Fourth Sunday in Advent

St. John 1:19–28

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

John the Baptist is the voice of Advent. He gives us the motto for this season: “Prepare the way of the Lord!” He was only 6 months older than his cousin Jesus, but he also began his ministry before Jesus began His own, precisely because that was his job: He was the Forerunner of the Christ, the one to go before the Lord and prepare His way.

And even though the Lord came some 2000 years ago, John the Baptist still has a lot to say to us as well. We must still prepare the way of the Lord. Not only do we make the final preparations to celebrate our Lord’s birth, we must also prepare our hearts as we receive the Lord in His Word and Sacraments, and we prepare ourselves for that Day when our Lord will come in glory. We do all this preparation because we are Christians. We believe John’s preaching. We are baptized into the forgiveness of sins. And we want to separate ourselves from sin and live lives worthy of the name “Christian.”

But not all people believe John’s preaching today, just as not all the Jews believed John’s preaching in his day either. Some of the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” Well, why didn’t they go to see John for themselves? John had come to preach repentance to every individual, so clearly, they didn’t pay much attention to what he said. They were just like politicians (or anyone who likes holding onto their power). They care more about procedure than getting things done. They are people who want to stay in control, so don’t risk changing anything, especially if it means reevaluating themselves.

But later on, Jesus will point out the real problem. Jesus would say to the Jews, “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth… He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light” (John 5:33, 35). The problem is that these unbelieving Jews were only interested in John for the sake of their own honor. They just wanted to make use of his light, his famous name, his holy reputation, in order to make themselves look good to people. John’s holiness would have been the greatest cover for their sinful lives, if only they had gotten him on their side.

This is like people who only associate with the Church because it makes them look good. They show–up or pitch–in and do charitable deeds because it makes others admire them. Or they like the Church activities because they get something out of it for themselves. But they don’t have any real interest in the preaching of the Church, the message of sin and forgiveness through Christ. And there’s not much we can do about all that, except do what John did and what the Church has always done: confess, do not deny, but confess. Own up to what the Church is. Don’t try to pander to the world and pretend to be something we’re not. Be firm and confess the truth: Christians are who we are, and the message of Christ is always what you’ll hear from us. 

Well, these unbelieving Jews ask John several questions, trying to figure him out. But his honest answers don’t satisfy them, and finally, frustrated that John and his message are disrupting their lives and not fitting in neatly with their own ideas, the Jews ask again: “Who are you?” And John confessed the truth just like we should. He answered with Scripture just like we should. He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” It’s as if he said, “Your salvation is much too close for a prophet to be needed.  Do not look far into the future, because the Lord of all the prophets is Himself already here. The Lord is coming, treading on my heels. I’m crying out as a forerunner to make room for Him. I don’t just speak words about Him but I can actually point to Him with my finger.”

But the unbelieving Jews would not receive John’s message. Far from clearing a path for the Lord, they got in His way, closing themselves off from Him in their own high opinions of themselves. They preferred having their own way. Eventually they would even kill both the forerunner and the Lord Himself for daring to speak the truth to them.

And people still do this today. They resist the Lord and shut their ears to His Word. In their hearts, they murder the Lord’s prophets and the Lord Himself. So, John’s job is still not done. His kind of preaching must humble all the world and proclaim that they are all sinners – lost, condemned, poor, needy, miserable people. There is no life, no work, no position (no matter how beautiful and good it may appear) that is not condemned unless Christ dwells with that person—unless Christ works, walks, lives, and does everything in that person through faith. John’s preaching still shows that we all need Christ and should desire His grace.

Preparing the way of the Lord is truly humbling work. It cuts sin out, and destroys overconfidence, and tears down our self-importance. But this preparation is not something you do to make yourself worthy. It’s not your own prayers and efforts and desires that will prepare the way of the Lord. John’s work still goes on with us because it is a work that God Himself performs through His Word when we hear and believe.
Preparing the way of the Lord is a spiritual preparation that begins with a right understanding and confession that you are unfit to receive Him. There is nothing more spiritual then listening to what God says in His Word so that we can then confess the truth: confess our unworthiness, and confess our faith in Him.

