Notes

The Lord be with you!
On this Third Sunday in Advent, the theme of waiting gives way to rejoicing. The pink candle is now lit on our Advent wreaths and the mood of repentance and solemn expectation is lightened with a joyful, uplifting theme that exults in what God, our Savior has in store for us. God’s visitation, that is, His gracious entering into our lives, is the only way to lighten the darkness of our hearts.

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Isaiah 40:1–8
Last week we heard the prophecy of the arrival of John the Baptist as it was given to Malachi. That was originally uttered four hundred years ahead of its fulfillment. Isaiah also spoke of John as the “voice that cries out in the wilderness” and that was over 700 years before John’s arrival! For all his rough appearance and strange social distance practices, John has not only been given a message of rebuke and repentance, but also he proclaims a Word of God’s comfort for His people. With tenderness in his voice, John’s happy privilege is to announce that double blessing is ours following the full pardon of our sins. The glory of the Lord that all mankind shall see together will bring with Him His Kingdom to which we belong forever.

1 Corinthians 4:1–5
Wouldn’t you like it if evil people who commit their injustices in secret under cover of darkness would finally be exposed and held accountable for their crooked deeds? Paul promises that day will come! The Lord Himself, when He comes in glory to judge the living and the dead, will reveal all the secret purposes of every heart. What is our respite? For we too will be discovered as the sinners that we truly are—but we have received God’s hidden gifts, mysteries, that is, His forgiveness, life and salvation, from those stewards that He has called to hand out those mysteries. You will be commended instead of judged, because thanks to the ministry you have received from Jesus and His servant the pastor, you are forever reconciled to God.

Matthew 11:2–10
John the Baptist ended his life and ministry in prison. He may have been already aware of his inevitable end, but he was more interested in Jesus. He wanted to know if he had successfully prepared for the promised Messiah. Are you the one who is to come? Or are we to wait for another? He rejoiced, even in the dreariness of prison, that Jesus was doing the miraculous things about which he was hearing reports from his former disciples. John himself needed to hear from Jesus that His miracles and teaching do give testimony to the fact that He is the Christ. It’s not always going to be a majestic experience to believe and cling to Jesus as a Christian, but there’s simply nothing better than to have your faith. It will never be disappointed!

Here’s hymn 357, stanza 6:

  &sbsp; O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,

  &sbsp; And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;

  &sbsp; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

  &sbsp; And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

  &sbsp; Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pr. Stirdivant

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent: December 13, 2020 jj
Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

O People of God, fellow-citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem! You need an Advent preacher! In this wilderness of rampant disease and destruction, the morass of there’s no real truth anymore, just people’s personal opinions, you must listen for a clear, pure voice speaking out. You need a preacher who is not afraid to tell you how it really is, no matter how much it might hurt. And considering that we’re all born in sin and every day we battle the desire to serve the self, most often the truth is going to be painful to hear. But someone who stands as a spokesman for God, then decides to change what he says based on some opinion poll, such a preacher is doing you no favors.

What you need is an Advent preacher, a “voice crying out in the wilderness.” You need to listen for the pure words of Law and Gospel for the forgiveness of your sins. The church cannot afford to have a reed that is shaken by the wind, or a man dressed in the soft clothing of worldliness. Instead, you are much better served by a man called by God who preaches the same, unchanging Word, whether he fits your ideal “mold” or not. You must hear from this preacher’s voice the clarion call to “Repent! For the ax is laid at the root of the tree. You haven’t got all the time in the world.” So the preacher you really need this Advent is John the Baptist.

Through this bold man of God, the Lord fed His people with His wholesome Word, even though his own body was sustained by a meager diet of locusts and honey. John’s preaching was really the voice of God Himself, and God’s people of all times and places hear His voice and follow Him, even into the forbidding wilderness. Which is one reason why John is the designated preacher for the season of Advent. His message is the perfect preparation for the coming of Christ in the flesh, whether as the baby of Bethlehem, the mighty Judge at the end of time, or in hidden form under bread and wine at the altar. All sorts of people came to listen to John in his lifetime, and he didn’t care what public opinion was of him. He stayed focused on the Word of God that he was called to preach, and on His Lord Jesus Christ in whom he delighted.

This faithful shepherd in the wilderness preaches “a baptism of repentance,” meaning that he didn’t give a mere religious pep-talk. This preaching does something. It leads people to turn away from their sins and receive God’s forgiveness that is freely given in the waters of Holy Baptism. All who listen to this preaching are pointed to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. In this way, John preaches to you, too. Repent, be ready to receive Jesus. This is why the season of Advent prepares you for Christmas. The world around you is nothing but wilderness, and your own sinful nature within you is a spiritual wasteland, full of unbelief and despair. The word of God coming from the mouth of John is the food and drink that you need to live. Repent, confess your sins and receive Jesus who comes to you today, and who will come again at the Last Day.

