June 24, 2018 – Nativity of St. John the Baptist Luke 1:57-80
Dear Friends in Christ,
Do you ever find it hard to hear good news? Some of you may be saying, “Never, I always enjoy hearing good news.” As your Pastor, I beg to differ. In ministry I see this all the time. We all live in our little cocoons. What I mean is that we are most concerned with what is immediate to us. I may have a day where I talk with let’s say three individuals or families and the focus is almost always on their problems. The spouse has cancer. Divorce proceedings are going forward. Your child has gotten in trouble again. The job you need is not coming. How are you going to pay for two kids in college? The care of the elderly parents is not going away. I may share some good news about the church or your life or my life but you don’t hear it. The anxieties of life crowd so closely and speak so loudly that any messenger of joy is easily drowned out in the mind.
For this reason, it is good to give God thanks when he sends someone, anyone to prepare us for hearing good news. God knows that we are not always ready to listen, and so He comes to prepare our hearts and minds even before He speaks.
This morning in celebrating the Nativity of St. John the Baptist we give thanks for . . .
“GOD’S GRACIOUS VISITATION”
Most of us know a little bit about John because two of the four Sundays in Advent speak of him. Wilderness dweller. Animal skin wearer. Sitting down to locusts and wild honey. Baptized by Jesus. Imprisoned by Herod. His head ended up a party favor on a platter. John can be remembered for all these things but today the Church calls attention to his birth. Why?
At John’s birth, we see how God would like him to be remembered. “You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” (v. 76) John was sent ahead of Jesus to prepare the people for God’s gracious visitation.
His birth caused quite a stir. His father Zechariah gives a grand overview of God’s work of salvation and then he speaks of John’s birth. He tied the two events together into a much larger story. Do you think he was passing out cigars as he told the people about his son just born?
We could remember John the Baptist for his travelogue in the wilderness or his many ways to fix bugs and bee nectar but then we miss who God sent him to be. He came to announce to the people that the Savior of the world was coming. John awakens people to their sin. Those who listen end up entering the River Jordan and come out standing on the other side. Wet with the waters of repentance, they wait. Then, and only then, are they ready to see Jesus.
When you come to Jesus as a lost and forsaken sinner, only then will you see who he truly is: your Savior. Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn. 1:29) He dies on the cross to forgive your sin and rises from the dead to bring eternal life to you.
The world is so blind to the working of God. John had to be sent. God is so gracious to people that He gives them chance after chance to repent of their wrongdoing and come to a knowledge of the truth so that all mankind might experience His work of salvation. We give thanks this day that John was the instrument the Lord used for this purpose before the coming of the Son of God.
God’s ministry through John is not over. Someone is still standing on the edge of where Jesus is present, letting you know of God’s gracious invitation.
The child brought to the saving waters of baptism at two weeks old. The parents are messengers, preparing him or her for God’s gracious visitation. The parents have chosen sponsors who will be messengers throughout this child’s life. Around the font we see the circle of God’s people sent to prepare one child for God’s gracious visitation.
Consider our congregation this day hearing God’s Word, singing his praises, praying for one another, strengthened by the sacrament. We are awakened to God’s gracious visitation as we leave here in the cocoon of our situations knowing that they will not overwhelm us. We have forgiveness. We have mercy. We have God-given strength to face the days ahead. Isn’t it nice to know you have the support and prayers of this body of Christ? Thanks be to God!
In many ways God has prepared us for his gracious visitation. Zechariah’s song becomes our own, a faithful way for us still today to offer praise. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for has visited and redeemed his people.” (v. 68)
Amen.
