The Third Sunday of Advent

December 14, 2008

Year B

John 1:6-9, 19-28

St. Francis, Norris

I remember when President Johnson announced that he would not seek a second term as president. One of the jokes going around was that he had said “I choose not to run, and if elected, I will not serve!” Just another example about the confidence we have in our political figures, when they tell us something is definite. It seems as though a statement made in a very definitive manner is the first statement that turns out to be untrue. As a result, many of us have become cynical when the politicians have something to say about what they will (or would) never do or not do. Never say never is a good practice for us, but the politicians don’t seem to get it.

Once again we hear a story about John the Baptizer calling out from the desert wilderness, announcing the coming of the messiah. This week we hear John’s version of the same story we heard last week in Mark.

This story tells us of a man presenting himself to the masses and developing a very strong following. All the while he tells that following that he is not the messiah, and he seems to mean it. After all he isn’t doing messianic things. The people want to think he is the messiah but he always emphatically denies any such conveyance. He is obviously not a politician as we know them today.

When he puts forth his denials, the Jews ask him if he is Elijah or the Prophet. It was written that Elijah would someday return, prior to the coming of the Lord. Many of the Jews thought, and perhaps even Jesus thought that John was Elijah. We get no clarification in the New Testament. John denies that he is Elijah.

In the book of Deuteronomy, it is written that God will raise up a prophet like Moses, to lead the people. John also refutes this idea.

A group of priests and Levites were sent by the Pharisees to see just who this guy, John, really is. If someone came on the scene making the claims that John was making, they wanted to find out what he was all about. I guess it was not unlike the media sending one of its correspondents from 60 minutes to check out some whacko that is having a major influence on people, today. Did I just compare the media to the Pharisees? If the shoe fits…

Now, baptism was not a Jewish custom so this must have seemed a very strange thing for someone to do as a religious ritual…unlike the standard practice of circumcision. This new stuff was just strange.

John answers them; he is preparing these people for something brand new. Preparing them for someone yet to come. His only claim as to who he might be is that he is the voice, the voice spoken of by Isaiah. And it is through this baptizing that the road is to be straightened out for the coming of the messiah. In other words the road must be prepared for the master who is coming.

When we were visiting New York City a few years ago, one of the things that I noticed was that it seemed as though there was never much time interval between the sounds of sirens. Every few minutes a fire truck, police car or rescue vehicle of some kind would be blaring. That siren can be more or less equated to John the Baptizer. We was shouting out to clear the path, make way, for something extremely important is about to come down the road. I won’t go so far as to compare Jesus to a fire truck… but they are both vehicles of salvation aren’t they.

John is the same in all of the gospels in that he is the launch pad for Jesus coming into the world and into his ministry. There were many followers of John who did not wish to leave him, to follow Jesus. It is believed that John’s followers, at one time, greatly outnumbered those of Jesus. This reading today would have been a very important piece of the scripture in order to explain that John considered himself to be unworthy to untie the thong of Jesus sandals. That is probably why you find this same story in all four Gospels.

We know that John was a very strange character. That alone would be an obstacle to overcome, even in those days. John even started his ministry, not by being who HE was but by his proclamation of who he is NOT. He leaves no doubt that he is just the announcer, not the star of the show. The star will be out later.

What we can learn from this passage is very important…especially for preachers of the Word but also for any Christian believers. Everyone needs to guard against the attitude of becoming a believer that the person delivering the message is more important than the message itself. This is no earth shattering revelation but humility is sometimes hard to come by. Especially when a person is thrust into the circumstances that John found himself in. He knew his role but those around him wanted him to be more. They wanted him to be the messiah. They wanted to continue to follow John but he always directed them back toward Jesus.

As I watch some of the more popular televangelist, I wonder if some of them have kept that principle in mind. I imagine it is hard to remain humble in the midst of great success. Like I said though, it is not just preachers who can get caught up in the glory of success. John was able to keep himself grounded in the task he was sent to do. He maintained the focus of the mission set before him by God.

All of us need to realize that when we do the mission God has set before us, that we do not become the objects of that mission. We are merely the instruments of God. We should at all times and in all places, remember that we are not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals We should remember, just like John did.