We Light the Advent Candles - Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way...

For the last ten years, we've sung all or part of "We Light the Advent Candles" during our Advent worship services. You see, as we go through the four weeks, we sing the verses sung during the prior weeks, and we add a new verse recognizing the candles that have been and are being lit on that particular Sunday. During this Advent season, we're going to focus on the meaning of each verse, as expressed in the song. 

The third message dealt with "Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way..."

Well here we are, another week closer to Christmas. And yesterday, when I was just getting started on this sermon, I was listening to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra play Christmas music. And if you’re never heard them, well, here’s a little sample. 

Well, I’ll tell, if that doesn’t get you either fired up or stress out about Christmas, I don’t know what will.

And so, here we are, on the third Sunday in a church season called Advent. And as I hope most of y’all know, we’ve been looking at the different verses in the song we sing as we light our Advent wreath. For example, a couple of weeks ago, we lit the first candle and sang, “The first one will remind us that Christ will soon return. We light it in the darkness and watch if gleam and burn, we light it in the darkness and watch if gleam and burn.” And during that service, we talked about how Jesus was going to return sometime in the future. And last Sunday, we lit the second candle and sang “We light the second candle, and hear God’s holy Word, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord, it tells us, cling to Jesus, prepare to meet your Lord!” And we considered how some of the folks in the Old Testament looked forward to coming of the Messiah, the Christ. Now that’s where we’ve been.

And this morning, when we lit the third candle, along with the other three verses, we added this one: “Three candles now are gleaming and show us the true way, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today, rejoice, the Baptist cries out, your Lord has come today!” And so, with that in mind, we’ll focus on John the Baptist this morning. Of course, I know a lot of y’all who’ve been around the church a long time have heard the story of John over and over again. But today, I’m going to approach it from a slightly different angle. You see, we’re going to look at two things. First, we’re going to talk briefly about some the stuff that most of us already know, stuff that’s cool but really isn’t all that important. And then after that, second, we’ll talk about some of the things about John that we often neglect but that I believe are extremely important in what we choose to do and what we decide to be. Now that’s the plan.

And like I said, we’re going to start by talking about the kind of stuff that generally comes to mind when we think about John the Baptist. For example, I believe we often focus on who he was. I mean, just visualize John. My gosh, he was really out there, wasn’t he; sort of a cross between a hippie and one of those guys who are yelling about Jesus on the sidewalk there in Pittsburgh. And that’s not us. Take me for example. Now I can see myself hanging around Weirton or Follansbee or maybe some other small West Virginia town. And I can see myself wearing one of my favorite sport coats, this light tan leather jacket that’s incredibly soft. And I can certainly see myself eating food I personally enjoy, you know, like maybe a good piece of liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. Now that’s me. But was that John, no way José. Listen to how Mark described John. “So John the Baptist showed up in the desert... John wore clothes made of camel’s hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.” [Mark 1:4a, 6, CEV] Now that was John. And let me be clear, this stuff about wearing camel’s hair has nothing to do the overcoat I wore yesterday. Let’s just say, when we think about John the Baptist, we generally focus on who he was, you know where he went and what he wore and ate. And in a word, I think we can all agree that he was pretty  “groovie,”maybe even “far out.”

But that’s not all we tend to focus on. I mean, if we know the story, generally we also consider the sort of things he did. For instance, given what we call him, we can pretty much assume that he baptized, right? I mean, dahh. And while he doing that, he really ticked off the religious establishment, didn’t he? According to Matthew, “many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them: ‘You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. And don’t start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham’s family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.’” [Matthew 3:7-10, CEV] Not exactly the way to win friends and influence people. And most folks both inside and outside the church know what happened to him. Matthew wrote, “When Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests. She pleased Herod so much that he swore to give her whatever she wanted. But the girl’s mother told her to say, ‘Here on a platter I want the head of John the Baptist!’ The king was sorry for what he had said. But he did not want to break the promise he had made in front of his guests. So he ordered a guard to go to the prison and cut off John’s head. It was taken on a platter to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.” [Matthew 14:6-11, CEV] Now I think that’s terrible, but I guess it’s one way to get a head in life. So who was John: a guy who hung out in the desert, wearing stuff made from a camel and eating honey-coated insects. And what did he do: he baptized and he ticked off a lot of important people and he lost his head over a girl. And if we know the story at all, this is the kind of stuff that we usually focus on.

But I’ll tell you, for as interesting or bizarre or tragic as all this might have been, if this is the extent of our focus, man, we’re missing some really important stuff. You see, if this our vision, we’re missing what he still challenges us to do and what he still challenges us to be. 

