The text for this second Sunday in Advent comes from our gospel reading where Luke is quoting from the Old Testament, from the book of Isaiah, “as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah, the prophet, the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord.” God’s grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Or as I mentioned, today we contemplate that old motto from the Boy Scouts. “Be Prepared.” We are prepared today by hearing God’s Word, showing us our sin. We repent and then believe that, for the sake of Jesus Christ, we can have peace even in a world that is opposed to us and a world that has gone mad. You, in Christ Jesus, are well prepared. If you’re like me, at some point or another in your life, you’re about my age or whatever, you had a stint or spent some time in the Boy Scouts. Almost all boys my age had an experience as such. Some stayed in Boy Scouts until they reached–and even after they reached–the rank of Eagle Scout, which is quite the accomplishment, quite impressive. But the motto of the scouts, that I think is helpful for us today contemplating the gospel, is, “Be Prepared.” And, if you know, the point of being prepared as a Scout is that there never comes a time when you are fully prepared. You can never be fully prepared for every single situation that you find yourself in. However, the Scout Motto “being prepared” means you’re taught how to deal with circumstances that you can’t predict. You’re taught to be self-sufficient. You are taught that being prepared means you can be at peace when you face adversity. When you aren’t prepared, you can, in some ways, always, “Be Prepared.”
Being prepared means you recognize you always need to be preparing yourself. Always growing, always learning, always being there. Today, John the Baptist is the Boy Scout of the Bible. He is the one to prepare the way of the Lord make straight His paths, and he does so by preaching and administering Baptism. As God’s people that is how we are prepared, both in John the Baptist day and today. John the Baptist prepares God’s people by preaching, “be prepared!” That is what echoes from his voice there at the Jordan River in the wilderness, that at this side of heaven, we as sinners and saints at the same time, we are always in need of God’s Word. God’s Word, which is active, which is relevant, which is always working on you, lest you close your ears. God’s Word is preparing us, first by showing us our sin, but then leading us to find peace in Christ. That Christ Jesus is the one who has given His life to prepare a place for us. That He is our rescue in a time of need. When you feel unprepared, when you look around and you think you have nothing, Jesus is your rescue. He is your salvation. In the thick trees and the dark forests of this unknown world and fallen universe, Jesus is who you are to follow. “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me.” Like a Scout troop, we have our leader. He is Himself not showing us the way, but is The Way. He is the truth and the life. His cross is the tree of rescue.
And as we look to our text today from Luke, a couple of things that I wanted to point out to you, to show that John the Baptist is in a long line of Prophets, a message that even is relevant for us today. As you look at Luke, as we read the text, you may like me have realized Luke gives a lot of historical details. This is fitting for Luke, if you remember, because he’s a physician. He pays attention to details. He knows that details are important. You include a lot of details in a story when you’re telling the truth. When you lie, that’s when you try to be as avoidant of facts as possible, as broad and wide as possible, is when you’re telling a lie. Luke is recording for us today details pertaining to John the Baptist and what his job was. That he was a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Because it is important, not only for the people in John’s day, but also for us. If you’ve spent any time in the Old Testament, you recognize what Luke is doing. At the very beginning of our section for the Gospel reading today, he says, “in the third year of” or–I’m sorry. If you saw what Luke did at the beginning of our text, it reminds you of the Old Testament, where a lot of books of the prophets begin with, “in the third year King Such-and-Such did this.” Or on Tuesdays, if you attend our Tuesday Bible study, you recognize even how the book of Ezekiel started, “in the 30th year on the fifth day of the fourth month while I was among the exiles by the river.” Luke today is following a common pattern of the Old Testament, that of telling historical events that really took place and that are important. They are important for us.
