Saint Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown-WELS

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Advent II Series A December 5, 2004 Matthew 3:1-

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of though the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

It was a Tuesday when Sgt. Rafael Peralta was the first to crash through a door of a building in Fallujah! Being the first one in—he was struck by a bullet. As he fell to the ground—the enemy threw a grenade—that landed very near Sgt. Rafael Peralta. Without a moment’s hesitation he reached out—took hold of the grenade—and wrapped his body around it. The grenade went off. Sgt. Rafael Peralta sacrificed his life to save the Marines that were piling through the door behind him! This young man—born in Mexico—now an American citizen gave up his life—to save his friends. The night he was betrayed Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this—that he lay down his life for his friends…” I saw on the news Sgt. Rafael Peralta’s sister. She said through her tears that she was sure—before long—the Marines that her brother had saved would not remember who her brother was—or what he did to save them. I would certainly hope and pray that they would always remember Sgt. Rafael Peralta! They would have to remember him—wouldn’t they? And yet—is there not the haunting thought that they could forget? What about you and me? Did someone die to save us? Surely he did! Jesus died to rescue you and me—not from bullets and grenades and IEDs—improvised explosive devises. Jesus died to save us from our sins—to save us from the burning lake of fire in hell! Do we forget that? This second Sunday in Advent God’s Word encourages us:

Prepare Your Heart To Celebrate Christmas!

1. Repent

2. Do some heart road construction

It was some 30 years after baby Jesus was born—that Jesus’ cousin John went to work—out in the wilderness of Judea—in the south of Israel. This was not church with thermostats—heating and air conditioning, padded pews and stained glass windows—a sound system and wall to wall carpeting. This was church outside—with bugs and birds and bees—with snakes and little cony bears—little rock badgers that lived in the most barren and hard places. If the LORD took care of the rock badgers he would surely take care of you. John the Baptist didn’t look like pastors we are used to today. God’s Word says, “John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.” John was not worried about his outward appearance! He wore clothes that were rough and scratchy on the outside—durable! He didn’t have a walk in closet. He didn’t wear something different every single day. He didn’t have spring and summer and fall and winter wardrobes—packing away one set of clothes and getting out another. John didn’t give some of his clothes away for the simple reason they were—out of style? John didn’t have different shoes to go with different outfits—different jewelry to accessorize what he was wearing. He didn’t have a bar that held all of his silk neckties. John had camel’s hair—strapped on with a belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. Again—John did not make Martha Stewart brunch, lunch or supper. He did what was common for people who live out in the wilderness. He ate the locusts. Some say—the pods of locust trees. That’s a possibility. Most likely he ate the grasshoppers that were in the wilderness and the wild honey in the honey comb that the LORD’s bees made. Creature comforts were not important to him. Making himself comfortable was not the most important thing to him. What mattered was his work! What mattered to him was getting hearts and souls ready to go home to heaven!

The message John preached was painfully simple. “Repent! Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Worry about your sins! It never ceases to amaze me—all that you hear and read and see about what we ought to be worried about! What if… What if you get prescription drugs and the druggist puts the wrong pills in your bottle? What if there are more and more cats? Do you know what damage they could do to the sparrow and finch and robin populaton? What if they put up a bunch of those windmills—those huge towers with the blades that go womp, womp, womp, womp? Do you know that if you stand there and stare at the shadow of those blades going around and around and around—you could get a headache? Did you know that if you go for a walk in Orlando, FL you have a greater chance of getting run over by a car if you try to cross the street than if you cross a street in Columbus, OH? Did you know that? Look at your pills! Feed your cats tuna not caught in nets that hurt dolphins. Don’t watch shadows that give you headaches. Look both ways before you step off any curb. The real problems in this world are caused by sin—the gross and horrible hurtful evil that is in my heart! Repent! For the attitude that gets frustrated by bad drivers—people calling on their cell phone—looking up phone numbers—fixing their make-up—digging out food stuck between their teeth—styling their hair and reading maps and books—all the while flying over 80 mph down the highway! Repent! For making Christmas parties—to celebrate the birth of the Christ-child an excuse for eating too much, drinking too much, telling filthy stories in the name of humor—getting far too close to co-workers. Repent! For tying Christmas joy to the cost of expensive plasma flat screen high definition TVs and computer games for ourselves—all the while bringing thankofferings to the Christ child that doesn’t equal the smallest gift we are giving someone out of a sense of painful obligation and not joyful worship! Repent!

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” There needs to be a sense of urgency and passion when it comes to sharing our faith—because the time is short! Remember what is at stake—immortal souls! Where people will spend eternity! If you spend any time in the surgery family waiting area at UW Hospital in Madison—there is a beverage machine. You put a quarter in the machine and push a button and you get hot coffee, hot tea, hot cocoa, just hot water with a little lemon. The problem—if you don’t read the directions is—a little Styrofoam cup doesn’t drop out of the machine. The cups are stacked over on the side. You need to put the cup under the little spigot—otherwise—the hot beverage just dribbles in a puddle! Once you realize people are making this mistake—don’t you feel an obligation—to watch and wait—and when you see the quarter dropped in—the button pushed to cry out, “Cup! Grab a cup! Put a cup under the spigot!” Not that much is at stake—a small spill of hot cocoa, But how can you say nothing—when you know and they don’t? If we know that people are in danger—their souls in danger of eternal destruction in hell—how can we sit back and do nothing? We can’t! We don’t have to be theologically trained to tell someone that Jesus lived and died to wash away their sins. On the Sunday before Christmas—little Sunday School pre-schoolers will do the work of angels—to announce—unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior—he is Christ the Lord!

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.