Second Sunday of Advent: Sowing in Tears with John the Forerunner

Unedited Transcript Follows:

Name of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy. Oh man. So I share with you guys before, but until maybe a few years ago, four or five years ago, I always struggled with the character of John, the Baptist, like I always thought What a weird way to start all the gospels with this guy.

I and as I reflect on it, I realized I, I couldn't remember a single sermon on John, the Baptist from growing while I was growing up. Like, I don't know if I ever remembered anyone preaching on John the Baptist. Um I think a hundred percent of my reflection on him involved like distinguishing him from John, the Apostle, especially in John chapter one.

So when when John is writing about a guy named John, I remember in like teaching being like okay different John and that was really all that. I I remember thinking about him or talking about him And so I was a little surprised and maybe some of you guys are and were your first trip to an Anglican church and sticking around long enough to get through a change of liturgical year and heading into Advent that we spend two Sundays, two out of four.

Um, it's a short season and we spent two out of four of the Sundays reflecting on John. The Baptist and talking about John the Baptist or John the Forerunner as some people call him the Forerunner of Jesus, the one who came first. So why all this attention on John the Forerunner, or John, the Baptist He's kind of a strange figure, right?

Um, Matthew and Mark. Both make it a point to tell us. He wore a camel camel hair, and eight locusts. Yeah, so to remind us of Elijah, right? But and And I know like when a lot of people like so he's kind of weird dude. You know, I mean like he wore camel's hair, he ate Locust.

Yeah, he was kind of a weird guy and Uh, and I know like a lot of times when people like are doing classes or training, someone in evangelism, they'll say don't worry. I'm not telling you you have to become like the guy with the sign and a bullhorn holding a sign that says repent.

John the Baptist was like that guy though. You know that, right? He was the guy with the sign saying repent. He was that guy. He was saying like the Kingdom of Heaven is here. It's kind of a big deal. It's gonna be really disruptive. You need to turn toward God now because uh, because things are gonna get messy for you.

Was that guy, he was the guy with the sign and he makes all of us because of that made me feel a little uncomfortable because we know that Not only was he the guy with the sign that we that all us well-meaning teachers tell you you'll never have to be like that guy.

He was the guy with a sign and we know his ministry was ordained by God and he was called to do what he was doing by God. He was called to be the guy with the sign in the Born. This was God's calling for his life. And that makes us feel a little uncomfortable.

Yeah, that God calls some people to be the guy with the sign. Right. And yet, Jesus tells us. Later in this gospel. I tell you among those born of women, none is greater than John. Yet, the one who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

Somehow John. Are somehow Jesus. I'm sorry exalts. The ministry of John of this man. Well at the same time telling us That citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven us have an even more Central role. So, we have Enigmatic figure right in the beginning of all four gospels telling us something about what the gospel is about.

What the Kingdom of Heaven is all about. So over the next two Sundays we're going to be reflecting on the character. John the Baptist like we do every year. And as I reflect on the passages we had today, it was interesting to read about John the Baptist with the words of Psalm 126 ringing in my ears.

Those words that said, It the one who sows with tears will reap in songs of Joy. Because if anyone is experienced sowing in tears, it was John the Forerunner. This man sowed in tears to reap with songs of laughter, songs of joy and laughter. So let's take a look at what it looks like to sow in tears.

Let's take a look at what it means to cultivate a deep eschatological longing, a longing, for those last things, the things that are to come. And let's reflect on being a people who sow in tears with John the Forerunner so that we might reap with songs of Joy. So John sowed this message of the Kingdom with tears.

He had this authority of a message. The the his authority for his message came from. The word of the Lord. It was a response to the word of the Lord. The Greek word for John, received a word from the Lord was Rhema which, uh, it's easy to make a lot of the like words that have big fields of overlapping meaning, but every time so I, I search the Greek Septuagint and every time the word of the Lord comes to a prophet, it's logos.

Every time except Jeremiah 1 1, so there's one spot. Where Jeremiah 1 1 you're going to have the word Rhema used but like the the formula is normally logos. And so what we should see is Rhema probably has a Nuance of a little bit more, like, individualized word like um, he's especially talking, so less like just an announce a prophetic word that's for everybody for wide consumption and maybe a little bit more nuanced and individualized.

So he got a word from the Lord, a direct word. So, a point for the charismatics, he's listening to the Lord and he's receiving the Rhema word word.

Receive that Rhema word that kind of individualized word from the Lord, right? And he was Let out to preach the gospel, the gospel of the Kingdom, Luke makes it a point. I mean, Luke's kind of a nerd. So like that's probably what I Experience the most as we just finished the book of Acts in morning prayer.