But to the sinful Old Adam, John’s voice is intolerable. It seems the more he says to prepare the way for the Lord, the more people resist it. You invite them to church and they don’t come. You read them God’s Word and they don’t listen. You want to teach and they don’t want to learn. But for the poor sinners with troubled consciences who fear their sin and God’s just punishment, then John’s voice is thrilling and makes glad, because he announces that the Savior and His Kingdom are here for sinners.

The unbelieving Jews, like all unbelievers, questioned this news and they challenged John: “Why are you baptizing?” But once again John confessed the truth: “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” He pointed to Jesus, the One far greater than John, the One who gives us His Holy Spirit and makes us God’s children. In baptism we are prepared for the Lord and made worthy to receive Him. John or the minister are the ones to pour the water, but the Lord Himself is the One who cleanses us from sin and gives us His righteousness. John preached and baptized to prepare the way of the Lord, all the while warning and comforting people with the message that the Lord Himself is at hand. It’s as if he said, “Don’t let your eyes look at the future. The One that the prophets foretold has been among you in the Jewish nation for about thirty years. Pay attention and do not miss Him. You do not know Him; therefore, I have come to point Him out to you.”

This is no less true for us today. The Lord’s Church has been actively preaching throughout the world for some 2000 years. But still people do not know the true Lord, or they do not want to know Him. So, the Church continues the work of John the Baptist, preaching and baptizing, pointing the Lord out to us, directing us to the Christ, our Savior.

To sum it up, John’s job as the forerunner of Christ has two parts. First, we are told that the Kingdom of God is at hand, here, now. It’s time to repent. John tells us, “You are all sinners and don’t know the way of the Lord.” When we believe this, the second part follows: John says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” He tells us, “Look to Christ and receive Him. Believe in Him. He will free you from your sins.” In fact, we hear his words every time we prepare for the Lord’s Supper. We sing the Agnus Dei—“O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.” John’s words point our eyes toward that Lamb who comes to us now in the bread and wine. If we believe the message from John, the same message we hear today from the Scriptures and preachers and Sacraments, then we have the forgiveness of sins in Christ—the Lord who came, is coming now, and will come again.

Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.


Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA

Partially reused from December 22, 2019
Adapted from Luther’s Church Postil for Advent 4 (Luther’s Works 75:172–186)

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Introit for Rorate Coeli

(Psalm 19:1, 4–6; Antiphon: Isaiah 45:8a)

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Introit this morning is full of nature metaphors—beautiful descriptions of clouds raining down, the earth bearing fruit, the glorious stars and the magnificent sun. But what does it all mean? And does it have anything to do with Jesus? Absolutely.

The Introit verses are from Psalm 19—a psalm not only about creation but also about the Word of God. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. The stars and planets are speaking to us. The things of creation echo the very words of God spoken to bring them into existence. When you see a star, you see God’s words, “Let there be stars.” When you see a tree, you see God’s words, “Let there be trees.”

But the main figure of this Psalm is the sun: In the heavens God has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The sun does the Creator’s bidding. Each morning, it’s as if the sun leaves its bedroom and rouses the world with the joy of a new husband, like an athlete running his race. The sun goes the way God has directed it and its light and heat are spread over the entire earth.

But then in the Psalm, the great light of the sun gives way to that greater light, the Law of the Lord—the Word of God. The symbol gives way to the reality. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether (Ps. 19:7–9). We don’t have these verse in our Introit, but they are the interpretation of the metaphor that was given with the heavens and the sun. The Word of God is the true voice that goes out through all the earth.

