Advent 2: The last of the Old Testament prophets

Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 8 December 2024.

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• First Reading: Malachi 3: 1-4 (I will send My messenger who will prepare the way before Me)
• Epistle: Philippians 1: 3-11 (His prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight)
• Gospel: Luke 3: 1-6 (A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord)

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Sermon

I think that they used to call it ‘Old School’ meaning an attitude and way of working that was completely uncompromising. Only one way of doing things – and that is MY way. No room for discussion, reflection and certainly no negotiation.

I think that it applied to managers and some teachers of the early – and perhaps the latter post-war period. They had been through it so why could others not keep up and maintain standards?

To say it was unforgiving is to imply that we are more forgiving today and that is doubtful. Maybe we just tolerate and condemn other things, and we express ourselves differently as well.

I rather think that while we admire winners, we also like to see people lose – especially if their attitudes and preferences are not like ours. Just look at the abuse piled on public figures who fail to meet today’s demands in the areas of sensitivity and thoughtfulness.

But this is where it is worth looking at John the Baptist.

He was born into a priestly family and had every expectation of serving as a priest: by rota when called to Jerusalem and as required locally and closer to home.

This future would have lots of learning, plenty of presiding over public worship and of course lots of debating. That was how things were done and how complicated issues were worked though. Not much consensus here.

But then he went off-reservation. Whatever studies he had pursued, he found that they were enough. He was not really interested in the minutiae of law and legal processes when they only obscured the real issues.

And those issues came from the human heart in its dealings with God and other people.

Love God above all else and the rest would fall into place: relationships with others, conversations and transactions, commitments and loyalties.

Get the foundations sorted and the rest could come in its own time.

So the pretentiousness of the petty hierarchy could be pretty nauseating. It was shallow, for all its pretentions of learning, and it was tainted with all the rivalries and manoeuvring of competing interests. But what did it all add up to? Not a lot.

So he took to the road, ending up in the wilderness, where he could still find enough sustenance to support himself.

There he could meditate and reflect on the law, psalms and prophets: not only what it said but what it meant and where it was leading him.

And then he could hold forth for any who wanted to hear him. Maybe challenging the religious leaders was a draw for many.

But then there was something else: something compelling was driving him on. Not so much beyond his control but rather a deeper and richer truth about the purposes of God.

One was coming who really would be the Word of God, walking and talking, teaching and healing and challenging. This one would have power from on high and He would use it. The world would see, some to their joy and relief; others to their self-condemnation and horror.

In a time of torpor and complacency, when compromise, especially with Rome but really with the culture of the day, were all that there was, John was going to have  different kind of message.

Not comfortable or easy listening, but a message with a cutting edge. More in the area of the holiness and righteousness of God than a call to community development or social inclusion. These could come later but they were not the first item of business.

And so John spoke forth. Some came to be entertained – looking for condemnation of the high and mighty. Some were confused and did not know what to think. Maybe a clearer presentation would help.

Some were curious or out for a dare or just plain bored.

But John knew for a certainty that there was One other. He did not know who this was, but he would know Him when he saw Him.

And if there to be a meeting to put the wind up John, this was going to be it. How would he respond personally? What would he say – and do?

Would he make a fool of himself? Would his lack of academic polish show him up?

And so John waited, looking at the faces of those who came to him.

But John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and he died before Jesus had accomplished His own atoning self-giving.

But to Jesus this was the greatest of the prophets – who had been sent to prepare the people for His own coming.

Yet it was John who set the standard for the rest of us, when speaking of his own place before Jesus:

He must increase and I must decrease.