Redeemer Lutheran Church

1106 Shreveport-Barksdale Hwy

Shreveport, LA  71105

(318) 868-5778

Pastor Perry Culver

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Prepare The Way

    I always get excited when I see a new building being built. I almost always look for a sign to see what the building is being built for, such as a restaurant, bank, or a store. Back in my college days, the Baylor cafeterias were closed on Sunday, so you had to go out to eat if you lived in a dormitory. After several years, you get excited when a new restaurant is being built. There was one building project that was being built that nobody seemed to know exactly what it was going to be. It looked like a restaurant, but it had a different shape, so it left us guessing. This building seemed to take forever to be built. It took about 7 months before it was finished. A restaurant opened with no publicity, no advertising, no flyers, no coupons, no radio spots, and then shut down after about 6 months of operation. The restaurant did not prepare the way for a successful start. With proper marketing, this restaurant would have made it! It had great food and the bread pudding was out of this world. I still remember after 20 years. If this restaurant had been a McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and so on... there would have been a sign put out on the empty lot way before the ground was even broken that would state "Coming Soon (with the restaurant’s name)." Anticipation builds curiosity! Let’s contrast the restaurant that didn’t succeed to the work of a circus promoter. A friend of my father owned a circus. I learned a lot about the circus by listening to him and seeing circus life behind the scenes. There is a person that is usually called the promoter. His job is a lonely job in that he does not travel with the circus. He travels the same route as the circus, but he is usually 2-3 weeks in front of the circus. He enters the town where the circus is coming and he "prepares the way" for the circus to come through. He goes around to different businesses in the community and places posters in the windows and gives out free tickets. He places ads in the paper and meets with different radio stations. Many times, the promoter will also place arrows on the telephone poles that direct the circus truck drivers to the proper location. I used to see these arrows all the time when a circus was coming to town. The promoter prepared the way so that the circus would arrive on time. The circus promoter’s job was to promote the "coming soon" circus and to build anticipation. When the circus arrived, the people were waiting with tickets in hand. It is vital to prepare the way so that people know that something is coming. Our Gospel lesson today speaks of John the Baptist with a voice calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus Christ.

    Now I ask, by what authority did John have that gave him the right to go and proclaim the coming of Jesus Christ? Some of us would look at John and see him as a freak, or maybe a hippy reject from the 1960's. Some would tell him, hey buddy, Woodstock is over, get a job! Let’s take a moment to describe John. The book of Matthew describes him: "Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey." If someone walked into our church right now wearing camel’s hair and dipping some locust in wild honey,... I wouldn’t be surprised if the ushers jumped into action and ushered him out. We can be a very judgmental people, judging others by what they wear, eat, or judging them someone as an outcast if they don’t fit in. But remember, we are not to show favoritism among the rich or the poor, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is for ALL people. Some may say that his clothes were just part of the daily fashion in those days. I would then ask why don’t we get fashion statements of all the other garments worn by the disciples. We don’t read "hear comes Peter dressed in a light blue tunic, accessorized with a dark blue leather belt, and dark brown four strapped sandals by Dockers. The fact that Scripture goes out of its way to describe John’s clothing means he did not fit in with the "in" crowd. John stood out from the others! Again, I ask, by what authority did John have to go and proclaim the coming of Christ? The answer comes in verse 2 and reads: "the word of God CAME to John, son of Zechariah in the desert." John preached about the coming of Christ by the authority of God! God came to John!

    So we read from Scripture that John was acting on the authority of God. But what was John’s purpose? Verse 3 tells us that "He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." John’s purpose was that of preaching the law by showing the people that they are sinners". It is the same Law that convicts you as a sinner today. This is very clearly stated in Romans 3:20: "Through the law we become conscious of sin". John preached the Law, which caused them to see themselves as sinners. Today, I preach the Law in stating that you too are sinners! Not only did John preach the Law, but he preached it to it fullness that drove people to repent.

    What does it mean to repent? Repentance means changing ones heart and mind so that they are sorry for their actions and want to turn away from sin and turn towards what is right. The people who were truly sorry for their sins, received the Gospel from John. He didn’t just preach the Gospel, but poured it on to them through Baptism. John went around preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Notice that the Bible states "a baptism ‘of" repentance ‘for’ the forgiveness of sins." Many denominations twist this by stating that you are baptized as a sign of your forgiveness. Listen to this quote out of the Life Application New Testament Commentary: "John used an act to symbolize the cleansing from sin that occurs when one confesses and is forgiven: ‘baptism.’"¹ The author then again states: "His baptism was new in that he was asking the Jews themselves to be baptized as a sign of repentance."² This "symbolize" and "sign" is not in the text! The Scripture reads: "preaching a baptism ‘of’ repentance ‘for’ the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is not a sign or symbol, but it is the forgiveness of sins. Our theology does not refer to baptism as a sign or symbol, but as a sacrament! Luther’s Small Catechism states "[Baptism] works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare."³ John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins! There is power in Baptism because Baptism has God’s Word in the water and it brings Forgiveness of Sins! It is the Gospel! Now I ask, How do we know that Jesus is the promised one? Our reading today addresses this issue. Luke quotes from the words of Isaiah the prophet to show that John is not a product of his own invention, but the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah. Luke quotes Isaiah:

    The voice was John. John was a herald! Much like a circus promoter, John went around preparing the way". He wasn’t preparing the way for a bunch of clowns, but for the Messiah... Jesus Christ! His message is far greater than any circus promoter. They promote a good time. John not only promotes, but brings the forgiveness of sins and eternal life! John prepared the way for Jesus. You too are called to ‘prepare the way’ by taking the Good News of Jesus Christ to your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors,.... to the WORLD! We too proclaim Jesus Christ through our own Baptism and we take God’s Word out to the community to bring them to Baptism or to return them back to their Baptism. It is God that came to John and told him to preach this message! It is God who comes to us through the First Advent by being born in a manger, living a perfect life, dying on the Cross, and rose again... bringing the forgiveness of sins for the whole world. It is God who comes to you through Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and through His Word!

    The Baptism Font is located here in the middle of the Church so that you will see it every Sunday and be reminded that you have been Baptized into Christ. Yours sins are forgiven. Let us rejoice as we "prepare the way" for Christ’s return in the Second Advent, when He returns in the clouds on the Last Day! Amen!