And as New Testament Christians, we know that the Word is not only the Holy Scriptures. First and foremost, the Word of God is the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ. And He is the true Sun of righteousness. The womb of the Virgin Mary was His chamber, His throne room, and He came out like a bridegroom, like ours, the Church’s Bridegroom. He came out like a strong man, running His course with joy all the way to the cross and out of the grave. So, when you see the sun come up and make its grand procession across the sky, be reminded of your Savior, who brings His light to all. Be reminded of your Savior’s Word which is preached to all.

The beauty of creation reflects or echoes God’s saving work. The sun and the heavens give us reminders of our Lord and what He has done for us. And if the metaphor is good in Psalm 19, it’s good in Isaiah 45 too. That’s where our Introit antiphon comes from: Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout. This is a planting metaphor. Just as the clouds in the heavens give rain, so also God showers His grace and mercy. And just as the earth, when it’s watered, sprouts and bears fruit, so also when God forgives our sins we grow and bear the fruit of holy lives and praise to His glory.

This metaphor could be used to describe salvation at any time, but the Church in her wisdom chose this verse for the Sunday before Christmas because it paints a vivid picture of the event we are about to celebrate. The heavens rain down righteousness. That is, the eternal Son of the Father, for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And salvation sprouts up from the earth and bears fruit. That is, the Son of God was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both from heaven and from earth, raining down and sprouting up. He is true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary. He unites God and Man, heaven and earth, in His person.

And that means He is also our Substitute. Our Lord became a man born of woman, born under the Law, like you and me (Gal. 4:4). He lived, died and rose in our place so that we might be made righteous and saved in Him. To continue with the planting metaphor, the Seed of salvation was planted and watered when the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bear the Savior. So then, He germinated for nine months in the earth, in the womb of a sinful woman saved by grace. Until the time came and the Seed sprouted at His birth. And then finally bore fruit of righteousness and salvation at His death and resurrection.

But isn’t it a bit strange that we use a planting metaphor in the middle of winter? Here we are at the darkest time of the year, when everything is cold and dead. Nothing is sprouting up right now. The Christians of northern Europe loved the strangeness of this and they put it in their Christmas carols. One of the most famous being our closing hymn today, Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming. It’s based on the vision of Isaiah, where the Messiah is likened to a newly sprouted plant: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit (Is. 11:1). Jesse was the father of King David, the ancestor of all the kings of Judah, and yet this line of kings failed to be faithful to God, and so it was hacked down, until nothing was left but a worthless stump. And yet, God did not forget His promise. From the line of Jesse and David, King Messiah would come. From the dead, dried up stump, would sprout a beautiful rose.

That’s what the writer of this Christmas carol is expressing:

            Lo, how a rose e’er blooming

                        From tender stem hath sprung!

                        Of Jesse’s lineage coming

                        As prophets long have sung,

                        It came a flow’ret bright,

                        Amid the cold of winter, 

                        When half-spent was the night.

            Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,

                        The rose I have in mind;

                        With Mary we behold it,

                        The virgin mother kind.

                        To show God’s love aright,

                        She bore to us a Savior,

                        When half-spent was the night (LSB 359:1–2).         

Amid the cold and darkness of dead winter, amid the cold and darkness of sin and death… Out of the old stump, out of the womb of a lowly virgin… A Savior came. The heavens rained down righteousness. The earth received it and gave birth to salvation.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has been born—He is already come. Yet, we delight to mark and celebrate His birth each year. Because we are surrounded by cold and darkness, we are filled with sin and sadness, we are attacked by death and the devil. So, once again, we make this Christmastime our prayer to the Lord: that He would rain down His righteousness upon us and forgive all our sins. That we would believe the Word proclaimed by John the Baptist, who confessed the Christ and still points us to the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. We pray that we would always receive the refreshing shower of God’s grace rained upon us in Baptism. And we pray that the earth of our hearts would sprout forth with new life, and bear fruit for our good, for the good of our neighbors, and for God’s glory.

Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout.

Come quickly + Lord Jesus. Amen.