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

Last week, as we began this new Church Year and set off on our journey to Jerusalem, St. Paul impressed upon us the need to be clothed with Christ. On this Second Sunday of Advent, we take a side road through the Jordan River where we learn that our lives are lives that require us to die and rise with Him every day. Because we’re in Christ, the way is difficult. It’s filled with attacks from the devil, the world, and our flesh. And there are many crosses to bear on that journey.

But we know our baptismal identity, so we also know where we’re going. Now – and always – it is time to walk in the way of the Lord.

We walk with Christ on the path that was made straight. We walk with Him by confessing our sins. We walk with Him by looking for Him to come again soon. And we walk with Him as those who are clothed with Him – having been baptized into His death and resurrection.

In the Holy Gospel appointed for today, St. Matthew records that “In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'” (Matt 3:1). John the Forerunner made the path straight for the Messiah by preaching and baptizing. Such was his calling.

And Jesus the Messiah was coming … on His way to the cross. I know we all have that growing anticipation and burgeoning joy that comes with preparing to celebrate Christmas – when we rejoice in our Lord’s birth in Bethlehem. But even on these first two Sundays of the Church Year, it is clear to us that the end of our journey isn’t Bethlehem. It isn’t a cattle stall with Mary and Joseph and the shepherds huddled about the manger with warm smiles and joy-filled hearts. There is a cross of redemption to be suffered. And that means that those who walk with Jesus mustn’t be unprepared or unaware.

So, John the Baptist – the Forerunner of Christ – began the ministry that God had appointed for him, and from that ministry God readies us for the road ahead … that we might know what to expect and how to be prepared.

“Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey” (Matt 3:4). John’s food and clothing teach us that – in walking with Jesus – we will have suffering and sacrifice along the way. Our relative wealth and freedom tend to lull us into a sense of comfort and ease.

And those who preach the false ‘prosperity gospel’ would have you believe that if you’re a Christian, you’ll simply be blessed with all the luxuries of this world, and every day will be sunshine and roses. But John prepares us for reality – our true journey with Christ – a journey that more closely resembles Israel’s wandering in the wilderness.

A little further on in Matthew’s Gospel – when Jesus went to John to be baptized by him – Jesus said, “thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). The path that John was sent to prepare is the path of righteousness – a path in which “Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” (Is 40:4-5). In other words, nothing will stand in Christ’s way … not the false paths of pagan religions … not the earthly powers’ opposition to Christ (like the deceptively named ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ that paves the way for further persecution of Christians in our day) … and certainly not our own sins – our own unrighteousness. No, anything that stands in the way of Christ’s righteousness will be decimated. “He shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins” (Is 11:4-5), as we heard from the Prophet Isaiah.

So, it’s time … time for us to walk in the way of the Lord … by confessing our sins as did the multitude who followed the Forerunner of Christ: “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matt 3:5-6). They were baptized.

They repented. They confessed their sins. That is how we walk in the way of the Lord.

Now, there’s a question in this Gospel Reading that always comes up, so we’ll take an aside and answer it. What are all these baptisms? John’s baptism, Christian Baptism, and the Baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire? First, John’s baptism was not just symbolic. It was efficacious. It worked, as the text says: “I baptize you into repentance” (Mt 3:11). For some, repentance came before baptism – those who came to John repenting of their sins. Others came to hear John’s preaching out of curiosity “and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matt 3:6). The preached Word worked faith in them, and they repented at the same time they were baptized. But the most straightforward reading of the text – “I baptize you into repentance” – makes it clear that John’s baptism produced repentance in those who received it. Through the Word of God that preceded and that was connected to John’s baptism, the Holy Spirit was working … and kept working … working repentance in those who heard and received it.

But as the last of the Old Testament prophets, John’s baptism – while efficacious – was still preparing the way for the Messiah and for the lasting Baptism that Jesus would institute into His death and resurrection. But there are strong similarities. There are some who are brought to repentance by hearing God’s Word before they are baptized. There are some who have repentance and faith worked in them by the Word of God connected to the waters of Baptism (which, by the way, is why the Christian Church has always baptized infants – knowing that in Baptism God creates faith the way He always does …
by the Holy Spirit working through the Divine Word. And in all of us, Baptism is designed to work in us an ongoing repentance throughout our lives. We receive Baptism only once, but God intends it to continually renew repentance and faith in us.

Lastly, John says “He who is coming after me … will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matt 3:11). Here John points us to the Last Day when Christ will separate the wheat from the chaff … the believers from the unbelievers. He prepares us for Christ’s Second Advent when He will cast unbelievers into unquenchable fire and pour out His Spirit on His faithful people … perfecting us in repentance and faith and gathering us into His heavenly kingdom.

But returning to John and walking in the way of the Lord … Matthew tells us that “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him” (Matt 3:5).

Many of them were confessing … repenting … and receiving John’s baptism to cleanse them of their sins and to prepare them for the coming Messianic Kingdom … for Christ’s First Advent.

But others came to see John who were unrepentant. The Pharisees and the Sadducees thought that they were already righteous before God because they were descendants of Abraham and because they were circumcised. John seems to have refused them baptism because they didn’t think they had any sins that needed to be cleansed.

John, like the prophets of old, tore through their hypocrisy and gave it to them straight: “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 3:9-10). Hypocrites – those who refuse to acknowledge their sinfulness and need for forgiveness and cleansing – will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Beloved in Christ, John the Forerunner prepared the way saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2). He made it clear that it’s time for us to join the faithful in confessing our sins: our pride … our ungratefulness … the faltering of our worship and prayers … our short tempers … our disobedience … our trust in earthly princes in whom there is no salvation (Ps 146) … whatever it is that makes us hypocrites like the Pharisees and Sadducees – thinking that our own righteousness is sufficient and that we have no need for forgiveness. For such as do not repent and walk in the way of the Lord by grace through faith, John’s warning to us is Christ’s “winnowing fork” and “unquenchable fire”.

So, it is most certainly time to walk in the way of the Lord. But we do so as those who are clothed in Baptism: the very ‘baptism’ that Jesus underwent for us. We are baptized into His suffering and death, so we walk the way of the Lord bearing the crosses of this life. And we are baptized into His resurrection so we walk with confidence that we’re among the wheat that will be gathered into the barn of our Lord’s eternal Kingdom.

So, we continue our pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We travel there along with those who came to John in repentance and faith. And we come before Christ who feeds us at His table … where He strengthens and forgives us along the way. You are clothed with Christ in Holy Baptism, and you receive Him again where He gives Himself to you …
in His Word and in His Supper. These true Christmas Gifts are given to you even now. Let us walk in the way of the Lord, confessing our sins and receiving Christ’s forgiveness and salvation where He has promised to be … for us, and for our salvation.

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

Pr. Jon Holst