Homily for Advent Three

Today, we come to the third Sunday in Advent, which is intended to mark the mid-point of this mildly penitential season.  There is a certain sense of joy that marks this Sunday.  This is signified by the rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath.  There is a similar phenomenon during the Season of Lent, with the fourth Sunday marking the mid-point. 

Throughout Advent, the appointed Scripture lessons in the Prayer Book point us in two directions.  They point us to the past, as we think about the First Advent of our Savior.  In doing so, we are being prepared to commemorate our Lord’s Nativity.  But our lessons also point to the future—and this is really the more important aspect of Advent—to call us to prepare for Christ’s Second Advent, when He will come to judge the living and the dead.  In both cases—the key theme is preparation.  Advent is about preparing to meet Christ.  

We live in the time between the First and Second Advents of Christ.  The Kingdom of God broke into this world with His First Advent, but its consummation awaits His second appearance.  As we await His return, we are called to walk in His commandments and to continually battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.  But God gives us certain gifts in this life, channels of His grace to help us.  This is the “armor of light” referenced in our Advent Collect, which we pray throughout the season.  One of the gifts that God gives His Church is Holy Scripture.  We focused upon that last Sunday.  But the Lord also gives faithful ministers to the Church, to lead and guide His people through the course of their lives.  This is the focus of this third Sunday in Advent. 

In considering this truth, we begin with our Gospel Lesson which reminds us of the ministry of John the Baptist at the First Advent of Christ.  In our collect today, we pray these words: “O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee.”  The words here echo one of several prophecies in the Old Testament about John the Baptist.  The prophecy alluded to here is the same one that our Lord references at the end of our gospel reading.  It is the prophet Malachi’s promise, which Jesus says is fulfilled by John the Baptist.  Another prophecy concerning John comes from Isaiah—“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  John’s ministry to Israel was to prepare them for the arrival of their Messiah.  He came preaching repentance—calling Israel to forsake their sinful ways and to return to the LORD.  And furthermore, they were to mark their repentance by undergoing a baptism in the Jordan River—signifying the washing away of their old sins.

This ministry which God gave John became crystal clear to him one day.  It happened when Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized by him.  In a flash of insight, John pointed at Jesus and said: “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”  In one pregnant phrase, the prophet sees the whole purpose of Christ’s First Advent.  Jesus Christ came to bear the sins of the world.  He came to lay down his life as a sacrificial Lamb.  Jesus Christ was the sinless, spotless Lamb of God who made the ultimate sacrifice to take away the sins of the world.  So, if you think about it, John had a ministry of Word and Sacrament.  He reminded Israel of the covenant which God had made with them and urged them to walk in faithfulness to that covenant.  This was his ministry of Word.  But he also baptized them and pointed them to the true Passover Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.  This was his ministry of “Sacrament.”

It is at this point where we can consider the Epistle and how it fits within this theme.  The Epistle points us in the other direction—towards the future.  It is about preparing God’s people under the New Covenant to be ready to meet Jesus when He comes again.  In fact, this is precisely what the Collect for this Sunday says: We pray--“Grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight…”

So, in what way do ministers prepare the Church to meet Christ at His Second Advent?  The lessons lead us to understand that the ministers of Christ are to pattern their ministry after that of John the Baptist.  This begins with proclaiming God’s Word.  We have the role of making known what God has revealed in Scripture and to call every person to repent and to believe it.  Like John, this includes pointing out where mankind has gone wrong in disobedience to God’s commands.

But like John, we do not stop there.  We do not just expose the problem--we also point to the solution.  We are called to point mankind in the right way.  More specifically, we call upon everyone to embrace Jesus Christ as the Savior of mankind.  We proclaim that He is the eternal Son of God who came among us to bear our sins on the cross and to break the curse of death by defeating death itself.

Ministers of the Gospel have also been entrusted with the Sacraments as the means by which God’s forgiveness comes to mankind.  This is why St. Paul refers to us as “stewards of the mysteries of God” in our Epistle.  The word “mysteries” here is a reference to the Sacraments.  Like John, we call everyone to come first to the River, to wash away their sins.  Not the River Jordan but the River of Christ, that is, Holy Baptism.

Then after we have brought God’s people through the water, we then point them to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  It is no accident that those words of John the Baptist are frequently included in our Liturgy, right before we come to receive Holy Communion: “O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us...”  As we come to partake of this Meal, Christ gives Himself to us in the Bread and the Wine.  We partake of His Body and Blood and are made one with Him.  The benefits of His redeeming work are brought to bear upon our sinful lives, and we are made clean.

So, during Advent, we are reminded of our need to prepare to meet Christ when He comes again.  And God has given us all that we need to be prepared.  The fourth Sunday in Advent reminds us that Christ’s ministers play a pivotal role in this regard.  This begins with the proclamation of the Gospel, where we call everyone to turn from their sins and to receive God’s forgiveness.  And furthermore, Christian clergy are called to administer the holy mysteries by which His forgiveness comes to mankind—Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.  Christ has appointed ministers of Word and Sacrament to prepare His people for His Return.  So today, pray for your ministers—that we might follow John the Baptist as faithful ministers of Word and Sacrament.  And come to the altar rail in repentance and faith to receive God’s grace in the Sacrament, which will prepare you to joyfully meet Christ at His Return. Amen.