december 17 2023
December 17th 2023
Old Testament: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm: Psalm 126
Epistle: 1st Thessalonians 5:16-24
Gospel: John 1:6-8, 19-28
Sermon Text: John 1
Sermon Title: “The Voice”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
How many of you have watched a talent show called the “Voice”? It has been around for at least 10 years, but I have seen it only a handful of times on video/you tube. It is a singing competition described in one ad as “the search for the country’s best undiscovered talent”. The series employs a panel of four (rotating) coaches; who are famous singers and musicians from many different styles of music. These coaches critique their performances and try to guide them through the competition of that particular season, but as the ad says, “only one artist will be crowned the Voice” for that year.
So, how is “the Voice” for a particular year determined? Not necessarily by talent, though this is not saying they aren’t talented, but that is not the only criteria. “The Voice” is determined by how popular they are with the viewers who vote for their favorites by telephone, internet, texting, and I Tune purchases. (What makes them popular could be the style of music they do, or their appearance, or many other such factors).
I should add that many of the winners and more than a few of the losers, have gone on to have success on the music charts. This is all fine as far as it goes, in pop culture, one would expect success to be defined, at least in part by popularity. But even in the music industry there are a fair number of artists/people who are more concerned with the integrity of their art/performances than they are about their popularity, which may come and go with ever changing music styles. Now, you may be wondering why I am talking about this in a sermon. It’s not really my style of sermon. I am certainly not trying to become more relevant or popular, which is what the contestants on “the Voice” are doing.
I got to thinking about this show because of something I read in the Gospel this morning. You see, when asked what he had to say about himself, John the Baptist replied, “I am the VOICE … (what kind if voice?) the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said”. (John 1:23)
Obviously, John the Baptist is not a pop singer, and we do not know what his voice actually sounded like; but there are other ways in which his voice was quite different than the ones in the television show and those in his day. If you know anything at all about John the Baptist, becoming popular; pleasing the largest number of people was the last thing on his mind. (as it should have been and as it should be with all preachers)
John was only interested in pleasing an audience of One, the Lord who called him to preach. “The voice, John came as a witness, to bear witness about the light (who is Jesus) that all might believe (in Jesus) through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light”. (John 1:23, 7-8) John the Baptist only had one concern, that he spoke the Word of the Lord clearly; which was good since those who preach repentance as he did, are usually not very popular.
Luke records that the Lord sent him in order to, “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God … to make ready for the Lord a people prepared”. (Luke 1:16, 18b) Whether that made him popular or hated, did not matter to John the Baptist, who as we heard last Sunday, “proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. (Mark 1:4b)
John the Baptist was spoken of in the Old Testament by the prophets Isaiah and Malachi. His mission in life was determined before he was born. He was miraculously born to an elderly couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth in order to be a “prophet of the Most High … to give knowledge of salvation to His people, in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of God … to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death”. (Luke 1:76-79a) This is part of the pre-Christmas account in Luke 1.
If John the Baptist was all about power and influence, popularity and glory for himself, he would not have answered the Pharisees the way he did; he would have tried to nuance his answers (as we so often do) in order to try and please the most people. “The Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask John, who are you? He confessed … I am not the Christ … They asked him … are you Elijah (who is to come) He said, I am not. Are you the prophet (spoken of in the book of Deuteronomy) and he answered no”. (John 1:19b-21)
Then they demanded an answer from him as to why he was baptizing and preaching saying, “We need to give an answer to those who sent us, what do you say about yourself? (John replied) I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said”. (John 1:23) Again, John had been appointed by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Christ by “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”. (Luke 3:3)
Now, John the Baptist didn’t greet everyone in the same way. He baptized many, but He also warned some of those coming to him for baptism, “you brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance … every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”. (Luke 3:7b-8a, 9b) It wasn’t just John’s preaching that bugged the religious leaders, they also took offense at his appearance, “for John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey”. (Mark 1:6)
In your wildest dreams, can you even imagine a man like John the Baptist, trying to win a popularity contest? I cannot. When many of the people began to leave John and follow Jesus, that was exactly what he wanted. He said, “this joy of mine is now complete”. (John 3:29b) What made John and makes any pastor full of joy, is to know that the hearers are following Jesus.
