen for any of us.)
Don’t feel too bad on account of hearing so frequently about your
Baptism. At least you were not in John the Baptist’s congregation. Apparently,
it didn’t matter when you made it to church out there in Jordan River basin,
whether on Sunday or Wednesday or any other day of the week. The sermon was
always on the same topic. “John the son of Zechariah… went into all the region
around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins.” As far as John was concerned, everything is rooted in Baptism.
· John teaches you that God uses His miracle of Baptism to create your
repentance for you (Luke 3:3), both making you able to feel sorry for your sins
and stirring your fear of His wrath (cf. Acts 5:31, 11:18).
· The same Baptism is also “for the forgiveness of [your] sins” (Luke
3:3). Simply stated, your sins are fully forgiven in Jesus’ name. If you have
trouble believing that, you do not have to rely solely upon my word for it,
even though God sent me here to tell you that. Look also at your Baptism, which
was given to you “for the forgiveness of [your] sins.” Stated another way, your
Baptism places you into the forgiveness of sins, so that you constantly swim
around in God’s forgiveness like a teabag in a teacup or a fish in a fishbowl.
· John wants you to know that Baptism will do a good and powerful work in
your every day life, if you will not oppose it or prevent it from doing so. For
example, Baptism will create in you both the willingness and the desire to do
things differently than you have done them in the past: “Whoever has two tunics
is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise”
(Luke 3:10-14).
· Through Baptism God raises up from cold, dead stones children for
Abraham (Luke 3:8). That is to say, your Baptism raises you up from the death
of your sins and gives you God’s gift of faith—the same faith by which Abraham
lived every day. Through this faith which He has miraculously given to you, God
your heavenly Father credits you with perfect righteousness and He personally
regards you as His righteous one.
· John also wants you to know that your Baptism is the miraculous escape
hatch God has provided for you, so that you may “escape the coming wrath” (Luke
3:7). It is almost as if John wants you to think of yourself as submerged in
the cool and safe water of the baptismal font, fully protected from the heat
and flame of divine judgment.
“John the son of Zechariah… went into all the region around the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John preached
in many different ways, but the topic always boiled down to the same thing.
Somehow, the sermons never got old. “Crowds… came out to be baptized by him”
(Luke 3:7).
The crowds came out, then after that they went home and did like the shepherds
did at the birth of Christ, who “made known the saying [or the sermon] that had
been told them” (Luke 2:17). As the crowds made known what they had heard from
John concerning Baptism, more crowds then “came out to be baptized by him.”
They were continually showing up at the Jordan, continually seeking to escape
“the wrath to come,” continually grappling with how this divine gift of Baptism
would work itself out in their everyday lives, and continually bringing more
crowds “out to be baptized by him.” That’s right folks, in addition to
everything else, Baptism is also about the mission and outreach of the Church!
· In your Baptism, and in many sermons throughout the year about your
Baptism, God gives you something to say to your friends and neighbors—most of
whom do not know, do not understand, or do not care about this miracle from God.
· Through the miracle of your Baptism, God gives you more than a
willingness to help your neighbor in his physical needs, as John says here:
“Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food
is to do likewise” (Luke 3:10-14). Through the miracle of your Baptism, God
will likewise place you into the crowds went home from the Jordan River with a
desire for others to hear about “a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins”: Your forgiveness, your neighbor’s forgiveness, and forgiveness for all
who will hear the Word of the Lord and come to the font.
“John the son of Zechariah… went into all the region around the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John’s
preaching continues to benefit and nourish you and all God’s Christians, even
today. John’s preaching shall always continue for the Church wherever today’s
Gospel is read. Take this Gospel to heart, dear saints! Use this Gospel as a
way of learning to place the full weight of your reliance and trust upon your
Baptism, where God cups you in His hands. Point John’s preaching out to your
neighbor, so that the “word of the God” (Luke 3:2) may come to your neighbor in
the same way that it has so graciously come also to you. And bear with me while
I go write another sermon or two on Baptism.
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