Luke 3:1-6
In football there’s two ways for the offense to advance the ball: either the quarterback throws the football to a receiver or hands it off to the running back who runs with the ball as far as he can before getting tackled. The NFL’s all-time leading rusher is Emmitt Smith, the running back of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s and early 2000s. Most NFL fans have heard of Emmitt Smith. A lesser known player is Daryl Johnston. He was the Cowboys’ full back during their Super Bowl runs. The full back’s job is to run ahead of the running back to block any defenders who might try to tackle the running back. In a sense it is the full back’s job to prepare the way, to clear the path of the running back.
Johnston’s career didn’t last as long as Smith’s; a neck injury ended his career early. But he was in attendance in the broadcasting booth the day Emmitt Smith set the NFL’s all-time rushing record. Following the play where Smith set the new NFL record, Johnston went down to the field and the two exchanged a hug. Smith told Johnston, "I couldn't have done it without you." Johnston said, "It was my pleasure. I couldn't imagine doing it for anybody else." In 2010, Johnston was in the audience for Emmitt Smith's induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. During his acceptance speech, an emotional Smith spoke directly to Johnston, calling out the fact that, as a fullback, he had sacrificed himself for so many years to block for him. "Without you", Smith said, "I know that today would not have been possible.” Daryl Johnston may not be in the Hall of Fame himself, but Emmitt Smith knows that his path there was paved by his teammate and friend, the fullback Daryl Johnston.
In a way, Johnston’s job is similar to John the Baptist’s. John is the one sent to prepare the way of the Lord. To clear the path for him, to set the stage for his mission, to allow him the space to move forward. Now Emmitt Smith isn’t Jesus and Jesus’ ministry was a little different from winning Super Bowls. But John did indeed prepare the way for Jesus.
John the Baptist is introduced the same way the Old Testament prophets were, with historical markers of the kings in that era. He appears in the wilderness by the Jordan River, both places (the Jordan and the wilderness) had strong connections to the Exodus and themes of freedom and liberation. John appears there and makes a name for himself through his powerful preaching. In fact, according to the Jewish historian Josephus it seems John the Baptist was actually more famous than Jesus during their lifetimes.
Now it wasn’t that Jesus needed someone to show him the way, as much as it was the people needed someone to show them the way. To show them what kind of Messiah to expect. The prophets had prepared the path in their own way too. They set the expectation for a New David who would save the people. But the people expected a savior king who would defeat their enemies and establish an age of peace and prosperity for Judah. John sets the tone that this Messiah will be a spiritual savior, one who will bring about needed change, or repentance. In the Gospels repentance means a change in mindset more than a feeling guilty for sins. Feeling sorry for sins may be part of this changed mindset, especially for the rich and powerful, but this repentance is mostly a new way of seeing the world. It’s a change in worldview to have eyes to see what Jesus calls “the kingdom of God”.
This term “Kingdom of God” was the focal point of Jesus’ teaching. It’s Jesus’ term for the alignment of heaven and earth. It’s the same idea the prophets foretold when they spoke of a world transformed into a new creation. Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom where the wolf lays down with the lamb and swords are beat into plowshares. Jeremiah’s promise of a new covenant where God’s law of love is written on our hearts: a world where all people know God, follow God’s will naturally, are in right relationship with God. This transformed world is what John proclaimed was coming and this reality was fully manifest in Jesus. Jesus Christ, the divine made flesh. It’s what he taught and it’s what he embodied in himself. It’s a completely new way of being in the world. It is both a future reality for the whole world that we sometimes call the second coming or the new creation, and it is the reality that is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
John the Baptist challenges his listeners to prepare themselves for this coming of the one who will bring in this new age, this Kingdom of God. He challenged this to his original audience, and he issues the same challenge to us today. To align our will with God’s will. To transform our minds to perceive the Kingdom. To purify and prepare our hearts to receive Christ.
Whatever the necessary preparations John laid were, the world clearly wasn’t ready for Jesus. But perhaps they were just ready enough, because of John the Baptist. We know some of Jesus’ first disciples were originally disciples of John. John laid the groundwork for Jesus’ mission and ministry, and in this season of Advent we are invited once again to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming in our lives.
And even when we’re unable to fully prepare ourselves, Christ comes to us anyway. Whether we’re ready for him or not. Whether we’re fully prepared or not prepared at all. Jesus Christ is born for us. Because as much as God longs for us to have pure hearts and grow to spiritual maturity, God didn’t send Jesus because the world was ready or worthy—but because we needed a Savior. One who meets us in our brokenness and brings healing, life, and salvation.
So this season of Advent, let us remember our call to prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming, and let us trust that it is Christ’s coming itself which most transforms us. God’s love made manifest in Jesus Christ. God’s love born in a manger. God’s love which transforms the world. That’s what John is calling the world to be ready for. And that’s what we prepare ourselves for this holy season.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pastor Brian Rajcok | Second Sunday in Advent | December 7, 2024
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