Prepare the Way for the Lord

Luke 3:1-6

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar – when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
    every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
    the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”

Prepare the Way for the Lord

There are so many preparations to be made for Christmas. Are you going to send out Christmas cards or a family newsletter? You should probably send them now if you want them to get there by Christmas. Are you hoping to get away for a day or two during the holiday? I hate to break it to you, but you probably should have booked your room a couple months ago. There are decorations to put up, presents to purchase and wrap, cookies to bake, paper stars to make. There are so many preparations to be made for Christmas.

Why, though? Why do we go to all the trouble for one day of the year?

It’s not for family. Under “normal” circumstances you could plan to see your family whenever you want. Under the “new normal” you might not be able to see your family at all. We don’t go to all this trouble for family. As a Christian you know that it’s all about what brings family together – it’s about the celebration of our Saviour’s birth.

If you thought you had things to prepare to celebrate this Christmas, imagine the preparations that God was making to celebrate the first Christmas – to prepare for his Son’s arrival on earth and the work he had sent him to do.

Luke goes into great detail about the historical context of that coming. He mentions prominent members of the Roman government and the hierarchy of the Hebrew high priesthood. We don’t need to go into the details, but Luke mentions them so that you can know that all these true events took place “when the set time had fully come.”[1] God had set the stage to fulfill his promise to send a Saviour. He orchestrated the events of history to prepare the way for his Son.

This was tremendously good news for the people who lived under Pontius Pilate and Herod and Philip and Lysanias. They had been waiting for thousands of years for the Saviour to come, and finally he was on his way. In fact, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,[2] Jesus was already 29 years old. The Saviour had come; he just hadn’t announced himself yet. God had kept his promise. Salvation was on the way.

That’s why we celebrate Christmas and make all the preparations that we do, because God was true to his word. The Lord did come. That is a fact worth celebrating with decorations and special music and midweek worship services. God sent his Son at Christmas to be our Saviour.

But here’s a truth that’s easy to forget this time of year. Jesus still comes to you today. He comes to you in Word and Sacrament, i.e. through the waters of Baptism and the bread and wine – his own body and blood – in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus still comes to you every time you sit down with your Bible and read your daily devotion.

During the season of Advent, we don’t say, “The Lord was coming.” We say, “The Lord is coming,” because he still comes to you today in Word and Sacrament, and because Jesus is coming again on the Last Day.

Jesus is certainly with us today, but someday soon he will return with the clouds of heaven, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God.[3] The Lord still is coming. That’s good news worth celebrating.

But it’s also news that means that you and I need to hear the same message that John shared with all those people out in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”[4]

John, of course, isn’t being literal. God doesn’t need us to pave an actual highway to heaven to prepare for his arrival, but he does call us to prepare our hearts, and John told the people how to do that. He came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.[5]

If you were to summarize John’s entire ministry of preparing the way for the Lord in a single word, it would be “repent.” The Greek word here refers to a complete change of heart and mind. In other words, repentance means that you think and feel differently about both sin and salvation. And this is important as we prepare for the coming of the Lord, because the two greatest enemies of preparation are arrogance and indifference.

I mean that makes sense in earthly things, right? You have midterms coming up. Half of your grade is dictated by how you do on this one test. If you’re arrogant and you think you know everything already, then you’re not going to study and you’re not going to be ready. Or if you’re indifferent – if you just don’t care – then why put in the effort at all? Either way, you’re not prepared for what’s about to happen.

Those are the same enemies that we have to fight as we prepare for Christ to come again. We can’t afford to be arrogant, and yet, arrogance in the church, among Christians, is far more common than you would ever hope or believe.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen it. New Christians have a much greater appreciation for Jesus because they know what they’ve been saved from. Maybe it was a life of addiction to alcohol or drugs or sex. Maybe it was a heart hardened against God – that denied or hated God. Maybe it was complete ignorance that there is a God. New Christians often get it. They know what they’ve been saved from.

Those of us who have been Christians for a bit longer are more susceptible to arrogance. We might think we know it all already. We might think that we’re already leading a good and godly life… until someone points out to you that the way you talk about other people is not only rude but it’s shameful and sinful. We might think we’re leading a good and godly life, until someone points out to you that even looking at a woman lustfully – like the women on your favourite TV-MA TV show – even looking at them with desire is sinful, let alone the Google searches that follow, or, God-forbid, the illicit meetups you don’t want anyone to find out about.

That’s no way to prepare for Jesus’ return as Lord.

Neither is indifference. There’s a lot of that to go around too. This will be my ninth Christmas as a pastor. Christmas is easily one of the top 2 days of the year for Christians. But every year on Christmas morning, as happy as that day is, I can’t help but feel a little disappointment. We might get 70-100 people here on Christmas Eve, but only a fraction come back the next day.

And I get it! You’ve already been to church. Who really needs to go to two church services within 18 hours of each other? But that’s the thing. It’s not about need. It’s about desire – desire to be with God, with other Christians, around God’s Word. And that’s true of Christmas morning, but also of daily devotion and prayer. We can grow so indifferent and can’t be bothered to care.