So what is the detail that Luke is really pointing you to? Luke references everything in this opening to the statement, “the word of the Lord came to John.” That detail that triggers everything that continues on through the reading. Everything and all the events that we consider today revolve around the word that came to John. The word that came to John was from Isaiah, and how one is to be prepared. How God prepares the way for His coming. That God is not a God who’s far away. He’s not a God who protects himself, but a God who indeed wants to be with his people. And God doesn’t change. He still wants His people to be prepared, because he still comes to his people. Now that Jesus has ascended into heaven, that doesn’t mean God is far away and can’t be with us. So God sent John the Baptist to prepare his people. The people of God were not ready on their own. They needed God to work them, to tend to them, to prepare them, to lay the groundwork. So when the Word of God comes to John, what does he do? He went to all the regions, we are told, baptizing for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is what prepares you for the coming of Jesus. We have this reading today on the Second Sunday of Advent, to remind us that we need to daily prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord. To remember we’re all scouts! To be prepared. As we read in the Scriptures, “give us a heart of wisdom that we may number our days.” We are no different than the people that Jesus came to. That is what Luke is trying to say, that this–of John coming–is part of the Old Testament, and how God always came to his people, but especially now in the New Testament, it is the same. We like to think that everything is fine and the status quo is acceptable to God. That is also what the crowds thought, who John the Baptist preached to, they went out to hear and listen to John. And what does John say? John doesn’t say, “Oh, good morning, everybody, nice to have you today. We’re going to have a wonderful service. You’re going to feel so welcomed and nice.” How does John greet them? “You brood of vipers.”
John, we’re going to call the District President and talk to him about your personality. You brood of vipers, you are not prepared. Matthew says John stressed this to the Sadducees and Pharisees. But Luke is different. Luke says this stern preaching of God’s law was for the crowd. And Luke says, you’re in the crowd. Who warned you of the wrath to come? John asks this question. And what He means to say is, who do you think you are? Don’t presume to say to yourselves. He follows it up right away.
John is teaching us to not be our own judges. Yes, the Old Testament calls us, “the righteous person is to judge all things.” The faithful person is to judge all things. But John the Baptist says, don’t let your own judgment of yourself lead to pride. Don’t be your own judge. Don’t presume to say to yourself, dear people, you’re always right. Don’t presume to always think that you have to correct everybody, especially in this age of the internet. It’s okay for other people to be wrong, that you are not called to have authority over. You don’t have to correct everyone. In fact, the world will go on fine if you keep your opinion to yourself and not start an argument. The Scriptures call us to judge ourselves and say, are we starting arguments and discussions for the sake of division, or to build each other up? We are called to weigh whether it is our vocation to call somebody out or not. Does God give us, in our vocation, authority? Because it is true, as we even read about John the Baptist, sometimes we are called to stand up for the truth. John stood up against King Herod, and that’s why he was arrested, and, of course, ultimately, why he’s beheaded. We are called to stand and speak for the truth, but you’re not called to do that to everyone. For the Sadducees and Pharisees, they thought their nationality was the source of their pride. “Don’t presume to say to yourselves,” John said, “we are children of Abraham.” What is it for you, dear Christian? You should be on the lookout for whatever the traps the devil lays for you. It’s never easy and it never feels good. John wasn’t coming to prepare the people to be comfortable, but to repent and to believe the Gospel. And we won’t believe if we are not first shown the wickedness of our own sin.
John isn’t interested in making you comfortable. He himself wore a Scout’s uniform of camel hair, and he lived in the wilderness. A true survivalist. But he knew that man does not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. So he preached. He preached a life of discomfort with the status quo. To not fall in love with the world. To not love your life. But John said to have a life that is prepared. John lived a life that taught–even by his clothes and actions–as prepared as you might think you are, the moment that you think you’re prepared, the moment you think you can sit back and coast through life, it is at that moment you are dead. It is at that moment that you need forgiveness the most. John’s life preaches that we need mercy. We need the axe of God’s Law to come down and chop down our trees of pride. We need the fire of God’s wrath and word to come and burn away our thoughts and unrighteous deeds. The axe is already at the root, which is good, because we need our sins to be taken away. We need to be purified. We need God to do the preparing. And he does. He sends his messenger still today. God has not left you.
