Sermon - Advent 3 - December 11, 2011

Advent 3B.11
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Making Way for What Will Follow
Who wakes up in the morning and says, “I want to be the one who makes it possible for the one who follows me to do great things?” “I want to be the one that everyone overlooks in order to get to the person who is next in line?” Judi, do you want to be the teacher known as the one who made your pupils appreciate the teacher they will have next? Dr. Gauderer, do you want to be the surgeon who sets the stage for that surgeon who saves the life of the patient?

I don’t want to be the campus pastor who makes it possible for the next campus pastor to make Christ known across the Clemson campus.

It is not a role we seek. It is not a way of seeing ourselves which attracts a whole host of adherents. And yet, this is the role of John the Baptist. His job, from beginning to end, was to call attention to the one who would follow him. John does it well. So well that the whole world comes to know of the one whom he precedes. But any mention of John, in the generations which followed, was due solely to his unwavering dedication to do nothing other than become lost in the amazing events which were unfolding after him.

They come to John, to ask him, “Are you the One we have been looking for?” “NO!” He assures them. “Then are you a prophet?” They were wanting some sort of category or classification for him so they will know what to do with him and with his words. But John could not be placed is a pre-determined box. What he was preparing them for was unlike anything that had ever happened before.

But he is trying. He knows his place. And he is doing what it is that he came to do – preparing them for what is going to come next.

Trained by a world which insists that we distinguish ourselves from the competitors, we are unlikely to wake up in the morning hoping to become the one who proceeds the one who does great things. But there are few roles more important than taking an active role in preparing for the work Christ is about to do.

There are two events in today’s worship which fall into the realm of “important because of what is coming next”. Two opportunities for us to struggle, just a bit, with the awkward discomfort of knowing that even on our best days we are little more than a launching pad. Two opportunities for us to realize, hopefully in a huge way, that unless there is a successful launch little of what follows will meet our hopes and God’s expectations.

Let’s start with the baptism. Baptism is the place where all of us begin our journey. The baptismal waters “wash away our sins.” We must remember Luther’s instructions in the Small Catechism that it is not the water alone which does this but the water combined with the Word of God. There is nothing holy about the water in that font, there is something extraordinary about the about the event which surrounds the pouring of that water over the head of baby Lily. Baptism is the starting point of a life of understanding that regardless of what we might do or not do; regardless what we think or don’t think; and even setting aside what we believe or don’t believe; God has made a commitment to us. God desires a response; God’s love requires a response; but that is what it is – our response to what it is that God has done for us. Anything different is modern-day expression of the ancient heresy of synergism.

The sacrament of Holy Baptism is a sacred gift to the Church and to God’s people. But it is not some magic act, performed by some secret society. It is the beginning of a life-long commitment to making real the love of Christ and the gifts of God’s grace. It is the event which prepares us; it is the launching pad; to what we hope, to what we pray and commit to making real in the life of the one(s) who are baptized.

And then there is today’s Farewell and Godspeed. Whenever asked about the work of Lutheran Campus Ministry-Clemson, I turn the question toward those who have received alumni from this ministry. I remind folks that the true measure is what happened here is what happens after graduation. It can be gratifying to have young adults who look back fondly at their years in Clemson and speak of coming for Wednesday night meals or participating in one of the retreats. But what we are looking to accomplish is something a bit long term – will those who pass through LCM-C remain Disciples of Christ in their new homes? As wonderful as these experiences we share might be, they only truly serve their purpose when they leave one with the unquenchable desire to find a community of followers in your new home. These experiences are the start to an event or a series of events in your interaction with Christ.

No one sets out to be the one who make ready for what is coming next; but preparing the way is an important task, it is an essential task. When done correctly, it makes all the difference. Unless it is done we are likely to lack an understanding of the significance of what is coming next.

This morning we share in to such experiences. When you go home this afternoon you can evaluate your individual opportunity for a third. This third opportunity is one under your control and within your ability. I encourage you to evaluate how much of what you are doing in these next fifteen days is being done as an end in itself and how much is happening in order to prepare for something else. Are your planned Christmas events an end in themselves or do that set the stage for the re-entry of Jesus into your life? Is the emphasis on what you have been able to accomplish (getting family together, keeping them together, setting aside the tendency is to bicker and fight, finding just the right gift for under the tree,) is the emphasis on what you have been able to accomplish – or – is it on what God is accomplishing?

Well planned celebrations of the season will earn us the accolades of family and friends; but that which is eternal is only encountered in those events which serve to point us to the One of whom angels sing.

May your Christmas be merry and bright, and may all your celebrations serve the purpose of making ready the entry of Christ into your life and into the world which you inhabit.


Amen.