Scripture text: Luke 3:1-6
Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord...
I will confess that on the morning I was writing this sermon, I was also listening to the Godspell soundtrack. That musical’s enthusiastic rendering of John the Baptizer’s quotation of Isaiah 40 was a wondrous and welcome contrast to the goings-on in the world over this past week.
Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord...
Escapism has its appeal in these times. Two mass shootings in a single week. Over a dozen innocent people dead. The war against ISIS escalating with Germany and the UK launching their own strikes in the Middle East. Ongoing tension between Russia and Turkey. All this just two or so weeks after the horrific attack in Paris. Violence upon violence.
Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord...
We have a lot of work to do.
A few neo-atheist commentators have been quick to lay the blame for the state of the world at the feet of religion. It’s all our fault they claim, pointing their accusing fingers at the church and the mosque. Normally, I’d dismiss their opinions. It’s easy to mock their commentary when they blurt out “religion sucks” every other sentence.
But the truth is, they’re right, but not in the way they think. Things are the way they are not because religion has done its job, but because it hasn’t.
Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord...
That’s what we haven’t been doing. We’ve let ourselves become distracted. We’ve let ourselves become self-absorbed. And we’ve forgotten what we are here for.
It may be blasphemous to some for me to say this, but abortion is not important. Gay marriage does not matter. “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” and other “War on Christmas” nonsense is just that: nonsense. It was NEVER the job of the Church to be the Morality Police of society. Our job has always been to tell the world out there that Christ loves them, that Christ died for them, that Christ rose again for them. Our job is to show people just how precious they are to the one who created all things. Our job is to show people that they matter, that they are valued, that their lives count for something.
That is what we are supposed to be about. And that is precisely what we’ve been failing to do. We see the dividends of it on the news every night.
I get the anger. I’ve said it before. I get it. Our society promises a bill of goods it never intends to deliver. Work hard and the world will be yours. And then people work hard to barely survive, let alone succeed. Always one setback away from disaster. How many people out there are a single missed paycheck away from foreclosure or bankruptcy? How many in here?
Is it any wonder then that people are lining up behind demagogues who make no effort to hide their bigotry and misogyny? Is it any wonder that people are taking guns into public places to murder anyone and everyone they can find in blind senseless rage? This world tears people apart and the one voice that could matter most, the one voice that could make a difference, the one voice that could tell these folks there is a better way, is all too often silent.
Or worse. Before God will love you, you have to do X, Y, and Z. Before God will save you, you have to do this or that thing. That sounds familiar. Work hard and the world will be yours. You know that old cliche about “Fool me once...” Yeah, that.
But that’s not how it works. God’s love doesn’t need to be earned. We don’t have to prove anything to the Almighty to earn his favor. He already loves each and every person beyond words. He fashioned each and every one of us from base elements of his creation, the very stuff of stars, “fearfully and wonderfully made” according to the Psalmist. Each one unique. Each one different. He gave us minds to think and hearts to feel. And he set us in this world and surrounded us with wonder and beauty unimaginable.
And as if that was not enough, he came himself into this world, incarnate of a virgin. He lived our life, as a human being. He taught us his ways, showed us his love in open invitation and in healing touch. And at the last he went to the cross and proclaimed to all “This is how much you matter. I, the creator of all things, will die for your sake.”
That story, that truth, is our legacy, our inheritance. It’s true for us. We are loved. We are precious. And it’s true for everyone out there. They are loved. They are precious. And it’s our job to show them that.
As I stand here, all across our country there are conversations happening about what to do about our society’s problems. Some are saying more laws, fewer guns. Some are saying fewer laws, more guns. Some are saying more prisons. Some are saying more surveillance. Some are saying more money for mental health. Those solutions, however well intended, will not fix this. Some of them might mitigate things a bit, others might make things worse. But none will solve the simple fact that people no longer feel like they matter. There’s a better way. God’s way.
At this time of year, you hear people go on and on about putting “Christ back in Christmas.” A noble goal, but there’s a better one. It’s high time we put Christ back in Christianity. It’s high time we remembered what we’re here for. We’re here to prepare the way of the Lord. We’re here to show the world how much they matter. God died for them and rose again on the third day. Our job is show them that truth. Amen.
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