Sunday December 9, 2001
MATTHEW 3:1-12

o It is definitely the Christmas season
o I went down to St. Matthews
o The other day
o To look around & get some ideas
o For some Christmas presents
o I left there vowing
o Never to go there again
o I was worn out just dodging the crowds
o & The traffic was unbelievable
o & That was on a weekday
o & Of course we decorated
o The outside of the house last weekend
o & The inside yesterday
o There was the "mandatory"
o District Christmas dinner on Friday
o & Lynne has her office dinner tonight
o It is that season again
o When everything seems
o To get turned upside down
o Or just put off
o It is that season when
o We frantically run around
o Trying to do all those things
o We think are necessary
o To get ready for Christmas
o I do not know about you
o But the closer I get to Christmas
o The more I long for January
o & A chance to get some rest

o But you know, somehow
o In the hustle & bustle of the season
o There is something about it all
o That just seems wrong
o There is something about
o All these things we do
o To get ready for Christmas
o That just does not seem
o To really get us ready
o There is an old cliche that says
o We have taken Christ out of Christmas
o & I have a hunch
o That cliche just may be true

o There was a short pamphlet
o Published back in 1967
o Called, "Tyranny of the Urgent"
o It is a reminder of our tendency
o To do those things
o That seem urgent
o Rather than those things
o That are important
o It reminds us, for example, how easy it is
o To answer a ringing phone
o Rather than witnessing to a neighbor
o The phone call seems so urgent
o But our witness is
o Infinitely more important
o As I remembered that pamphlet
o "Tyranny of the Urgent"

o I wondered if it is possible
o That Christmas has become a season
o Where the urgent is
o Totally destroying the important
o I wondered if
o Our preparations for Christmas
o Have allowed the urgent things
o To prevent us from
o Doing / seeing / believing / & experiencing
o Those things
o That are truly important
o Do you suppose this has happened to us?
o & If so, why?
o What do you suppose went wrong?

o In considering
o Our preparations for Christmas
o It is interesting to look back
o At the Old Testament
o & How the people back then thought
o They would need to prepare
o For the coming of Christ
o The last prophet Israel had heard from
o Was the prophet Malachi
o {Which coincidentally is
o The last book in the Old Testament}
o But it has been over 400 years
o Since then
o It has been over 400 years since Israel
o Has heard any prophet speak

o It has been over 400 years since
o Anyone has stepped forward to say,
o "Thus saith the Lord . . ."
o But Malachi's last words are important
o The very last 2 verses in the O.T. say
o "Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives.
o "His preaching will turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse."
o You see, God had a choice
o As to how He would come
o If He came
o Without a prophet
o Without someone
o To announce His coming
o He would come in judgment
o To "strike the land with a curse"
o & This is how He will come again
o As we learned last week,
o He will come
o As a thief in the night
o With no warning of His coming
o He will come in His final judgment
o But prior to His 1st coming
o As a baby born in Bethlehem
o God would send a prophet -
o The prophet Elijah

o & This prophet
o Would go before Him
o He would prepare His way
o It seems that God was trying to tell us
o That we must be prepared to meet Him
o If we want to be saved by Him

o But, of course, 400 years had passed
o Since Malachi had said these things
o No prophet spoke to the people of Israel
o During this time
o The routines of life had continued
o The Maccabees had overthrown
o All foreign rulers
o & Established an independent Israel
o Then the Romans had come
o & Made Israel a Roman colony
o The people had continued
o Their daily lives
o Working
o Keeping up their homes
o Tending their crops
o & Their cattle & their flocks
o But then one day,
o Out near the Jordan River
o Near where it flows into
o The northern end of the Dead Sea
o There came a man
o Wearing a hair shirt & a leather belt
o & The people remembered
o The story back in II Kings

o Where King Ahaziah had asked
o His messengers
o Whom they had spoken with
o & They had said they had spoken to
o A man in a hair shirt
o With a leather belt
o & King Ahaziah had known
o This was Elijah, the prophet
o So the people naturally wondered
o If this man in the wilderness
o Could be Elijah
o The forerunner of God's coming
o The forerunner of the Messiah
o It is really not too surprising
o That so many people went out
o Into the wilderness
o To see this man
o Who was preaching there
o It had been so long
o Since any prophet had spoken
o & This man named John
o Sounded like he could be the one
o Like he could be Elijah
o & So they went out to see & hear him

o Now, when the people
o Got out into the wilderness
o When they finally reached John
o & Heard him preaching
o The message they heard was
o The old, old story

o It was the same message
o The prophets of old had preached
o To their forefathers
o It was the message of repentance
o It was the call
o To turn from their sins
o & Turn to the Lord

o Now, that is a little like us, isn't it?
o We have all heard this before ourselves
o We have heard preacher after preacher
o Call us to repentance
o We have heard poems & stories & articles
o About keeping Christ in Christmas
o Most of us have talked to others
o About it ourselves
o But here we go again!
o Another Christmas is upon us
o & One more time we are off:
o Shopping
o & Cooking
o & Cleaning
o & Decorating
o & Wrapping
o & Entertaining
o & Doing all those things
o We think are so necessary
o To get ready for Christmas
o & Once again we too hear
o The old, old story
o About the baby born in a manger

o About Mary & Joseph
o About the shepherds & the wise men
o It is just another Christmas
o One more time to celebrate
o The birth of Jesus
o It is good
o But then, it is not great
o It is not like when we were children
o It is not like the 1st time
o We saw a lighted tree
o Or got our very 1st
o Christmas present
o Oh, it is good
o But it is not great!
o What do you suppose went wrong?

