Sermon, Advent 3C, Luke 3:7-18

Advent. When I say that word, what comes to mind? Probably a variety of things: purple or blue altar hangings, the Advent wreath, figures making their way to the manger, John the Baptist, and maybe some others that I haven't mentioned. Advent is the first season of the church year. Advent is a time of actively waiting. Advent is the already and the not yet. All of these things describe Advent in a theological basis.

Strip all of that away, though, and advent is nothing more than a synonym; it is simply another word among many to define a concept. Words synonymous with advent include arrival, introduction and beginning. But luckily for us, we can't strip away the theological underpinnings of that word. Because while the word advent is synonymous with arrival, introduction and beginning, the Season of Advent encompasses all of those words. And it is John the Baptist who gives meaning to those words.

Last week we heard John exhorting us to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight. This appears in all four gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all have John appearing before the public ministry of Jesus as a voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight.

Why? Why are we to prepare the way of the Lord and make his path straight? Because John is telling us that the Messiah is coming. Jesus isn't just going to show up. Like any king, lowly he may be at this point in time, or like a presidential motorcade, John the Baptist is sent ahead to announce his arrival. Nothing says clean like company. So we prepare.

Through his preaching on preparation and baptism, John introduces a new kind of Messiah. The Messiah he introduces is one who is not concerned with ancestry or lineage or with the way we've always done things.

"Do not say, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor;' for God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham."

Origen said that John wasn't talking about literal stones, but that he was referring to people who were uncomprehending and hard. The Messiah John introduces us to is concerned with people who bear fruits worthy of repentance. Through John's baptism originally, and then our baptism into Christ's death and resurrection, and with the power of the Holy Spirit, we are introduced to a new way of life. The trap for the Jews was the claim of having Abraham as their ancestor. The trap for us Christians is the claim that we've been baptized.

Ancestry, lineage and history are only part of who we are; they aren't all of who we are. When John introduces us to the Messiah, and we choose to follow, then we should reflect a change in our lives for the better. We move beyond doing things like we've always done them. We move into a new and different way of being.

And that new and different way of being is the beginning of the kingdom of God here on earth. The kingdom of God consists of more than saying, "I believe." The kingdom of God is more than screaming, "Repent!!" and throwing a Schofield Reference Bible at passersby. Participating in the kingdom of God carries with it social responsibilities.

How do we begin to reflect the kingdom of God on earth? We do it by feeding the hungry, by clothing the naked and by sheltering the homeless. God's kingdom is not reflected by driving the homeless to other communities or to jail them for loitering. God's kingdom is not reflected by telling the hungry to get a job. God's kingdom begins to be reflected when the youth group helps deliver wood to those who need it. It is reflected when we deliver turkey dinners to local families. It is reflected when we send supplies overseas, and it is reflected when we offer a spiritual home to those who have none.

As we move through this Season of Advent, may we hear and heed what John has to say to us. Prepare the way of the Lord; make his path straight. Let us work to remove the barriers that separate us from God. Let us work to introduce a new way of being, both individually and corporately. And let us begin to reflect the kingdom of God in a way that upsets all of the world's usual ways of doing business.

This is how we prepare for the arrival of God. This is how we introduce God to the world. This is how we begin to reflect the kingdom of God here on earth. And this is how we can infuse a simple word with theological underpinnings that guide and support our lives.

This is Advent.