And what is it that he challenges us to do? Just listen to what Luke wrote. “So John went along the Jordan Valley, telling the people, ‘Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.’” [Luke 3:3, CEV] Now that’s what he said. But he didn’t stop there. “The crowds asked John, ‘What should we do?’ John told them, ‘If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.’ When tax collectors came to be baptized, they asked John, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ John told them, ‘Don’t make people pay more than they owe.’ Some soldiers asked him, ‘And what about us? What do we have to do?’ John told them, ‘Don’t force people to pay money to make you leave them alone. Be satisfied with your pay.’” [Luke 3:10-14, CEV] Now that’s what John said to them. 

And you know, I think it applies to us too. You see, I think John is also challenging us to change, which, by the way, is really what the word “repent” means. It means to turn our mind; in other words, to change our perspectives and our opinions and definitely our behavior. But I’m telling you, this isn’t really new and exciting. I think calling for this kind of change was exactly what was going on when “Jesus answered, ‘The most important one says: “People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: “Love others as much as you love yourself.” No other commandment is more important than these.’” [Mark 29-31, CEV] And if we want to know want this love business is all about, listen to Paul: “Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails!” [1 Corinthians 13:4-8, CEV] Now that’s what Paul said about love. And I’ll tell you, John even told us what love is not. He wrote, “Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life. But if you don’t love each other, you are still under the power of death. If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know that murderers do not have eternal life. We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That’s why we must give our lives for each other. If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.” [1 John 3:14-18, CEV] Simply put, I believe John the Baptist is telling us to turn toward love; that’s what he’s challenging us to do.

But I’ll tell you something else, I think he’s also challenging us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. And you know, he’s does that through his own example. You see, he was actually the first person to tell people about who Jesus was and what he came to do. As the Evangelist John wrote, “The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said: ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I told you about when I said, “Someone else will come. He is greater than I am, because he was alive before I was born.” I didn’t know who he was. But I came to baptize you with water, so that everyone in Israel would see him. I was there and saw the Spirit come down on him like a dove from heaven. And the Spirit stayed on him. Before this I didn’t know who he was. But the one who sent me to baptize with water had told me, “You will see the Spirit come down and stay on someone. Then you will know that he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.” I saw this happen, and I tell you that he is the Son of God.’” [John 1:29-34, CEV] Now think about what this shows about John. He directed people toward Jesus. Which also meant he was directing people away from himself. Again, John wrote, “[His followers] went to John and said, ‘Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.’ John replied: ‘No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it. You surely remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him. At a wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just to be there and to hear the groom’s voice. That’s why I am so glad. Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.’” [John 3:26-30, CEV] You see, John was really the first witness of Jesus Christ, and he did it with humility. That’s who he was.

And I’ll tell you, that’s exactly what we can be as well. I mean, we can point toward Jesus by the words that we use. And I’ll tell you, this is exactly what Paul did. According to Acts, this is what he said to King Agrippa: “But all this time God has helped me, and I have preached both to the rich and to the poor. I have told them only what the prophets and Moses said would happen. I told them how the Messiah would suffer and be the first to be raised from death, so that he could bring light to his own people and to the Gentiles.” [Acts 26:22-23, CEV] You see, we can definitely tell people about Jesus. But maybe an even more effective witness is how we choose to live. Jesus said this to his disciples: “Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that produces bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.” [Matthew 7:15-20, CEV] Now that’s what he said. You can tell the quality of a tree by the fruit it produces. And that same thing applies to us. As the song says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” And you know, it’s sort of like a joke I heard years ago. You see, this young Christian was all fired up, and he was going through this little dinner asking people if they knew Jesus. And he gets to his old farmer sitting in the back. And he says, “Brother do you know Jesus?” And the farmer looks at him and sort of smiles and says, “Son, you’re asking the wrong person. Ask my wife and kids. And ask the guy who cuts my hair and the one who works at the DMV. In fact, ask my waitress. They can answer that question far better than me.” You see, we bear witness to Jesus by what we say and by what we do; our words and our work, and I think that’s what John challenges us to be.

Now, I understand how it’s hard to look away from a guy hanging out among the cacti, wearing a really itchy poncho and downing bugs, especially if he’s dunking people in water and getting under the skin of the high and mighty and saying things that could get him in big trouble. You see, that who John was. But you know, there’s another side we don’t want to neglect, and I’m talking about what John still challenges us to do, namely to turn toward a life guided by a decision to love others, and what he challenged us to be, and I’m talking about witnesses of Jesus Christ. Now, that’s John the Baptist. And next week, we’ll finish up with verse number four: “Four candles burning brightly announce that Christ has come, prepare, my heart, believe it, and give the Christ child room, prepare, my heart, believe it, and give the Christ child room.”