Advent 3
In today’s Gospel we again meet St. John the Baptiser, whom we also met in last Sunday’s Gospel. St. John the Baptiser is a major figure in Advent. He prepared the way for the coming Savior by his preaching God’s holy law, calling people to confess their sin and pointing them to Jesus as their Savior from sin [Jn 1.29]: Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Obviously John was causing quite a stir so the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” Since some of the Jews thought that John was the Messiah, right away John states clearly that he is not the Christ/ not the long awaited Savior. They asked John if he was the Prophet that Moses foretold was coming. That Prophet was also the Savior, so, of course, John said he wasn’t.
The Jews ask him if he is the OT prophet Elijah. Looking at the prophecies the Jews taught that Elijah would reappear before the coming of the Savior. They were looking for the actual OT person to come back. So their question was really: Are you the literal OT prophet Elijah who has returned to announce the coming of the Savior? Of course St. John was not the actual, literal OT prophet having returned. But St. John is the Elijah prophesied by the last of the OT prophets St. Malachi 400 years before—not the actual literal OT Elijah like the Jews then were thinking—but the one coming in the spirit and power of Elijah. That’s why, even though John denies being Elijah, Jesus says of John [Mt. 11.13]: For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
So here we have a lesson in our own lives of witnessing/ sharing the faith. St. John answered the question exactly as it was asked of him. Although John was the Elijah [Ml. 4.5; 3.1]: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes; and Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me, He was not the Elijah in the sense that the Jews were thinking. When we witness to our faith we have to speak clearly to our people and our society; we have to make the teachings of our Lord and who He is clear to the people we talk with. We dare not muddy the waters and give a watered down or incorrect answer—especially when people ask us about what we believe and who Jesus is.
Although St. John the Baptizer had a unique and special role—already prophesied in the OT as forerunner to the Messiah—There was a man, sent from God, whose name was John. He came as an eyewitness to testify about the light so that everyone would believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light—we too, as Christians also have the privilege and duty to testify about the light –Christ Jesus so that others too may come to know Him as Savior and be saved. What a wonderful opportunity we have in the upcoming Christmas season to let our light shine so that through our witness others may come to know the Baby born in Bethlehem.
What we see here with St. John is that his life and witness attracted people to ask him questions. And may the same thing happen with us, as St. Peter writes [1 Pt 3.15]: in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. With our life we give witness to Jesus and the faith we have in Him. We are witnesses by our words and our life. Like with St. John, may our lives lead others to ask us about our faith; may our lives of holiness make the holy Christian faith attractive to others; may our lives of holiness attract others to the faith so that they ask us for a reason for the hope that is in us. The simple fact of the matter is that Jesus did not save us from our sin and its consequences so that we could continue on in a life of sin, but so that as we in [our] hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy we then live holy and righteous lives. And by that, we glorify the Lord and help lead others to Him.
The wonderful thing is that our life of holiness starts with God. St. Paul writes in our text: May the God of peace Himself sanctify you [make you holy] completely. That we live holy lives is all God’s work in us; it is rooted in Him and His work for us. Listen to what Jesus says in our OT reading: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the afflicted. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for those who are bound. That’s our salvation! Jesus came to save us from our sin and it consequences. We are the afflicted—by our sin and their consequences. But Jesus preaches to us the good news—the forgiveness of our sin and peace with God. We who are loaded down by our sin and guilt—the brokenhearted—Jesus binds and heals with His holy word and sacraments. And we who are captives to and bound by sin—slaves to sin—Jesus has freed so that led and empowered by Him and the Holy Spirit in us we fight against sin and live holy lives.
All of this is rooted in Jesus’ saving work where He came into our world of sin, lived a holy life for us, obeying all of God’s commandments, and took our sins to the cross where He suffered and died for them. Now we are at peace with God. God is the God of peace because through Jesus He made peace with us. And now the God of peace Himself [sanctifies] you completely. God not only forgives us our sins in Jesus and because of His saving work, but He also gives us His Holy Spirit, who works faith in our hearts that trusts in Jesus and His saving work and who leads us in a life of holiness. Again—Jesus did not die for our sins to have us continue on in a life of sin but so that we may live holy lives. That’s what our Lord says at the end of our OT reading: For as the earth produces its growth and as a garden causes what has been sown to sprout up, so God the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up in the presence of all the nations. In His dear Christians, forgiven their sin and given the righteousness of Jesus and also led by the Holy Spirit into a life of faith and good works, the Lord causes righteousness and praise to sprout up in the presence of all the nations. Dear Christian, our life of holiness is God’s work in us!