“Comfort, comfort,” God says through His preacher to you, His people. Be comforted, you who mourn. Be comforted, you who are anxious and in need of our Lord’s loving hand. For you cannot deceive yourself into thinking that things will get better all on their own. You cannot imagine that you can pull yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. You are attacked daily by the devil’s sharp arrows accusing you of your sins and trying to convince you that God does not care. By yourself you could not withstand such a barrage. But be comforted, God does care for you, and not because you now finally do what God wants you to do, but because He has reached out in mercy to you, poor miserable sinner that you are.

God will comfort you, this you can know for certain. However, be aware that you will not feel comfortable. Remember, it is the Lord’s comfort, not the comfort you expect from this world. You can work and struggle to achieve a comfortable way of life for you and your family. You could plan ahead on everything so that you could get through this year’s stressful and radically different holiday season or you could look for comfort in all sorts of things that you think will make your life and celebrations more fulfilling, but in the end it’s all an illusion. You won’t reach lasting comfort in these things—only God out of His undeserved mercy and love—only He gives you true comfort in His Word.

But consider the comfort that He proclaims to you—it sounds strange falling on human ears. In Isaiah 40, this sermon from the perfect Advent preacher talks about iniquity, the guilt that is left over from sin. It is the sense of God’s judgement hanging over you because He is righteous and holy and you are sinful and unclean. Talking about your sin surely doesn’t give you any comfort. Who wants to be reminded of the wrongs they have done in the past? God’s call to repentance sounds harsh, too. Turn away from your sins, you haven’t lived with the constant attitude that God is first in your life. Too often, other things have taken His place, but your complete trust needs to be in Him alone. At first hearing, the comfort of God doesn’t sound comforting at all.

However, by talking of sin and iniquity and the need to repent, God is constructing a straight, level road in the rocky, forbidding wilderness where you are. The reason why you need to hear and admit that you are by nature sinful and unclean is so that you would be truly comforted with these words: Your sins are forgiven. Your iniquity is pardoned. You are the spiritual inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, our Lord’s heavenly kingdom of peace and you have received from the Lord’s hand double for all your sins. But double what? Double the punishment? No, certainly not. The punishment is already gone—that has been laid upon Jesus and paid in full for you on the cross. Instead, it is double the grace: first, that your sins are taken away and the slate is clean, and second, that Christ joins Himself to you and in God’s sight you are just as holy and righteous as He is. That is what it’s all about: receiving from the Lord’s hand double blessing in exchange for all of your sins.

And so you have found food in the comforting words of God’s forgiveness given to you through Jesus Christ. The Lord is your shepherd; He is feeding you in the wilderness through John the Baptist, just as He fed His people of old. The same baptism of repentance that John preached, the baptism that forgives your sins, this gift of the Holy Spirit is what you can claim for your very own inheritance. This baptism is none other than the Lord’s comfort to them and to you that sins are forgiven and God’s people are rescued from the devil’s wilderness, saved from the deadly snare of unbelief.

Your Lord Jesus gives you real food and drink every time you kneel at this altar and eat His Body and drink His true blood. This is not spiritual “comfort food” or merely a fine reminder that everything will be all right; we’ll somehow get through this. This food brings true comfort, the comfort that comes from sins that are forgiven and a heart that is turned so that you love and trust in God above all things. This is the food that sustains you in the wilderness of life, and prepares you for the coming of your savior. Though you may find yourself at times in a spiritually barren wasteland, attacked by the constant temptations of the devil and plagued with worry and despair, you will not starve, you will not be harmed. The Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want—you shall lack no good thing. You are His sheep, and you are precious to Him because He has washed you in the saving waters of Baptism and made you His own. God is constantly concerned over the health and safety of your soul and body. He will not let go of you. And He will guide you with His Word and promises in the paths of righteousness, through the wilderness of this life, that you may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So you see, you are blessed to have John the Baptist as your preacher this Advent. For in him you have a humble servant of God who loves you enough to proclaim to you the truth, even when it hurts. Confess your sins, renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways, for there can be no Christmas joy without Advent repentance. But soon the highway through the wilderness of this sin-stricken world will be complete. And when the glory of the Lord is revealed, and all flesh finally sees it together, you will then fully know the riches of God’s heavenly grace that are your hidden possession right now.

In the Name of the Father and of the ✝ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Readings:
Is. 40:1–11 Comfort, yes, comfort My people! …
Psalm 85 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him.
1 Cor. 4:1–5 judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes
Matt. 11:2–11 Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?