And by the end of the book of Acts, I'm like Luke like a lot of detail here. You're kind of a nerd, you know. And uh and he's kind of a nerd here. He name dropped a lot of people. He name dropped a lot of powerful people. Right. But I think, like, what's like, half the reading was just reading all the names of the people who were in charge.

Like we had a six verse reading and three verses, that was like name dropping all these people who were in charge of various institutions, right? But he he ran he mentioned secular leadership, he mentions religious leadership. And it serves. A purpose of raising conflict. The message of the kingdom is going to be in conflict with religious and secular power structures, right?

And the tension will come to the head in the crucifixion of Jesus when the religious and secular powers work together. Crucify. The Lord, right? So, The authority, is this this word from the god of the universe in contrast with these worldly authorities and Powers. There's this direct word from the Lord that gives him authority for his message.

And sometimes we do a poor job at interpreting God's call. Like it isn't their connections or their positions that brings Authority, but it's God's call. It's like, it's almost like, if we were to say, hey, there was a lot of powerful people, doing really powerful important things. But the word of the Lord came to John.

Right. The word of the Lord came to John. And that changed everything. And perhaps the reality that for why this works. And the reason that there's this upside downness to it is because the Kingdom of Heaven is disruptive, right. We learn that from this passage, right? Verses four to six is almost directly a quote from the LXX, the Septuagint of Isaiah 43-5 and it intentionally focuses us on salvation.

You shall call his name, Jesus. Is what we see in Luke 131, right. Which means The Lord or Yahweh saves right. This has always been the thing in the gospels of Luke so far, it's about salvation. Zachariah's Prophecy, over John the Baptist that we read regularly in morning prayer.

Is blessed, be the Lord, the god of Israel for. He has visited and redeemed. His people and raised up a Horn of Salvation for us. You child will be called the prophet of the most high talking about John the Baptist you'll go before the Lord, to prepare his way to give knowledge of what salvation by the Forgiveness of sins.

Simeon's song is Lord. Now, you're letting your servant depart in peace. According to your word, for my eyes, have seen your salvation The message of John, the Baptist then is a message of Salvation, which is good news, right? God Saves. But, In Salvation, that comes with a lot of disruption, right?

This, I this quote from the book of Isaiah has high places getting low low places getting high. Everything's getting flipped around and upside down and it's important that we recognize that although it brings salvation, there's this massive disruption. There's this massive disruption to the, to the power structures of this world to all that kind of holds things stable it all gets Its head, and it's disruptive, So have you ever thought stop to think about?

What are we asking for in the Lord's Prayer? When every day we pray thy kingdom come. Have it. Do we want that? It brings salvation, it's good news. But it's disruptive, it makes a mess. And and John the Baptist knew that so he stood there with aside the Kingdom's coming and it's gonna make a mess.

He was outcasted his entire life. The height of his ministry. Can you imagine this the height of his ministry was seeing people leave. To follow Jesus instead. That was the high point, right? The high point of his ministry, he devoted his life to his ministry and the high point.

The climax was when people left him to go follow someone else, That was the end of his story. And it was to follow his younger cousin. You remember that too. So it's not only just to follow someone else, that was to follow his younger cousin, right? So they all they all left to follow his younger cousin.

And because he knew the disruption that was coming, he ended up surprised. There's a curious, passage, we read about, John the Baptist, where he doubts he sends right before the passage. I just read. Where Jesus says, no one greater than No one greater than John, the Baptist born of woman, right?

But right before that John the Baptist had sent he was doubting he was like rotting away in jail. And it didn't look like things were getting overturned in all the structures were getting fixed, right? While he was rotting in jail. And he sent Messenger to Jesus saying, are you the one we're waiting for or were you supposed to be looking for another?

Right? Because I expected this to be a whole lot Messier. And I expected things to be overturned and I expected this Injustice to be fixed. I expected more. Right? He was expecting more while he was in jail. He he'd ultimately have his head lopped off because the oath of a mock King watching, his stepdaughter, doing erotic dance.

This man knew Injustice, what's a more senseless death than a mock, king who doesn't really matter at all, making an oath because he because he'd watched his stepdaughter, do an erotic dance and therefore cutting your head off. That was the end of John, the Baptist life. He knew Injustice.

He knew this isn't how it's supposed to be yet? We haven't gotten there yet, right? And that's why he sowed in tears. Because he knew this isn't how it's supposed to be yet. We haven't arrived yet. He sowed in tears. There's got to be more. And so, He sowed and we In tears of longing because don't we know what he knew.

Don't we long for more? Don't we long for the injustices, perpetuated by tense race relations to go away? Don't we long for more Equitable distribution of resources? That would alleviate suffering and hunger in a large portion of the world population? Don't we long for an end of the murder of innocent babies through abortion?

Don't we long for all people to be freed from human trafficking? Don't we long for the sad divisions in the church? That testify against the truth of the Gospel to be healed and made, right? Don't we long for more? Don't we know? Hey, there's got to be more coming.