What does this life of holiness look like as, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we pattern our whole life according to God’s will? That’s what St. Paul describes in our text. First he begins: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice always. How can we do this? Don’t we have our daily ups and downs—even from minute to minute? But to Rejoice always? Dear Christian, the vital thing is that we remember that our rejoicing is in the Lord. We know, first and foremost that we have a gracious God for Jesus’ sake. Our joy is not based on our outward conditions and circumstances but on Jesus and His work for us; that is a constant. His love, mercy and forgiveness are a constant; the promise of heaven and eternal life stand—no matter what our outward circumstances may be or what we may be feeling. We rejoice in who we are in the Lord—His dear child and heir of heaven. We rejoice because by faith we know that [Rm 8.28] everything works together for good to those who love the Lord/ His dear Christian—no matter how it may look at the moment.
We Rejoice always because of our Lord’s loving presence in our lives. And that’s why our lives of holiness are not only marked by rejoicing but that we Pray without ceasing. Because the Lord is near us and with us especially in our times of sorrow and trial we are always in a state of prayer. This does not mean that we always walk around with eyes closed and hands folded; but it does mean that our hearts are always disposed to prayer; we are always ready for prayer, ready to continue our conversation with the Lord. We see what trials and trouble we are in—and others are in—and that drives us to prayer. We are ready for prayer and entrust to the Lord all things at all times because we know He cares for us! And the truly wonderful and amazing thing is that when in every action we ask God to bless our work and thank Him for His graces and blessings, we also keep always before us our aim of pleasing Him with holy living.
Then St. Paul continues in our text: In everything give thanks. So when we pray, God may not always answer our prayer the way that we prayed it—but His answer is always a cause for thanksgiving because the Lord always answers it the best way for us and in line with our need. Where a person has that faith inwardly, it is shown outwardly with praise and thanksgiving. Giving thanks in everything—even in trouble and trial—is a great spiritual exercise in humility. Here we must bow the knee and in trial and trouble humbly recognize the Lord knows what is best for us; and in time of great blessing recognize that it is solely from the Lord in grace. In everything, we give our Lord thanks for His gracious and loving presence in our lives. He is there and we recognize it and His workings for us.
Our continual joy, prayer, and thanksgiving is God’s will for [us] in Christ Jesus. A life of prayer filled with joy and thanksgiving is a way to true freedom and happiness.
This life of holiness is firmly grounded on the word of God and being here in church. Our text: Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. But test everything. Hold on to the good. Keep away from every kind of evil. The Holy Spirit is actively present in the Church. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us to reject what is false. We need faithful teachers to bring us the word of God; it is God’s will that we hear and believe them as they proclaim to us the right and saving explanations of Scripture: Do not extinguish the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt. We are in constant need of the Holy Spirit so that we rightly discern and test lest we be misled. Every teaching must be tested if it is in agreement with the Divine word; led by the Spirit we examine what we are told in the church and especially by the world: But test everything. And all that is in accord with Scripture we then Hold on to the good. And when some evil appears under the guise of “good”: Keep away from every kind of evil. What a difficult and serious work we are called on to do as Christians! But striving for that life of holiness/ patterning our whole life after God’s will is a vital work but God does not leave us alone in it!
Our text: May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Our sanctification/ our life of being made holy/ of good works is God’s work in us. He is the God of peace. Having forgiven us our sins what does God do in us/ work in us? He leads and strengthens us to turn our back on sin and serve Him! God, who creates faith, produces sanctification; in sanctification we/ the Christian in us/ the new self are active and cooperate with God. What great joy we have as Christians—we cooperate with God; His will becomes our will; He is working in us and on us! And what is the end/ goal of our sanctification/ being made holy? –That we be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, deliverance, preservation, heavenly joy, glorification of us, soul and body. And what a great comfort we have here: The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. That’s God! He will do it. Our confidence rests in the Lord. When we feel ourselves weak, let us take heart: the good thing He began in us He will by His grace continue to work. Let us keep ourselves close to and faithfully using His holy word and sacrament. Our life of holiness is His work and it is an eternal work. INJ