Sadly, it is true that many in the church want a pastor more like a talent show contestant than like John the Baptist, who points them to Jesus and the forgiveness of sins He offers in His Word and sacrament. They want a pastor who will make them happy/feel good about themselves, someone who will please the most people, by avoiding certain subjects, even though God’s Word speaks of them quite clearly; rather than someone who calls them to repentance of sins and a new life.
To put it another way, many people in the church don’t want to hear God’s Word at all; instead, they want to hear their own words coming out of the pastor’s mouth. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul speaks of in 2nd Timothy; “the time is coming when people will no longer endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and they will turn away from the truth and wander off in to myths”. (2nd Timothy 4:3-4)
Of Jesus, John said, “among you stands one you do not know; He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie”. (John 1:26b-27) Instead of building up himself, John spoke the truth of God’s Word and exalted Jesus wherever he preached, saying without any regret, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. (John 3:30)
John proclaimed Jesus as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (and) this man is the Son of God”. (John 1:29, 34) And it wasn’t long before John did indeed decrease, for shortly after this saying, he was arrested and imprisoned for publicly criticizing the king “saying, it is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife”. (Mark 6:18) (John would surely be accused today of mixing God and politics in his preaching)
Eventually, Herod was tricked by his wife, who could not take being publicly criticized by the man of God for her sexually immoral lifestyle; and so the king had John beheaded in prison, choosing his wife over the prophet of God. The sins of lust, adultery, envy, pride and arrogance ends with the head of John the Baptist being brought to the queen on a platter.
It is dangerous work that the church engages in. What happened to John the Baptist is what often happens to those who faithfully follow Christ. We like to think it cannot happen to us, so we pretend that the evil in our world is not that great; or that our own sin is no big deal, or that the problems we face are easily solvable through man-made/political solutions. Other act like church is a social club; and that if we are just nice enough or persuasive enough, we can be both popular and a Christian; that everyone will like us and want to become a Christian and no one will ever leave the faith; but is living in a fantasy world; not living in reality as it is described in God’s Word.
Out of fear of suffering for the faith, this might cause some to be offended by Christ and to be silent or seek compromise with or popularity in the world. These warnings are to remind you, there is a competing voice, the voice of our adversary; of Satan, the devil, who is very active in our world and would gladly draw all of us away from Jesus into various sins and unbelief. We are to “resist him, firm in our faith” (1st Peter 5:9a), not seeking the things of this wicked world, but rather “the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God”. (Colossians 3:1b)
Christ does not anywhere promise us an easy life; rather He promises His presence, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20b) and that “the gates of hell will not prevail” (Matthew 16:18b) against His church. He does not promise that we will never suffer illness, poverty, or persecution for our faith in Christ; rather, He promises that he will bring us safely through it all, into eternal life. “For the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us … so we wait for it with patience”. (Romans 8:18, 25b)
John came to proclaim a Savior, Christ the Lord, but He is not a political Messiah that so many desire these days; rather Jesus provided for our greatest need, reconciliation with God. For by His death and resurrection, Christ has overcome all of our enemies; sin, death, and devil; and promises the resurrection of the body and eternal life to all who believe the Gospel.
Isaiah prophesied of the coming Savior Jesus, in our Old Testament reading this morning. We know this with certainty, because Jesus said it was about Him. He was teaching one day in the synagogue, reading these words from the scroll of Isaiah and then “the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him (Jesus said) … Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in Your hearing”. (Luke 4:21)
Listen to the voice of the prophet Isaiah as he describes the coming Messiah/Savior Jesus. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort (encourage/strengthen) those who mourn … to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit”. (Isaiah 61:1-3a)
“He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of His righteousness”. (Isaiah 61:10b) What glorious Gospel Isaiah declares to all who repent of their sins, believe His Word and trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins, for John the Baptist declared that Christ is, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world … He is the Son of God”. (John 1:29b, 34b)
So, all we who are Christians, gladly hear and pay attention to “the Voice” of John the Baptist and all the prophets and Apostles in Holy Scripture AND to all pastors and preachers who rightly proclaim Christ’s Word today, for Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me”. (John 10:27) Amen.
The peace of God …