Third Sunday in Advent – December 11, 2011

John 1:6-8, 19-28 - 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…¹⁹ Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ ” ²⁴ Now some Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

I can’t imagine that the delegation of men sent from the Jews to interrogate John ever expected the answer they got for their question, “Who are you?” Maybe they honestly thought John was Elijah. Maybe they were hoping he would claim to be the Christ so they could call him a blasphemer and fraud and imposter. Whatever they were thinking, they certainly weren’t expecting John to say: “Listen to me! Listen to what I am saying! God has sent me! Repent! Yes, you too! But stop getting so caught up with me, listen to my message! Listen to the fact that I am pointing you to someone else. I am pointing you to ‘The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ (John 1:29). I am pointing you to Jesus, the one born of Mary, who is God with us (Matthew 1:23). I am pointing you to the one and only Savior (Acts 4:12). He has come to fix your relationship with God. He has come to turn God’s anger from you to himself. He has come to take away all your sin along with their guilt. He is the one you must focus on.”

Now if those words sound somewhat familiar, that’s good. It means you were listening last week when similar words were used in our sermon as we listened to God’s advent preacher. I use them again this week to help you see the progression of our Advent Sunday’s. Two weeks ago on the first Sunday in Advent we were urged to watch and be ready, because we don’t know when Jesus is coming again. Last week we were reminded to prepare for Christ’s return with repentant hearts of faith. This week, as our celebration of Christ’s birth draws closer, and as the end of this world draws closer, we are led to rejoice as we see John the Baptist serve as a witness to the Light.

The gospel writer John presents John the Baptist a little differently than do the three other gospel writers. Whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke present the Baptist in more of his role as the preacher of repentance, John presents him as a witness for Christ, the Son of God. We see that in our text when John writes, “He [John the Baptist] 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.” And when you stop and think about, John’s arrival into the fabric of Jewish society should have been a joyous one. His appearance fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy concerning the forerunner of Jesus. It signified that the “time had fully come” (Galatians 4:4). It announced that God had kept his promise. It should have set off celebrations. People should have been falling to their knees in uncontrollable bliss. But instead, it was met with skepticism. The majority missed it because they were walking in darkness.

That’s why it was necessary for the Light to come. The Light, of course, is Christ, and he had to come because the people were walking in darkness - the darkness of sin and unbelief. Last week we looked at the spiritual make-up of the world into which John came. But whether they were Pharisee, Sadducee, Gentile or whomever, all people have the same problem – sin and its guilt which separates a person from God. Again and again Scripture pictures sin and unbelief as darkness. Later in this Gospel John would write: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). In his first letter, John says, “But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him” (1 John 2:11).

And that’s the problem with darkness – you don’t know where you are going. Without a light you can’t see the objects that are in the way. Spiritual darkness does the same thing. It blinds a person to the devastating effects of sin. It prevents a person from seeing the way to heaven. It completely shields a person from noticing that the true God is a God of love that wants all people to be saved. So Jesus came to shed light on the Father’s love. He came as the Light which brings forgiveness to darkened souls. And John came as a witness to that Light saying, “Here he is, don’t miss him! What does it matter who I am? I am only a voice. Jesus is the Light.” So, let us listen to John’s voice and run to the Light!

Because darkness, it’s a problem we have too. And no, I’m not talking about the fact that we are approaching the darkest day of the year. I’m talking about the spiritual darkness into which we were born. You see, when we were born, Satan had us in his strong clutches; the sinfulness we inherited from our parents made us children of the devil. We were blind to the truths of God’s Word. We were enemies of God. We were groping around in the darkness, blindly walking the path to hell. But then the light of salvation found us on the greatest day of our life – the day we were brought to faith. It came to us in God’s holy Word. It came to us through the waters of Baptism. It opened our spiritual eyes and created faith. It enlightened us to see the seriousness of sin and the Savior from that sin, Jesus Christ. It made clear to us that forgiveness and eternal life are found in Jesus alone. It made us children of God, and heirs of heaven. For this reason, Paul could write, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8).

But have we been living as children of light? Or have we been walking back again toward that darkness? Or maybe we have been trying to live in both worlds? But tell me, how can that light shine where lust makes its bed? Or where self is king? Or where hate abides? Or where greed is seated? How is the Lord of light to shine when our tongues are ceaseless with gossip and coarse language and our spiritual temples are crumbling from neglect?

How can we be focused on the Light John witnessed to if we are more concerned about teaching our children about Santa than we are about Jesus, the Savior from sin? How can we be focused on the Light John witnessed to if we are more concerned about purchasing or receiving the perfect gift, than we are about seeing that the perfect gift has already been given? How can we be focused on the Light John witnessed to if we are more concerned about how we will get everything done before Christmas, than we are about making time for Jesus and his Word at this wonderful time of year? So last week’s call to repentance is still this week’s call, just like it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. “Make straight the path” for the Light of salvation.

Today, like last week, like all of God’s Word, we are pointed to Jesus, the Light of the world. He is the Light no darkness can overcome. He is the Light you and I desperately need. Again and again we see that we are crooked sinners who still partake of the deeds of darkness. We sin and call it virtue. We sin and call it a mistake. We sin and call it how God made us. We sin and call it unavoidable. We sin and call it our neighbor’s fault. We sin and claim sin has not made us sinners, but that we are still good people. What wretched people we are! Who will save us from drifting back into the oblivion of darkness?

Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is cause to rejoice. God caused his Light to appear in the midst of our sin-darkened world in the person of Jesus. And John was a witnessed to this Light. Immediately after our text we hear, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰ This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me’” (John 1:29,30).

Jesus is the perfect Son of God who has overcome the darkness of sin, death and the devil for us. He is our High Priest, who didn’t just make a sacrifice, but was the perfect Lamb of sacrifice himself. Jesus is the Light that brings the food of forgiveness to our starving souls. He is our King, come to earth not to rescue us from our earthly enemies, but to rescue us from our eternal enemies and give us an even greater kingdom.

John points you to him and says, “Don’t miss him!” Yes, dear friend, don’t miss him! Do you want to hear the voice of God? Listen to Jesus tell you that he loves you. Do you want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt your sins are forgiven? Take hold of Jesus as he reaches out his nail-pierced hands to you and says, “I suffered this – and so much more – for you!” Do you want to be filled with joy as you prepare for Christmas and for Christ to come again? Open up the Word and let the Light of Christ shine on you as he tells you he died for you. Know that when he tells you that you are forgiven - you are forgiven.

What is the number one cause of car accidents today? There are lots of causes. Obviously, weather and drunk driving are causes. Cell phones. Eating. Adjusting the radio or CD player. Some people shave, or do their hair, or read, while they are driving. There are all kinds of causes for car accidents today, but you can really boil them down to one. The number one cause of accidents is when people aren’t looking the right way. In other words, you’re distracted.

The number one cause for spiritual accidents is the same thing – people aren’t looking the right way. Have you lost the joy and happiness that the Christmas season should bring? Disheveled, frazzled, and can’t wait for it to be over? It’s because you aren’t looking the right way. Are you less than excited at the prospect of our Savior’s coming at the end of the world? Do you find that you hardly even think about it? Do you feel as if you are unprepared? It is because you aren’t looking the right way. Today, John the Baptist comes to witness to the right way, the Light, to Jesus. When we are focused him we have reason to rejoice as we watch and prepare for Christmas and his coming again. Amen.