Biblical Texts: Malachi 3v1-4, Luke 3v1-6

Advent. A time of waiting. It is a time of the church year when we eagerly await the coming of Christ. The word comes from the Latin, meaning arrival, or coming. I love the church calendar, the liturgical year, because it takes us through the arc of God’s salvation story. It is, in a sense, a metaphorical walk through the story that others lived 2,000 years ago. A story we find recorded in the Old and New Testaments.

But there’s a big difference between our yearly re-enactment of that story, and the way the story was experienced by those who saw it unfold before them. Just imagine, for a moment, the prophet Malachi speaking these words: ‘See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.’ We have the New Testament…we know what’s coming…but Malachi spoke those words 400 years before John arrived on the scene. Those were 400 years of waiting, of hope, of expectation.

And then the word of God comes to John. To an unkempt, poorly dressed man with odd eating habits living in the wilderness. God speaks through John…and it seems that on some level people understand that. Despite his appearance, and his provocative words, people flock to listen to him…and to act. He is preaching the need for repentance, for a turning back to God, for a recognition that birthright was not enough. Baptism is so common for us, but for the Jews at the time it was not. If a Gentile wished to become Jewish, he or she would get baptised, they would then be brought into the fold, but a Jew? There was no need! They were already the chosen people, singled out as God’s prized possession. But despite that John tells them baptism is needed, and not just baptism, but repentance too. Their actions must change. Malachi 3v7 says, ‘return to me and I will return to you.’

This might sound flippant, but John was clearly not concerned with making friends; He was there to make the crooked paths straight and the rough ways smooth, so that everyone might see the salvation of the Lord. John’s words are a quote from Isaiah 40. For all the fire in John’s message, those words from Isaiah are also words of comfort. God has seen his people, they have served their time, their salvation is at hand. God’s glory is about to be revealed, to be seen in all its majesty. They have waited, and now the time has come. ‘All flesh shall see the salvation of our God.’

But what does that mean? Who did the Jews expect? We have become used to talking of this Jesus as our saviour, but the kind of saviour we know is not the one that was expected. Many foresaw the kingdom of Israel being renewed, occupying forces being driven out. There was work to be done if they were to return to the days of Solomon and David. Peace may come, of course, but it would not come without a battle.

Over the season of Advent, and then during Christmas, we’ll sing many songs that talk of the coming of Jesus. We understand him now to be born as a defenseless baby, to be a refugee in Egypt, to be relatively unknown for the first 30yrs of his life, and then to embark on just 3 years of public ministry, before being crucified at the hands of the Romans. We know him as a man of both honour, and also humility, a man of power, but also of peace. One who would heal his people, but also their enemies. One who would clash with those who thought they had their religion safe and well defined. One who would send his followers out to the world, to bring salvation to all.

So, here we sit. On a Sunday morning in Kidlington. Waiting for a saviour. A saviour who comes to us in the form of a baby. A saviour who takes on our human form, who becomes like us, that we might become like him. A saviour who is Christ the Lord. And what does he ask from us? He asks us to repent, to change our ways, to believe in Him. Advent is our reminder to repent, to return to God, a return that is always necessary. Because, as NT Wright has simply said, ‘Christianity is living is more than simply repentance, but it is not less.’

Amen.