I said this to many of you before, but this Advent cultivate hunger, be hungry, hunger for more hunger, the scriptures say, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for God to bring righteousness and Justice. All that he promised cultivate hunger be hungry. If you had someone paying for a five course meal as a gift to you, you wouldn't stop and get full on McDonald's on the way, right?

You'd show up hungry. You didn't you'd be ready to eat. Hopefully. Right. And God's gonna bring all that is right, he's gonna heal. All that is broken. Be hungry, be hungry. There's more than this. This isn't all there is And so, in tears of longing, Like John the Baptist.

When we know that there's he knew that there was more to come. If God's promises were going to be fulfilled, he knew there's got to be more coming. We should do the same. So we long, we know that, if God, all that, when all God's promises come to pass, All will be made right and we're not there yet.

Right. We long this morning in morning prayer. We began the Book of Revelation. Uh, we don't, that's the only book in the New Testament. We only read once a year instead of twice. So I always get so excited. Not only because we are done with acts, which the end Luke's a little nerdy.

So, uh, so like, but I, I love so, but mainly, I get excited because we're starting Revelation and I get to read the book of Revelation once a year and the end the, the cry at the end of that is Maranatha. Come Lord, Jesus, right? Come Lord. Jesus come come save us like we're supposed to be a people that are longing and are asking for more.

We sow with, with tears, with John, the Foreigner, when we cry, tears of longing, God fulfill all the promises you promised Fix what is broken? But we don't only sell in tears of longing. I think it's important to realize. We also sew with tears. Of gratitude. And this is what I sense is the most difficult.

Tension. Of a Christian view of the last things of the things that are coming. Cause we're simultaneously meant to cry out. Come Lord Jesus. And we know that Jesus and yet, at the same time, we know that Jesus return is the end of all things, and it brings judgment.

And so, first Peter, in the book of First Peter, Peter writes to a church that is suffering and they're suffering persecution and their cry. They know how to sow with tears. How long. And so God redeems us like how long until he alleviates our suffering and returns and judges.

And and when he writes this, Um, he writes so actually in second Peter in 3 verse 9, he says the Lord's not slow in keeping his promise. As some understand slowness. Instead he's patient with you. Not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance when they are crying out.

How long come Lord. Jesus come fix. What is broken? Peter says, hold on. God's not just waiting around because he's just bored and doesn't have anything to do. He is waiting and tearing because he is gracious and Desiring. All to come to repentance. The reason that your suffering is prolonged is because God is giving people more time.

And turn to him. So what's taking God so long, why hasn't he set the world right yet? This actually comes up a lot in our discussions and the answer to that question is God is patient. And he does not want any to pairs, but all to repent and turn to him.

That's the whole reason this age exists. And that's the whole reason this age is prolonged. So yes. We long for the day when all will be set, right? When all that is broken, is is fixed when all that is unjust, is made just again, we long for that day and it's coming, and it's coming soon, and the Lord will one day crush Satan under our feet, like we pray in the great litany, that's coming.

But yet and here's the tension, we're thankful that that day hasn't come yet. Not only because of the disruption that will come inevitably in our lives, right? And the preparation. We all need for that day. We all need to repent and prepare for the Lord's return, right? But mainly because the only reason for the delay is that God is patient and wants all to come to repentance so we cry tears of longing.

Yes, we want God to set. All right, but we also cry tears of gratitude because every day that the Lord tarries is a gift to humanity where he gives them time to repent and turn to him. To repent and turn to him. So today the church spends time, looking at an enigmatic character, John the Baptist or John the Forerunner.

The Forerunner of Jesus is an example of what it looks like to live a life in the already and the not yet. You know, he lived right after Simeon, can declare my eyes have seen your salvation. And yet before he even gets himself out of jail, right? He's in the already and then not yet.

And he teaches us that in the in between time and the time that we all find ourselves in. We sow in tears, we long for the day, when we will reap with songs of Joy. But we most certainly have not gotten there yet. We haven't arrived there yet, we have the foretase and the Fortes are great.

But we haven't had the meal yet. So we long with John the Baptist. These aren't the only type of Tears, though. We also cry tears of gratitude. We're thankful that the Lord has given us another day. Another day to prepare for his coming, we look at the relationships in our lives, our friends, our neighbors, the people, we play with, and we know that the, that the reason the Lord tarries is because he is merciful And he is giving them time.

So we long for more from God, but we're also thankful for his Mercy. Allowing that all these people might that we love that, we know that we care for might come to repentance, because his desire is to show Mercy. So Saint John's, let sow in tears. Let's long for the fullness of our Redemption, but let us all do it as a people marked by compassion and gratitude knowing that God's judgment is taring because God is giving all of us, a little more time.