Dec 8, 2002

Mindekirken Dec.8 2002.
Pastor Jens Arne Dale

A celebrity grew old and ended up at a nursing home. All through his life he had been used to being recognized and he had enjoyed it. But among the elderly people at the nursing home nobody seemed to pay attention. It made him angry. One day he stopped in the corridor and asked an old lady who sat there: Tell me, do you really know who I am? No, she said. But walk down to the nursing station. There they can tell you who you are.

John the baptizer was in the information business. His mission was to tell people who Jesus was. You may have seen old paintings with John pointing at the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John 1.29. But how did John himself know? At his time the Jews were sadly conscious that the voice of the prophets spoke no more. They said that for four hundred years there had been no prophet. But in John the prophetic voice spoke again. If John had spoken today, it would have been as if he came from the year 1600. And in fact he was strange, clothed with camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey. But he was a man of God. He came out of the desert where he had undergone years of lonely preparations in the presence of God. And he was recognized as a prophet, a light to light up evil things. A voice to summon men to righteousness and a signpost to point men to God. He should prepare the way of the Lord as Isaiah said. In ancient times in the East, roads were bad. An eastern proverb said: There are three states of misery – sickness, fasting and travel. Before a traveler set out upon a journey he was advised to pay all debt, provide for dependants, give parting gifts, return all articles under trust, then bid farewell to all. Roads were only trails and travel was an undertaking to be avoided. But some roads were artificially made: The king’s highways. Before a king was due to arrive in any area, a messenger told people to get the king’s road in order.

Jesus is the king who is coming, at that time as well as today. How should we prepare for his arrival? By repentance for sin. In his time, John fearlessly denounced evil wherever he might find it. John rebuked Herod the King for his unlawful marriage. In the end John lost his head for that. John never hesitated to denounce the religious leaders and the worship, which was sunk in ritualistic formalism. Whenever John saw evil in the crowd, he fearlessly rebuked it.

What kind of message would John have brought us today? Would he have criticized a culture which is materialistic, pointed out greed and our lack of concern for the poor and needy people? Would he rebuke a generation that is exploiting nature, would he have talked about sexual abuse and the fact that we too often hurt other people? What is your life, compared to the moral standard of God? A girl, whose parents were quite hectic some weeks before Christmas, prayed one evening: Jesus, forgive us our Christmases, as we forgive those who Christmas against us. Christmas should be a time when we pay attention to each other. But first and foremost it’s a time to receive Christ and worship him. Would John have asked: Where is Jesus in our services? Advent is a time where the light of the truth should shine. Dear God, have mercy on us. Help us not to withdraw from your light.

The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church ·  924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 ·  (612)874-0716