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The Rev. Frank
Logue
Prepare the Way John the Baptist stands on the banks of the Jordan River crying out, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” For John this is a call to get your act together as the Messiah is coming. The best story I have to illustrate this is found in the The Toilet Paper this week at King of Peace. Now, for those of you who are worried about the sanity of a preacher who quotes from The Toilet Paper, you might not know that is the name of a newsletter published by King of Peace that is posted in the stalls of our bathrooms for the edification of those using our restrooms. And in this bi-weekly edition, on the of short articles is Big Jake Is Coming:
This was the essential message of John the Baptist. When people looked to John’s life and message; they thought he must be the Messiah, promised by the prophets. John said in essence, “I’m not Big Jake, but Big Jake is coming and you better be ready.” For John, it was time to straighten out our crooked ways and to smooth off our rough edges. John’s own father, Zechariah, had been given a prophetic message from God at John’s birth that is found in what we call The Song of Zechariah, which we read this morning. Zechariah told the infant John, “You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” This was the role prophesied in our Old Testament reading from Malachi in which told of a messenger coming before the Messiah. So this morning, we take up John’s task once more. We are preparing not just for our celebration of Jesus first coming in Bethlehem. We are also preparing for our Lord’s Second Coming. And while we can sing a song like “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” we also know that there is that Big Jake is coming fear of God aspect. For God is both loving and just and justice requires that we not just give lip service to our faith, but that our lives are changed because of what we believe. We still need to prepare the way of the Lord by making our own paths straight, by lifting up the low places in our own lives and by laying low the high and mighty self righteous places in our lives. It’s not simply about some head knowledge type of belief, but also an assent that puts our faith into action. As we sang earlier in the lesser known third verse of Jesus Loves Me,
Jesus take this heart of mine, make it pure and wholly thine; Filling in the specifics on what it looks like to try to live for Jesus are the words of the baptism service which we will promise this morning for Colby and Tyler. For in baptism, we still make those promises John the Baptist expected at the Jordan River, to turn away from evil in our own lives and evil in the world and to turn to Jesus and put our whole trust in him. Then there are promises to continue in the apostle’s teaching, to persevere in resisting evil, to proclaim by word and example the Good News, to seek and serve Christ in all persons and finally to strive for justice and peace among all people respecting the dignity of every human being. This is how we put into action our desire to prepare the way for the Lord in our own hearts as well as in our community. As we continue our worship, we will affirm the baptismal covenant. For those who are already baptized, consider how you can prepare for our Lord by more fully living in to the promises made in baptism. For those who have not yet been baptized, consider whether these are words you are ready to make your own. Are you ready to commit to Jesus by saying these words for yourself. Are you ready to make the story of Jesus part of the story of your life by taking part in Jesus life, death and resurrection through the waters of baptism. Big Jake has come and he is coming again. It’s time to prepare the way for our Lord Jesus not by changing the world, but by changing our own hearts and our own lives, conforming our ways more closely to his. Amen.
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