o When the people went into the wilderness
o When they heard John preaching
o When they heard him call them to
o Turn from their sins
o & Turn to the Lord
o They confessed their sins
o & Were baptized in the Jordan River
o But not everyone who came
o Came to repent
o Some of those who came -
o Especially those who really knew
o All about "religion"
o Decided they wanted to be baptized too
o You can almost hear them talking:

o "It might be a good example
o "For the people."
o "It might persuade some of them
o "To be more 'religious' like us
o "To attend the synagogue
o "More regularly
o "To give more money to the church"
o "& Anyway, it cannot do any harm."
o "Not that we need to be baptized
o "We do not need to be saved
o "After all, we are
o "The descendants of Abraham
o "We are God's chosen people
o "& We certainly do not need
o "The likes of John to cleanse us
o "If we really needed cleansing
o "We would go to a 'proper' priest
o "One appointed according to
o "The Law of Moses."

o Now, I hate to admit it, but they do
o Start to sound a lot like us, don't they?
o "It's Christmas again!
o "We will go through
o "All the old routines again
o "We will get the house all fixed up
o "We will buy a bunch of presents
o "We will make sure we go to church
o "A couple of extra times
o "We might even go to
o "A Christmas Eve service

o "& We will certainly listen to
o "Christmas carols
o "Until we cannot stand them
o "Any longer."
o "It is Christmas
o "I know what to do
o "To celebrate Christmas
o "But do not expect me
o "To get overly 'religious'
o "Do not start talking to me about
o "Salvation & all that 'stuff'!
o "I do not need all that
o "After all - I am a U.S. citizen
o "I am not from
o "One of those pagan countries
o "Like Afghanistan, or Iraq
o "I am a respected citizen
o "In my community
o "People look up to me
o "They ask for my opinions
o "I am a "card-carrying Methodist"
o "I give lots of money to the church
o "Why! My family has
o "A long Methodist tradition.
o "No. I am OK."
o "I am just a little disappointed
o "In Christmas
o "That is all."
o Does that sound like any of us?
o What is wrong here?

o John replied to those 'religious' folks
o Rather abruptly
o "Do not tell me how religious you are."
o He said
o "Do not tell me about
o "Your religious family tree
o "Show me your faith
o "Show me
o "Your walk with God
o "Not your talk about God
o "Prove by the way you live
o "That you have really
o "Turned from your sins
o "Turned to God."
o Folks, that is pretty tough talk
o But John did not stop with
o Just telling them what to do
o He told them why
o He said there was One coming after him
o One who is far greater than John was
o & While John baptized with water
o He would baptize them
o With the Holy Spirit & with fire
o He would make their repentance
o A reality
o By purging them of their evil ways
o & Empowering them
o To live as changed persons
o Now this is good news
o But John also said
o Those who do not repent

o Those who do not turn from their sins
o & Turn to God
o Those who do not live their lives
o As true people of God
o Those will also meet
o The One coming after John
o Only He will bring to them
o Judgment, not salvation
o He will bring to them
o Eternal destruction
o Not eternal life

o Have you figured out what is wrong yet?
o Have you discovered why Christmas
o Just is not what it should be?
o John came dressed in a hair shirt
o He wore a leather belt
o & He ate locusts & wild honey
o It is clear from his dress & his behavior
o That what we must do:
o To get ready for Christmas
o To meet the Messiah
o Will not be
o Easy / polite / genteel / sweet
o It will cost us something
o It will be hard
o It will cut against our grain
o It will not be according to
o Our natural inclinations

o Folks, it is easy to be prepared
o To meet a cute, cuddly baby Savior
o But it is not so easy to meet
o A harsh / fire-breathing / demanding / critical prophet
o Like John
o You see, for us, Christmas tends to be
o Our expression of all that we are
o & Of all that we would like to be
o But for John
o The coming of Christ is
o God's expression of judgment
o Of demand
o & Of our need for
o A radical readjustment
o Of our priorities
o & Of our lifestyles
o According to John
o We cannot greet the Savior
o Without some changes
o We must do more than
o Buy a few presents
o Decorate the house & a tree
o & Make some fruitcake
o Our preparations for Christmas
o Must be determined by
o Our understanding
o & Our acknowledgment
o Of the Messiah
o Of His true identity

o & Of what He yearns
o For His followers
o To be doing
o To be thinking
o To be singing
o To be praying for

o You see, when Jesus was born
o In Bethlehem
o The people were not prepared
o To meet Him
o They were looking in the wrong places
o They were expecting
o The wrong sort of Messiah
o They missed Him
o Because they were not prepared

o Christmas is coming
o & We must be prepared for it
o So, do not let the urgency of
o Christmas trees & fancy presents
o Prevent you from the important task
o Of being prepared to meet
o The Christ
o The Lord
o The Son of the Living God
o That preparation requires you
o To acknowledge your sins
o & Turn from them
o To turn to God

o & To receive Christ's baptism
o Of the Holy Spirit & of fire
o For when you choose to follow Him
o Whatever the cost may be
o - & It will be costly -
o I guarantee Christ will be
o In your Christmas
o & I also guarantee that
o That will be a blessing
o That far outweighs the cost

AMEN.