Second Sunday of Advent
December 5, 2004
The Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12
Sermon: "The Call of the Prophet"
The Rev. William D. Oldland
The Gospel: In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Matthew 3:1-12
The Call of the Prophet In the song The Prophet by Michael Card we hear the words:
“I am the prophet and I smolder and burn.
I scream and cry and wonder why you never seem to learn.
To hear with your own ears, with your own eyes to see,
I am the prophet won't you listen to me."
We don't understand the concept of the prophet too much anymore in our culture. Perhaps it is because we have too many claiming to know the future. Maybe it is because for many years we have had individuals proclaiming the end times and we are still here. Maybe it is because we have seen too many people claim to be a prophetic voice only to lead people to harm or disaster, Jim Jones would be a good example of this type.
Yet, I wonder if we don't hear the voice of the prophet because we are listening in the wrong way or like the song implies, hearing with our ears but not understanding. Perhaps we can't hear because we are unclear of the role of the prophet. If we don't know what we are listening for, then all of the voices became one big clamor ringing in our ears.
A prophet is one called by God to deliver a message to God's people. Often the message calls for right action and following the way of God. It is always meant to warn and yet, to offer hope. It can come to an individual or to a people.
For example, David heard the voice of the prophet Nathan. David had sinned against God with Bathsheeba. In addition, he had Bathsheeba's husband killed. Nathan comes to David and tells him a story about a very wealthy man who owned many sheep. His neighbor was a very poor man who owned only one. When guests came to the rich man's house, the rich man took the poor man's sheep, killed it and served it to his guests. When David heard the story he became enraged. He called for the wealthy man to be severely punished for his devious actions. Nathan then turns to David and says one fateful sentence, "You are the man." David has sinned before God and he had to repent for his deeds. God had called David to be his anointed King of Israel. He was to protect the poor, and yet, he kills one of his own loyal people for his own gain. The prophet's voice came to David to repent.
How about an example of a sinful people? King Ahab marries Jezebel and allows her to bring her country's gods into Israel. The people begin to worship these false baals. In fact, they turn away from God to worship these idols of Jezebel. God calls Elijah to be his voice to the people. His voice calls the people to repentance. His actions show the people the power of God. The people heed the call, repent and return to worship the one true God.
Yet, Israel continues to fall victim to false gods and false prophets. Israel is eventually no longer a power in the world of any consequence. The last great prophets were Ezekiel and Daniel who were heard from 570 to 530 BC. The people lose heart and they lose the ability to hear the voice. The voice of God is considered to be silent.
Then, appearing on the scene comes John the Baptist. He speaks as one of the old prophets. He calls for repentance. Israel has fallen deep into sin against God. The king is a puppet king established by the Romans. According to John the worship in the land is once again corrupted. The Pharisees and Sadduccees instead of calling for Herod to step down are supporting him. The people are not blatantly worshiping false idols. This time the false worship is the fault of the leadership. They have corrupted the word of God to the extent that God's laws are not being interpreted correctly. The poor are neglected while the rich get richer. The sick are not healed because the teaching is they have gotten what they deserve. The widow and the orphan receive no care because no one wants to deal with the problem. The law has been so badly interpreted that a loving and compassionate God is replaced with a vengeful, judgmental, and punishing God. John calls on the people to repent. They are to be baptized to wash away their sinfulness and start anew walking with God once again. His message does not stop there. He bears a further message of hope. Another one is coming. He is coming to establish the kingdom of God. He is coming to restore the interpretation of the Law. It is important to be ready, to be prepared for his arrival. To be prepared they must repent, be baptized, do the works of God, and wait expectantly for His arrival.
Well, John's prophesy has come true. Jesus has come. We are being baptized with the Holy Spirit to do the works Jesus has done. But how are we doing in our walk in the kingdom of God? Do we feed the hungry? Are we taking care of the poor, the widow and the orphan? Do we help the sick? Do we visit those in prison? Do we share the good news of Christ in this broken land and to the world beyond?
Sometimes I wonder. We have all witnessed or heard of the ministries of people who have heeded this call. We all know of Mother Teresa who worked diligently with the sick. We all know of Bishop Oscar Romero who died for the poor of El Salvador. I wonder if we know he was elected bishop because he was thought to be the one who would not buck the corrupt system. He became a martyr against the system instead. We all know of the ministry of Martin Luther King. He worked for equality for all people.
I fully realize we do not have these people's ministries. We have our own calling to follow God. We have our own gifts and our own abilities. Do we hear the prophet's call of repentance? Are we caught in our rituals of our lives that we know are not of God, but of our own devices? John's call to repentance is for us today. We are called to repent of our own ways and follow Christ. The promise of hope in John's call is ours today as well. Jesus will come again. This time with great glory. When will it be... none of us knows. All we can do is prepare ourselves by turning our lives over to a loving and caring God, so that when he comes we will be ready to greet him with great joy. In the words of Michael Card do we hear John's call:
"I am the prophet and I smolder and burn.
I scream and cry and wonder why you never seem to learn.
To hear with your own ear, with your own eyes to see.
I am the prophet won't you listen to me"