That’s no way to prepare for Jesus’ return.

The way to prepare is to repent – to have a complete change of mind and heart about sin and salvation. As one poet put it:

There is no mind so good that it doesn’t need to be changed.
There is no mind so bad that it cannot be changed.
There is no sin so small that it doesn’t need to be forgiven.
There is no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven.

My mind is not so good that no change is needed, and your sin is not so small that it doesn’t need to be forgiven. Repentance means seeing those seemingly innocent or accidental or unintentional sins as acts of rebellion against God deserving punishment and death and hell. That’s what sin is, “great” or “small.”

But repentance also means having a complete change of mind and heart about salvation. My hope for heaven is not based on how good I can be or how little I can sin. It’s based on the work that my king came to do.

Again, that’s why we celebrate Christmas and make all the preparations we do, because it’s at Christmas that the words of Isaiah come true:

“And all people will see God’s salvation.”[6]

That’s what Jesus came to give you by dying on a cross. That’s what he still gives you through his Word and Sacraments. He gives you the forgiveness of your sins.

Earlier I told you the Greek word for repentance– a complete change of heart and mind. The Greek word for forgiveness paints a good picture too – it’s a complete removal of your sins from you forever, just like God promises you in the Psalms:

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.[7]

Or, again, through the prophet Micah:

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.[8]

That’s what Jesus came to give you – complete removal of your sins from you forever. And he won that for you by his death on the cross.

That’s why Jesus came at Christmas – to be your Saviour from sin. That’s why he’s coming again – to take you home to be with him forever in heaven.

But there’s work for us to do before then – and it’s not leading a crusade to right the ship in Canada, to protect my personal rights and freedoms, to get Santa out of the malls and Jesus on the grounds of the Legislature Building; it’s not a crusade to get anyone else to change anything in themselves. We have work to do in our own hearts.

That’s what Advent is all about, and that’s what repentance is all about – completely changing the way we think about our sin, hating the sins we used to love and loving the godly things we used to find boring, but, above all, rejoicing when we see Jesus, because when we see Jesus we see God’s salvation and our forgiveness – the complete removal of our sins from us forever.

This Advent, may God give you a heart of repentance too, and may he who began a good work in you carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Galatians 4:4

[2] Luke 3:1

[3] 1 Thessalonians 4:16

[4] Luke 3:4

[5] Luke 3:3

[6] Luke 3:6

[7] Psalm 103:12

[8] Micah 7:19

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Jesus Sends His Followers on a Foal's Errand

Luke 19:28-40

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Jesus Sends His Followers on a Foal’s Errand

You’ve heard of a fool’s errand, right? It’s a task that has very little – or absolutely no – chance of success. There’s no such thing as a left-handed screwdriver or blinker fluid or a can of polka dot paint or cordless wire! If you send someone out to grab them then either you’re trying to make a point in a sermon, or you’re trying to make a fool out of someone.

The last thing I want to do is make a fool out of anyone. But I do want to make a point about the kind of tasks that God calls us to do.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus sent his disciples not on a fool’s errand, but on a “foal’s errand.” To them, there might not have seemed to be much of a difference, but for believers that one little vowel makes all the difference in the world.

Jesus sent two of his disciples to do something that, under ordinary circumstances, would have had very little chance of success. Jesus said,

“Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it.’”[1]

Can you imagine being one of those two disciples, tasked with going to a village to take a donkey from a stranger with only 4 words of explanation if anyone objects? That’s a foal’s errand. If anyone other than Jesus tells you to do that, you would say, “No way! I don’t want to be arrested as a horse thief.”

Even if it were Jesus telling you to do that, wouldn’t it still be hard to do? How could you be sure that it’ll play out the way Jesus says? What if the donkey’s not there? What if I say, “The Lord needs it,” but the owners don’t care? There are so many things that could go wrong in this scenario!

But look how it all plays out: Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them.[2] The colt was right where it was supposed to be. The owners did ask the disciples the exact question Jesus said they would. And, amazingly, the 4-word explanation, i.e. “The Lord needs it,” was all it took to persuade them to let the disciples have this donkey.

This tells us a few things about Jesus and his disciples.

It tells us that Jesus is omniscient – he knows everything. Now, there is no indication in any of the gospels that there was any preexisting arrangement with the owners of this donkey for Jesus to have it. In fact, there’s every suggestion that this would have come as a complete surprise to the disciples and the donkey’s owner. But it didn’t surprise Jesus, because he knows everything – he’s omniscient. So, he could tell his disciples what to expect and they could trust that what he said would come true.

It also tells us that Jesus has the right to requisition our resources. That’s kind of what this whole scene is all about. As we heard last week, Christ is our King. He has the authority to command us to do anything, and we are under obligation to obey.

But the most curious phrase in this entire passage tells us something fascinating about Jesus. He told those two disciples to say,

“The Lord needs it.”[3]

How can God possibly need anything that we possess? Everything we are and own already belongs to him. He is our Creator. He is the one who gave us everything we have.

