Observe Advent Properly!

3rd Sunday in Advent, 12/14/14
John 1:6-8, 29-38


Observe Advent Properly!
I. With joy
II. With humility


We said it several times already today. This is the Advent season. But how many people recognize that fact? Even non-Christians are aware of the Christmas season and they have their traditional ways of celebrating it without Christ in it, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find one that is aware that this is really the season of Advent in the church year. And that doesn’t surprise us and it shouldn’t surprise us.

But how many Christians are aware of it? As a liturgical congregation that closely adheres to observing the church year, we’re all well aware of it. But what about those Christians whose worship life is not closely regulated by the church year? For them is today simply a couple Sundays before Christmas? I don’t know the answer to that question; perhaps some of you who know such Christians would know.

But speculation about others isn’t the point. The point is what about you? Are you aware that this is the Advent season? It’s a season; it’s not just an hour of worship focus once a week for four weeks. It’s a season of preparation for the coming of our Savior.

So, what’s the proper way to observe it? The great Advent prophet John the Baptist helps us answer that question today as we find it in the opening words of St. John’s Gospel before us this morning. God had placed John the Baptist on this earth in order that his people would observe Advent properly. So let’s do that. Observe Advent properly. Let’s see what’s involved as we ponder these words from our God.

Part I.

There are times in our lives when we wait for help from people with a good deal of angst. For instance, you’ve got a messy sewer backup in your home. You called the plumber hours ago and he said he’d be there as soon as possible, but he can’t get there soon enough from your point of view. You have a problem and it’s getting worse every minute. Have you ever waited in an emergency department to be seen by a doctor? Unless you’re bleeding heavily or having heart trouble, you can wait quite a while. Or how about this one? You’re at the scene of an accident. You’ve called 911 and were assured that emergency help was on its way, but with each passing minute, the victim’s situation gets worse and there’s nothing more you can do.

It’s hard enough waiting for people to help; it can be even worse waiting for God to do the same. God promises that he will always do what is best for us, but he doesn’t tell what that is. He promises to help us, but he doesn’t specify in what way. We can’t call his mobile number. He doesn’t receive text messages. He doesn’t even speak to us from the heavens. And so we wait. We wait for him to act.

Advent is our constant reminder that God did act. The only reason that we are celebrating the season of Advent today is that God acted. He made a promise—the greatest promise in all of history. He promised to send his Son as the world’s only Savior from sin. He promised to send that Son as our brother—God with us. He promised to send that Son to suffer and die for us. That’s what our celebration of Christmas is all about. God kept his promise to help us in our greatest need. God acted.

But then that Savior lived in relative obscurity in a backwoods town called Nazareth far from Jerusalem, the hub of Jewish religious life. It had been nearly three decades since the wise men might have been the last ones to worship Jesus as the promised Savior. Once again, God’s people waited.

And then he appears. Not the Savior; the Savior’s forerunner. He comes not to be the Savior, but to point people to the Savior. John records it like this, “There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” No one likes being in the dark, not for long anyway. Literally or figuratively being in the dark usually brings trouble. There’s nothing worse than being in the dark spiritually. To live without knowing your Savior, to live thinking you don’t need a Savior, is the worst darkness of all. The Light is Jesus Christ. Here is the One who took our place under God’s holy law and lived a holy life. Here’s the One who served as our sinless Substitute on Calvary’s cross. Here’s the One who did everything God demanded so that we could enjoy forgiveness and eternal life with our God. John the Baptist was here on earth to point people to that Light. He wanted people to watch as God’s plan of salvation unfolded before their very eyes. As long as they lived in the light of their salvation, nothing else really mattered. They knew and believed the most important truth of all, the only truth that helps them eternally. Jesus is the promised Savior.

By God’s grace you know that truth as well. You are living in the light of your salvation. You know and believe the most important truth of all, the only truth that will help you eternally. What else really matters? Most of what we spend our time and effort on is only for this life. You already possess eternal life. Now there’s a truth that fills Christian hearts with joy. That’s why Advent joy is our worship focus this morning.

Observe Advent properly! Observe it with joy!

I don’t think there’s another time of year like it. And now I’m not talking about Advent. I’m talking about what our world calls the Christmas season. We’re in it. It’s my impression that it is the single greatest season for wants, desires and wishes. From little on we’re taught to think or allowed to think that what makes this time of year so wonderful is whether or not what we wish for comes true and we actually receive it. And what we wish for might not even come wrapped in shining paper covering a box with a bow on it. It might be happiness. It could be time spent with a loved one. It might be the expectation of an enjoyable trip. We look for all these things to come our way this time of year and forget what we already possess. Our God has caused the light of his salvation to shine in our hearts. We know the reason for the season. We know and believe that Jesus is the light of our salvation. Don’t think God has some greater gift in mind for you. You already possess it. Let that truth fill your heart with quiet, saving joy. That’s observing Advent properly. With joy!

Part II.

It doesn’t take you long to figure out why you aren’t enjoying this conversation with the person standing in front of you. They simply drop one name after another, the names of important or well-known people they have met or claim as their personal friends. And it gets tiresome fast. First, you don’t really care. Second, it’s just a not-so-subtle form of boasting and it’s not attractive at all.

Look at the opportunity before John the Baptist on this day in his ministry. He had important religious people coming out to meet him and wondering if he was someone great. First, they ask if he is Elijah come back from the dead or the Prophet, a reference to the Messiah. John quickly denies these suggestions, but then follows up immediately with, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” He rightly claims that he is one of the important fulfillments of Old Testament prophecy. Now how many of God’s people can make that claim? John could have boasted about that.

In fact, as the work of being a prophet goes, there was none greater than John’s work. He didn’t simply tell people that a Savior was coming. He told them that a Savior is here and they need to get ready right now for it. John had the privilege that no other prophet had. He could take his finger and point right at the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He saw with his own eyes the Holy Spirit anointing Jesus in the form of a dove. He heard with his own ears the voice of the Father proclaiming Jesus to be his Son. No other prophet’s experience came even close to that. John was some very important stuff!


But listen to him. “Among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Untying dirty, dusty sandals in Bible times was the work of household servants. It was demeaning. John doesn’t boast of his greatness. Instead, he views Jesus from a sandal’s level and below. “I’m not worthy.” As great as he was, and Jesus would later call John the greatest born among women (Mt. 11:11), John knew how unworthy his sins made him. He was nothing but a sinful human being.

And that’s how you observe Advent properly! It calls for spiritual humility. It recognizes that we don’t deserve to have Jesus come to be our Savior; just the opposite! We deserve to have him let us rot in hell. But joy above all joys, he does come to us as our Savior! He does bring his forgiveness and eternal life with him for us. He stoops down and becomes one of us to be our Savior. He did that so that when he returns on the Last Day, he can claim us as his own by faith in him.

Observe Advent properly. With humility!

I’ve heard it far too many times already—what children and even adults “deserve” this holiday season. But that’s what our sinful nature proclaims—that we deserve blessings. Far from it! Advent is all about grace. God’s grace caused him to send you a Savior. That Savior is merciful—he doesn’t treat you as you deserve. Thank God he doesn’t! A humble, contrite Christian looks to the cross of Christ and there realizes that he or she already possesses the greatest gifts that God can give any sinner—forgiveness for all your sins and eternal life. And that fills the humble Christian with joy. Observe Advent properly and receive God’s great gifts! Amen.