Advent 2 - 2021 - Luke 3:1-6

I come from a very theatrical family, which means I grew up speaking and performing in front of people. Whether it was acting in a play or singing in a band, I’d often be up on stage somewhere. Now, some of you love doing that sort of thing, and some of you couldn’t think of anything more terrifying. But no matter the case, we all have had that dream, where we’re in front of a group of people and we’ve got to give a speech or sing a song or whatever, and we’re absolutely not prepared. I’ve had nightmares where I’m standing in front of you on Sunday morning, and I’ve got nothing prepared. We’ve all had that dream, because it’s a universal fear.

We are most afraid of that for which we are least prepared. Some of our greatest anxieties and fears come from situations where we feel unprepared. Unprepared for a date. Unprepared for a test at school or a presentation at work. When we are unprepared, we are deeply unsettled.

Well the season of Advent is all about preparation. What are we preparing for? We are preparing for the coming of Jesus. Fundamental to our faith is the belief that Jesus will return and he will bring an end to all that is bad and he will usher in an age of eternal peace and goodness. Advent is about preparing for his arrival. We are not only preparing to celebrate his first arrival, his first Advent, when the Son of God was born a human being on Christmas Day, but even more so we are preparing to celebrate his Second Advent, when King Jesus comes and makes all things new.

But how do we prepare for that? What does that kind of life look like? That’s what we’re looking at this week and the weeks to come. How do we prepare for Christ’s return? Last week we looked at how Jesus calls us to stand in eager anticipation of his return and to trust that our true redemption comes from him and him alone. So we stand.

This week, we’re going to look at another posture of preparation. We stand, and we witness. We witness to Christ on the frontier of his kingdom.

There is one figure from history that most stands out during the season of Advent, and that is John the Baptist. He is featured in this week’s text and we’re going to come back to him again next week. John the Baptist is such an interesting guy. No matter how long you’ve been a Christian, and no matter how many times you have read the gospels, John the Baptist feels uncomfortable, unruly, and unfamiliar. You read about John and you have to double check that you’re not still in the Old Testament, because he has that Old Testament prophet feel to him.

And yet, what you cannot deny is how wholehearted John is about his devotion to the Messiah. Everything about him points to Jesus. Fleming Rudtledge puts it this way:

John’s whole life was lived with but one purpose; he was born, a man of destiny, to declare the imminent arrival of the coming Messiah. This voice crying in the wilderness or as Calvin said, “this lantern which shone in front of the son of God,” is extraordinary in many ways, but most of all for the single-mindedness with which he pursued his mission even to death, for John the Baptist feared no man, not even Herod the King, and no woman either, not even Herod’s wife, who in the end arranged to have his head cut off. But let us take note: this firebrand who recognized no superior was utterly submissive before the one whose coming he lived and died to illuminate. John said to them, “One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of his sandal.”

John famously told his own disciples that his significance and fame must decrease and give way to the rising awareness and glory of Jesus. He was wholeheartedly devoted to his calling, which was to point others to the coming Christ. And as such, he serves as a model for every Christian after him.

But there is a reason that John sounds a little out of place in the New Testament and certainly out of place in our modern era. He holds a unique position and purpose in history.

The very last words of our Old Testament speak to the role that John was called into. The last chapter of the last book reads like this:

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings... (5)“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”

These closing words were very important, because during the intertestamental period, which is the time between the Old and New Testaments, the Jewish people honed in on the figure of Elijah the prophet, who had not died, but was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. It was believed that when Elijah came back, that would be the sign that God was coming to set the world right again. Elijah showing up was the sign that a new day in human history was dawning. After Elijah came back, the next person to appear will be God himself.

As we read the New Testament, we readily see that John is the new Elijah. He serves at the frontier of a new world as the forerunner of Jesus. His purpose is to stand at the frontier and to deliver the good news about the coming Son of God. As the new Elijah, he announces to the world that sin is doomed, death is being undone, and the Lord of the Universe is on his way to reverse the downward spiral of human history.

John was called to stand at the frontier of God’s Kingdom, at the very place where it collided with the world, and from that place to illuminate Jesus. And he did just that. Up to the moment of his death, John held his position on the frontier of God’s kingdom. For centuries, followers of Jesus have served at that frontier and many, like John, have suffered greatly for it.

While our lives may not be as dramatic as John’s, we share in his position and purpose. Like John, we live our lives straddling two worlds. With one foot, we live in the world that is in bondage to sin and death and daily face the consequences of them both. But with the other foot, we live in the Kingdom of God where the power of sin has been defeated by the Cross and we are empowered to live righteous lives thanks to the Spirit living within us. Like John, we live at the frontier of the inbreaking Kingdom of God.

All of us who call ourselves Christian live at the boundary of the world and the Kingdom. And from that unique place, we are called to point people to Jesus.

I think about those of you in business. When you refuse to go along with corrupt practices or policies even if it would be financially beneficial, you are witnessing to the Kingdom at the frontier.

For those who are married, when you refuse to throw in the towel when things get difficult, but instead fight for your marriage and invest in your relationship, you are witnessing to the Kingdom at the frontier.

For those who have children, when you refuse to hide your faults and shortcoming from your children, but instead show them what it looks like to live in the grace of Christ, you are witnessing to the Kingdom at the frontier.

For those who are students, when you go out of your way to show others that they have inherent value and worth, even if it were to cost you some measure of reputation, you are witnessing to the Kingdom at the frontier.

Like John, all of us have been called to stand at the boundary between the this present evil age and the age of Christ. And in that place, we are to witness to Jesus - we are to cast a light on him, so that all may see and know him. This week, I encourage you to reflect on where is that place for you? Where are you called to be a witness to Jesus?