Not only that, he’s all-powerful. He could snap his fingers and create a Clydesdale to ride into Jerusalem on. But he chooses to need a colt that didn’t belong to him. It’s not even a real donkey. It’s a baby donkey. Of all the things to need, why this?

Well, it tells us the last thing we need to know about Jesus. It tells us that Jesus is humble and gentle.

Here’s what we didn’t read in our gospel for today: By the time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, there was already a well-known plot to kill him. The Twelve were certain that if Jesus entered the city, he would die. The pilgrims, who were there to celebrate the Passover, doubted that Jesus would even show his face. Everyone knew that Jesus coming to Jerusalem would end badly.

But he came anyway. And not only that, but when he did come, although he had a veritable army of supporters singing his praises, he didn’t come in a show of power or with a threat of violence. He came on a borrowed burro – a beast of burden, but more than that, a beast of peace.

Jesus came to Jerusalem in peace to bring peace not among people on earth, but as the Passover pilgrims sang,

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.”[4]

Jesus came to bring peace between you and God, to restore the relationship that we strain with sin, and Jesus was prepared for what was about to happen to him. He predicted it and tried to tell his disciples – several times – that he would be handed over to the chief priests and teachers of the law, that he would be beaten and suffer at their hands, that he’d be killed later that week, and rise from the dead.

And he didn’t try to stop it. He didn’t snap his fingers and create a Clydesdale or summon a legion of angels to defend him. He rode on a baby burro he borrowed from somebody in Bethphage. Because he loves you and was willing to pay that price for you. He was willing to lay down his life for you to give you eternal life and peace in heaven with God forever.

And look what that love inspired his disciples to do. Even though they didn’t know what the future held for them or for Jesus, they trusted him. Even though he sent them on a foal’s errand, they didn’t question him or drag their feet. They went and found it just as he had told them. Jesus said he needed them and without hesitation they served him.

God needs you too.

Isn’t that insane to imagine?

God needs you too.

Not in an absolute way. Not as if he’d be powerless to do what he wants to do without you. But he needs you because he’s chosen to.

Jesus could have ridden into Jerusalem on any donkey, but no matter which one he chose, it would have belonged to somebody. What an honour it must have been for those Bethphageans to give their colt to the Christ, i.e. to answer the call and serve their Lord.

God calls you to serve too. Maybe you don’t have a donkey to give, but, honestly, in this passage, it’s not so much about what we can do in service to God, but how we can serve him.

Think about those two disciples. Jesus told them to go somewhere and do something that must have felt incredibly uncertain and very awkward. How could they know that the donkey would be there, or that the owners would let it go? They couldn’t know, but they could trust in Jesus.

You can trust in Jesus too. He calls us to do lots of things that are uncertain and awkward. I think about the ministry plans that we’ve tried to put into place these last 2 years – Sunday School, community service projects, fellowship events, Christmas services. There’s no certainty that we’ll be able to any of the things we plan. But God doesn’t want us to do nothing, just because we’re not sure how it’ll turn out. He wants us to trust him and to know that even if our efforts don’t produce the effects that we want to happen, his word will not return to him empty but will accomplish what he desires and achieve the purpose for which he sends it.[5]

We may have to have awkward conversations too – make requests of people or encourage them to do something that might make them sensitive, e.g. “I haven’t seen you in church in a while. How are you doing?” “Hey, I know you feel a particular way about protocols, but I’d like you to think about what effect your words and actions have on others.” We don’t know how people will respond, but God doesn’t want us to say nothing. He says,

“Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”[6]

We don’t know how people will respond, but we know that God will be with us.

And we could on down the list.

Those donkey owners were asked to give up their property. They didn’t hem or haw or heehaw about it. They gave without hesitation, without fear of what it would cost them.

The disciples literally gave the clothes off their backs to give Jesus something he could sit on and something a barnyard animal could walk on. They didn’t hold back or hesitate. They gave freely knowing what it would cost them, but knowing that it was worth it.

The crowd tore branches from trees. They saw the opportunities around them to praise Jesus, and they seized them. They sang Jesus’ praises at the top of their lungs, not daunted in the least that there were people there who wanted to silence them.

That’s what God calls for from you too. It could come in the shape of a colt or a cloak. It could come in the form of a question or songs of praise. But the point is that Jesus calls you to go on foal’s errands too. Sometimes we worry that what God promises us won’t come true. Sometimes we’re afraid of what obeying God’s commands will cost us. Sometimes we question and hesitate and drag our feet, but Jesus never did. He rode that donkey straight through the city gates, knowing full well that death was waiting for him there. But he did it anyway because he loves you.

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow – first for your King, but also – for each other and everyone else. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when Jesus comes again.[7] Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.  

[1] Luke 19:30,31

[2] Luke 19:32

[3] Luke 19:31

[4] Luke 19:38

[5] Isaiah 55:11

[6] 2 Timothy 2:4

[7] 1 Thessalonians 3:12,13

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