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. ___________________________________________________________________________ 'CAT 41 Sermons & Devotions' consists of works that are, unless otherwise noted, the copyrighted property of the various authors; posting of such gives members of this list implied consent for redistribution _with_ _attribution_ unless otherwise specified by the author, as well as for quoting or use in a congregational setting _with_or_without_attribution_. Note: This list's default reply is to the *poster*, NOT the list. Do *not* reply to the list with your comments, but to the poster. Subscribe? Send ANY note to: sermons...@cat41.org Unsubscribe? 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