When you find yourself in wandering thoughts that are impure and aren’t fruitful, or you catch yourself in deeds done in secret, repent. Turn from your sin. You always have a way out. God is able, we are told, from the stones, to raise up children of Abraham. If God can raise faithfulness from rocks, then dear Christian, do not despair. For he can also then raise you. Not a rock-hard heart, but he promises to give you a new heart, a heart that softened with repentance and love. If he can raise children of Abraham from rocks, thanks be to God, let it encourage you, he can raise you. By His Holy Spirit he restores our race by sending a new branch. Even though that family tree of humanity is infected with sin, even though it’s ready to be thrown in the fire, a new root blooms. A new tree to give you hope, a branch, a sprout, even in the dead of winter, when we have not prepared. When we find ourself without the necessities we think we need, when all the branches are brown and dead, God has made a way. A Way. The Truth. God has given us a Man of Life, who is God Himself, Jesus Christ. He is the last Boy Scout. He is the one who honors God with His life. Never lies, never cheats, not even the government, never steals. He doesn’t just help old ladies carry their groceries. He carries the load of sin of the world that would crush you. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Jesus’ cross, the wooden tree that stands over all trees towering over all dead, is this tree that bears fruit for you. Fruits of mercy, fruits of strength, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, self-control. It is in this cross that you are fully prepared, so that you may have peace. Remember, a scout is prepared. Not that he always has everything, but that he has confidence and peace that whatever situation he faces, everything will be okay.
We are prepared, not only when we lead lives of repentance, but when we believe for the sake of Jesus. We are prepared. We are ready for His coming because He’s done all that’s necessary. You are prepared for whatever crosses He calls you to carry, whatever burdens he places on you. Rejoice! Give thanks that you are considered worthy to suffer for the name of God. We are prepared because it is God who raises you up. Raises you up for righteousness. Be prepared. Scouts honor. After John baptized those in the river today, as we follow the text, after baptism for repentance and forgiveness, what does a life of faith look like? What is the voice of faith? What shall we do? So also for us who’ve been baptized and raised to life, John answers their question, well, what shall we do? Serve your neighbor where God has called you. John didn’t tell the soldiers, John didn’t tell the tax collectors who came to them, he didn’t tell them, “Oh, you need to become a pastor. Oh, you have to serve in church. That’s the only way of righteousness.” No, John didn’t make them all prophets, but he said, go and sin no more. Do not exhort. Be content with your wages. Be faithful where God has placed you. What shall we do? This is the question that the baptized should ask themselves regularly. Each day, each morning, as you rise and remember you’ve been baptized. John doesn’t tell the people to quit their jobs, but to bear fruits of repentance. Let your life show evidence of faith. Even the vocation of soldier, God blesses here in His Word. Even the vocation of tax collector. None of these jobs are sinful in-and-of themselves. Now it is possible to have a sinful job contrary to the will of God, like a drug dealer or a false teacher. But any job or hobby or task can tempt you to take your eyes off Jesus. Whatever age you are, whatever you’re male or female, whatever job you have, even retirement, has traps that the devil sets for you. In retirement, we can be tempted as busy-bodies, to not be keeping ourselves busy with profitable work for our neighbor, or even on the other side, at the vocation of student. You young people can be tricked into thinking that school and even a college degree is more important than Sunday school and the faith.
Even our very sex, as men and women, male and female. There are ways in which we individuals are weak and tempted. Men are tempted to be harsh. Are tempted to be harsh or to not involve themselves at all, not to stand up and be men. Women are tempted to meddle in other people’s business. Tempted to gossip and speak when they aren’t authorized to. Be prepared, God’s people. Know the weakness of your own flesh. Carry the axe of God’s Word and let it chop any root of sinfulness that might sprout up in you. Don’t chop other people’s trees first, but find the log in your own eye, and do not be afraid. The branch of Jesse has not come to be a hanging branch. That’s what Judas thought. But the branch, the tree of righteousness, has come to bear fruit of forgiveness for sinners. To cleanse and strengthen us to eat and find life. For you to feast and to share with others.
Be prepared, dear saints, for you have someone to follow. Your savior, Jesus Christ not only knows the way through the thick and dark forests and the unknown paths of this world, but He is the way. He is the light. He is the truth. He is life. He is for you. And if you are in Christ, you are prepared.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.