This is the manuscript from the sermon preached on December 3rd/4th, the second Sunday of Advent. The Gospel text is Mark 1:1-8.
During college I worked four summers at a Lutheran camp in Kerrville, in the hill country of Texas. Camp Chrysalis will always be very near and dear to my heart. Working at camp helped to shape who I am as a person and helped me to discern some of the gifts that I have for ministry. I was a cabin leader for two summers and I worked as the assistant program direction for two summers. I have countless memories from camp that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
One memory that sticks out in my mind on this second Sunday of Advent is from the summer of 2007. Our theme that summer was “Saint’s and Super Heroes,” and we spent all summer talking about the truth that we are all saints and super heroes as we walk through this world. We have all been set free through our baptism into Jesus Christ to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and to prepare the way of Jesus in our world; that’s what makes us saints and superheroes. We had talked about saints and super heroes all summer with the kids who came to camp for a week and then went back home with the call to be a saint and superhero in with their lives. The theme really hit home for me on the night of the summer staff’s closing worship. The staff was about to part ways, most of us back home before returning to college for the fall. As the real world loomed on the horizon, the call to be a saint and superhero became very real.
The message that night was delivered by a good friend of mine who was a long time staff person at camp. Just as he had done at the opening worship of staff training, he had all of us staff members take off our shoes and make a giant cross in the middle of the circle. He talked about having heroes as a kid, persons that he looked up to and wanted to be like when he grew up, people whose shoes he wanted to fill. He asked us to think about our own heroes, people we wanted to be like; persons whose shoes we wished we could walk in. Then he turned the question around. He told us, “You never know for whom you might be a superhero.” Or to put in another way, “You never know who will want to walk in your shoes.”
It’s true. We may never know for whom we may be a hero. His message that night made me think of my camp counselor from confirmation camp when I was in the 8th grade. Even after all these years I can still picture Marcus’ big smile and gentle nature. He was from Atlanta and had somehow found himself in Texas working at a Lutheran camp. He was the man who first got me interested in becoming a camp counselor. He was one of the persons who first asked me if I wanted to be a pastor. Marcus will never know that he is a hero of mine. He will never know that I wanted to walk in his shoes. Marcus is a saint and a superhero to me.
This morning we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent and it’s the tenor tones of John the baptizer that ring out from the good news. John is a pillar of the church, a saint and a super hero of the highest degree. John has big shoes, or should I say big sandals, to fill.
John comes to us this morning rather abruptly. He just appears in the desert. Mark’s Gospel does not begin with the story of the birth of Jesus; there is no outline of his childhood or recent years. The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God according to Mark begins in the desert with John. And John the baptizer is a strange fellow indeed. He wears camel’s hair with a belt of leather around his waist. He eats grasshoppers and wild honey. He is an epic figure of legend, an image of Elijah in the minds of the Jews who come to hear him preach. John the baptizer is cut from the cloth of the Old Testament, a sign that ancient promises are going to be fulfilled. A sign that God is at work in the world.
And John has the whole countryside and the entire city of Jerusalem abuzz with his preaching. He actually has people continually coming to him according to Mark; the Greek word we translate as “they were going out to him” actually means something to the effect of, “they were continually going out to him.” John’s appeal is not a one-time thing. John is the type that when you see him, you remember him, you go home and tell your friends about him and then you load your friends in the minivan and drive them out into the wilderness so they can get a good look as well. You turn to your friend and say, “This is the man who changed my life. This is the man who showed me the way of the Lord. This is the man who shared with me the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God in whom I am set free. ” John is a saint and a superhero because he prepares the way for Jesus Christ.
When I asked the Bible study group I lead on Sundays who they might consider to be a modern day John the baptizer, they were a little quiet for a moment. It’s a rather difficult thing to ponder. What makes a John the baptizer in our time and place? Who can fill his sandals?!
After a moment Kevin Krafue spoke up and said something very profound. It’s the parents he said. Parents are the modern day John the baptizer. Others began to agree and a picture of the modern day John took shape. Parents have the opportunity to walk with their kids through the wilderness of this world from a very early age. Parents have a great deal of influence over their kids, parents get to be the ones to encourage, parents are the ones to echo the call of John to prepare the way of Jesus Christ. There are so many distractions out in this world that all children need the strong encouragement of a John the baptizer in their lives.
As the talk continued the picture of John the baptizer grew clearer. The church community, you and I, entered into the picture. Alongside the parents, we are the ones who make the promise to walk with a child on their journey of faith at their baptism. We stand with the family on the day of a child’s baptism and we promise our support. The pastor asks us during the baptism; “People of God, do you promise to support this child and pray for them in their new life in Christ,” to which we respond together, “We do!” We are witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ and are entrusted with the passing on of that good news to others.
This is what the second Sunday of Advent is all about. John the baptizer comes to us this morning with a clear message, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” It cannot be said any simpler than that. In our Advent journey, in our making ready for the coming of Jesus Christ, our call is to prepare the way of the Lord. The hope we have in Advent comes from Jesus Christ and it is up to us to spread the word. The wilderness of our world is alive with John’s marching orders and we have the opportunity to take up the call.
You may have noticed the article on the back of the Poinsettia order form this morning. We have stacks of copies of The Lutheran magazine out in the entry way. The Lutheran is filled with stories of everyday disciples like you and me and how they are following Christ in the world, how they are preparing this way for the Lord. Take one with you, read it and pass it on to someone you know. You may never know who will see you as a John the baptizer, preparing the way of Jesus Christ.
And it’s true, we may never know who will want to fill our shoes. We may never know who may think of us as their heroes. But I guarantee you that there are people out there watching. And let me tell you, it doesn’t take super powers to change the world. You don’t have to leap over buildings or fly through the air to be superhero. Every one of us has the ability to change the world. By simply getting up in the morning and walking out into the world and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and living out his call to love others, you can be the biggest hero in someone’s life.
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