Matthew 3:1-12
The Rev. David Hall
I wrote this sermon while watching it snow this week in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I also watched it snow in UPSTATE New York; in Burlington, Vermont; and even at the Christmas Village in Finland. AND I never left our house in Birmingham.
Thanks to YouTube – there are cameras in some of the most beautiful places all over the world, and you can look in on what’s going on at any moment from your computer. It’s AMAZING!
You can watch people get off a cruise ship in Miami – or swim in Hawaii. There is a live camera at Bryant Park in New York City, and you can watch people ice skate. One of my favorite sites is in a place called Skarsvag, Norway which is a fishing village way up on the Arctic Circle. At 3:00 pm in the afternoon there – it is totally dark.
They get a lot of snow that far north and that’s what I want to see. I love snow, BUT I love Phyllis more and she says we can live anywhere I want as long as it is no further north than Birmingham. But for IT truly to be Christmas – I need some snow – and my computer is the next best thing to actually being there.
Now I know – I’m not SUPPOSED to be celebrating Christmas yet because it’s Advent. We are told that this is the time to PREPARE for Christmas – to ANTICIPATE the birth of Christ – but not actually celebrate yet – even though the rest of the world is already in FULL Holly Jolly mode.
There are 17 more days after today until Christmas Eve when Jesus will be born once more in a manger in Bethlehem. We will join with Christians throughout the world and celebrate the miracle of that Holy Night.
There were shepherds and a manger and God became one of us. Really! NOT just theologically or metaphorically – God became fully human in a baby born in a manger. Then wise men came, and we know THAT story and IS there any other time in the year that feels this Holy. Tis the Season to expect – to anticipate – Christ is going to be born again in Bethlehem. And watching it snow in Duluth, Minnesota makes me excited about what’s to come.
John the Baptist was waiting expectantly for the Messiah in our Gospel reading from Matthew this morning. Everything, John knew about Jesus told him that HERE was the Savior everyone had been waiting to come. The BLIND would SEE, the LAME WALK, LEPERS would be CLEANSED, the DEAF would HEAR, and EVEN the dead would be RAISED. John would baptize Jesus in the River Jordan and the scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit DESCENDED like a dove and the voice of God PROCLAIMED that Jesus was His Son.
Back in 2019, Phyllis and I stood in that very same River Jordan in what MAY have been the SPOT where Jesus was actually baptized. Now I have stood in lakes and rivers before, but this was different. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about the Jordan River. It’s really more of a muddy stream. It’s not particularly pretty. But STILL – something is different. It’s NOT like standing in the water at Gulf Shores or Lake Martin. WALKING toward the Jordan River – I just knew that this was going to be special – and it was.
Later we went to Bethlehem! It didn’t look particularly Holy – in fact it looked quite UN-HOLY. I called it the Gatlinburg of the Holy Land because there were souvenir shops EVERYWHERE. Five different places claim to be the exact spot where Jesus was born. None of them probably were. But as I stood and saw everything in Bethlehem – I just knew I would feel the presence of God – and I did. And I think John the Baptist had that same experience when he first saw Jesus. He knew his Savior would be different – and he was.
And now we count the days down until Christmas. You are probably already celebrating and if you are – that is ok. Humm a Christmas Carol, decorate, eat way too much. And each time you do – get ready in your heart and mind for Christmas.
Prepare for Christ to be born again – not just in a story about a manger in Bethlehem – but also in you. PREPARE for the Sundays of Advent and Christmas Eve when you will come to Church and hear the story and believe that it ALL is real because it WAS – and IT IS. Believe that God will be here.
If all we do is shop and eat and exchange presents for no reason other than that is what we have always done – then what’s special about that. Instead, we need to get excited because Christ is going to be born again.
In just 17 more days – NEAR the Arctic Circle, people will gather in Skarsvag, Norway at the one church in town for Christmas Eve. The temperature is forecast to be MINUS 4 degrees. They are expecting more snow that night. They will also be expecting the presence of God – who will be here also. They will look forward to the birth of the Christ Child once more just as we will. It’s going to be cold. It’s going to be exciting.
Hear the voice of John crying out in the wilderness. Prepare the WAY. Jesus is Coming.
Amen.