Which Is It?

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
December 10, 2006
The Second Sunday in Advent

Which Is It?
Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 3:1-6

“T’was the night before Christmas when all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.
Mama in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like flash,
tore open the shutter, and threw open the sash.
When what to my wondering eye should appear,
but John the Baptist crying out, “Jesus soon will be here.”

That’s not how the poem goes, does it?
No, the title tells us what the poem is all about:
“A visit from St. Nicholas”, by Clement Clarke Moore.
It was sung so ably last night by the
Belle Voci Chamber Choir,
with our own Ken Adams as the featured soloist.
Many us know much, if not most, of the poem by heart.

But what about my version?
Isn’t it a more appropriate text for Advent?
As much as we all love the traditions of Santa Claus,
reindeer, Christmas trees, and chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
shouldn’t our focus be on the coming of Jesus Christ?
The Christ who came into the world as a baby
born in that stable,
Emmanuel, God with us;
The Christ who came into the world
to save us from our sins;
The Christ who came as the light of God,
the Word of God,
the love of God.
The Christ who came,
and will come again.

John the Baptist helps us with our focus
in the middle of such a busy time of year.
John was the very personification of Advent,
as he proclaimed the coming of Christ:
Prepare yourself for the coming of the Messiah,
he cried out to all who would listen.
John’s message is Advent.

John’s father, Zechariah, was one of the priests at the Temple.
Unlike many of his colleagues, Zechariah was a man of faith.
He knew just what God had in mind for his son
as soon as he laid eyes on him.
Zechariah looked at the infant and said,
“And you child will be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people,
by the forgiveness of their sins.” (Luke 1:76)

God called John to tell the people to prepare themselves,
to ready their hearts,
ready their minds,
ready their very lives
for the Messiah,
the one they had been waiting for,
the one they had been praying for,
the one who was about to come into the world.

Over the centuries, the prophets had proclaimed
a message of hope,
a message that the Messiah would come.
More than 700 years before the birth of our Lord,
Isaiah prophesied, “Look:
the young woman is with child
and shall bear a son,
and shall name him Immanuel”
which means “God with us”. (Isaiah 7:14)
Isaiah’s contemporary Micah prophesied,
“and from you Bethlehem,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel….
and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure,
for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;
and he shall be the one of peace.” (Micah 5:2ff)

The people were watching, waiting,
eager for the Messiah to come;
they were watching and waiting,
but they were not preparing themselves,
they were not making themselves ready,
not making straight the highway of the Lord.

As John proclaimed the Messiah’s coming
many thought that he himself was the Messiah.
There were others who thought that John
was the prophet Elijah come back from the whirlwind
which had taken him up
more than eight centuries before.

John knew that he was just the messenger,
the one called to proclaim,
the one called to proclaim the advent of the Messiah,
the one called to urge the people to make themselves ready.
John understood his calling
even while he was still in his mother’s womb.
And so, he took his message out to the people
proclaiming the coming of the Messiah,
proclaimed the coming
even though he did not know who the Messiah was;
didn’t know it was his own relative, Jesus of Nazareth.

John proclaimed with fury, even rage.
His appearance suggested that of someone
who had just been hit by a lightning bolt.
His diet was locusts and wild honey.
His words were pointed, sharp,
themselves bolts of lightning,
as he snarled at a world so content
to walk at the very edge of darkness,
people claiming to follow God,
yet people who were loose, lazy,
lubricious and lascivious;
the rich and the powerful sitting comfortably
while the poor and the destitute were forced
to do their gleaning amid the stench and flames
of the garbage dump outside of Jerusalem.

It was a world in which John did not fit;
but he didn’t even try to fit in;
he didn’t care.
But it wasn’t his looks, his clothes or his diet.
that set him apart from everyone else;
it was his faith and his faithfulness.
He was ready;
he was committed;
He was prepared for the coming of the Messiah.
While many heard him shout, “prepare”,
most wondered why they should listen to him:
“Look at him; who in their right mind would listen to him?
Besides, I cannot be bothered now; I have things to do,
important things that must be done.
Business to attend to; social engagements;
important people to be with.”

But a handful did respond to John;
And it is much the same today.
We would rather focus on the coming of Santa Claus,
on the coming of Christmas day,
on preparing our homes.
But John tells us we should be focused on
the coming of Christ,
the coming of the Kingdom of God,
on preparing our hearts.

John’s style was blunt, direct, and confrontational:
“Which is it?
What is your choice?
Don’t waffle. Make a choice.
Are you ready to repent and prepare,
here and now?
Or are you going to continue on the path you’ve been on?
Something radical is about to happen;
Are you ready?
Are you prepared?”

It is fitting that John was compared with Elijah.
Do you remember that famous scene when Elijah confronted
the people of Israel and the prophets of Baal?
He demanded of them, “How long will you go limping along
with two different opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow him,
but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18:21ff).
Elijah was fed up with the people saying that
they were followers of the Lord God,
but then following their own wills and their own ways.
Elijah was fed up with the rank hypocrisy.
“Make a choice and then stick with it”, he shouted.
“If you are going to follow God,
then do it as though you mean it.”

John called the people of Israel to the same standard.
John calls us to the same standard.
If we say, “Come Lord, Come”;
if we sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”,
then we’d better be ready.
We’d better prepare the way,
we’d better make the highway straight,
especially the highway to our hearts.
John confronts us in this Advent season,
because John’s message is Advent.

Perhaps we need an Advent variation on
“A visit from St. Nicholas”,
a variation to help us to hear John’s message
and respond to it by preparing ourselves:

“T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
and there was even one for Jesus, whose image we bear.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
after giving their thanks and bowing their heads.
Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap,
we each knew that God’s blessings overflowed in our lap.
And we heard John the Baptist speaking straight to our ears,
the voice from afar, grown strong through the years.
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, and make his path straight.
fill God’s earth with his love, and banish all hate.’
This is what Christmas is about, so much more than St. Nick.
The sharing of love, hope, and peace; comforting the sick.
Each day from now on as we arise in the morn,
let our thoughts always be on the Christ who was born,
in that stable so bare and so long ago,
the Christ whom our Father
wants us so desperately to know.
For he is the Christ who is with us,
and the Christ who’ll come again.
The one always with us from beginning to end.
Let us make his path straight,
that he might come in glory,
and remember that that is the real Advent story.

Amen