2nd Sunday of Advent
Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12
Who invited John the Baptist to the Christmas Party? He was wearing clothes made of camel skin, had an odd diet and was sharing an intrusive message! Or was the message not for one Sunday each year but for daily use in our lives, to shake us up and point us toward the reign of God. A dynamic message that is quite different than what most of our churches share week after week. His message of repentance is not a message of threat, but a promise for a new and better lifestyle.
It is both often and at the same time for us to focus much on the path, a path not looking to the future. For starters, perhaps we don’t have to spend money that we don’t have that our family members and friends don’t really need. What we need most is our attention and presence focusing on the Lord. Perhaps preachers should offer guidance for persons to refocus on what they really need and what is important.
John arrived on the scene preaching in the wilderness of Judea, crying out “repent for the kingdom of god is at hand”. As a prophet of god he said, “Make ready the way (road), by which the Lord is making, He is near. Make ready the road that the Lord may enter your life in a new and exciting way. He fearlessly denounced evil wherever he saw it. When Herod the King, was in a sinful marriage, he rebuked him. If the ordinary people were living a life of sin, unaware of God’s presence in his life, wherever he saw sin in the state or the church he loudly rebuked it.
If John were alive today, what would he rebuke in the church today that would awaken us to what the church is really about? Lord, we need a resurrected John the Baptist to emerge and awaken all the churches today. Our beloved UMC and countless other churches in rural America need a great spiritual awakening.
It appears today that the mega church is the new style. Huge church buildings, large membership, multi-paid staff are missing the target of the down and out in smaller churches that need the Lord also.
Our main reason for being a Church community is not to just add more on the rolls, but to make disciples for the Lord. We don’t need to keep up with the large churches across town, but we need to offer the in-churched a new and fresh life with the Lord Jesus as their guide and example.
A cousin of mine had a grandchild who recently took his own life. He was 18 years old with a small infant son. A young man, who could have been reached to know the Lord and be a disciple, is gone.
What are we doing to make new disciples? Where are we going as a church to reach out to those struggling with life?
With the drug culture in our community, just imagine just what any one church can do to save the youth and others. When I was young we heard of drugs in places like Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. Today it exists in our own back yards. What a wonderful Christmas we might have next year if we spent as much money on reaching others as we spend on maintaining our air-conditioned, sanctuaries.
John was not afraid to rebuke even a king of his sinful lifestyle. Oh yes, it cost him his head but it gave him eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. May we aid in the fight to reclaim our society for the Lord Jesus Christ!
Let us Pray.
