Clear the Road Inside

Transcript

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[0:00] is from the Gospel of John chapter 1 verses 6 through 8 and 19 through 28. A few words of introduction before we begin. Again, we're in Advent. Advent is a time of preparing for Jesus. We've seen on other Sundays in Advent, it's about Jesus coming at the end of time. On Christmas Eve, we'll hear about Jesus coming as a baby into the world. Today, we're looking at the preparation for Jesus coming as an adult into his own to begin his ministry in the world. And so, it's about preparing for the coming of Jesus with John the Baptist and at the Jordan River.

[0:41] And so, we're going to talk a little bit about John the Baptist, such an interesting person. And I want to give you this sense, even from the rest or the beginning of this Gospel, John's Gospel chapter 1, that God does things at the right time. God has a plan which unfolds in time and in the universe. If you read Galatians 4.4, for example, it says, but when the right time came, God sent his son. God has this sense of when things need to happen. And John 1 has this grand scale. If you had read the first five verses of this, which we're not going to read, we get the idea, this grand idea of Jesus being the logos. This Greek term is the organizing, principle of all creation, of all reality, present and active at the beginning of time. So, Jesus is this figure that's been around forever as the son, as the logos. But then in verse 6, it switches just to one individual, John the Baptist. And the question that kind of comes up in my mind is, why does John the Baptist get this mention? It's a pretty extensive mention in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. And it's a pretty extensive mention in the first chapter of John, the Apostle John. Why would he get that if he weren't so important? And that's the point,

[2:04] though, is that John the Baptist is important. He's a very important figure. He's part of this grand plan. He's sent at just the right time. And he's sent to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. So, he's part of this puzzle, if you will. He's an important piece. We'll see even more. We'll have another parable sort of to describe what he's like. So, think about that as we read our passage about John being sent at just the right time to prepare the way for Jesus to come into his own as an adult and to begin his ministry that ends finally at the cross. So, let's go to our reading, John chapter 1. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are you? He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, I am not the Messiah. And they asked him, what then? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Are you the prophet? He answered, no. Then they said to him, who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about?

[3:27] He said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. Now, they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?

[3:47] John answered them, I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, speaking of Jesus, of course, the one who is coming, after me. I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal. This took place in Bethany, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. And we ask that you would add your blessing to it. In Jesus' name, amen.

[4:15] Well, I want to use one simple idea that might make this relevant to us, this idea that John came to prepare. We just had Thanksgiving a few weeks back. So a big meal might be in your recent memory. It's certainly in my memory. I tried very hard this year not to overdo it. I think for the first time in many years, I actually didn't overdo it and felt good. So I had fewer regrets at the end of the meal. I left room for dessert, you know.

[4:41] I want you to think about a very fancy, say, an eight-course meal that you might get at a restaurant, a very nice restaurant or a banquet. And, you know, there's various courses in a meal like this. There's, there's a salad course, there's a soup course, there's a sorbet of some kind. There's a main course, there's dessert. And then there's this little bowl of water with rose petals in it. And you can dip your fingers in there and kind of clean them off and feel pretty fancy. You know, you can do that. Don't forget about the beverages. And there's toasts. And there's this whole celebration. Just imagine this nice big meal. And when, when I read this, if the meal was like the life of a Christian, if the meal was like the life of faith, then, then Jesus is definitely the main course, right? He is all the nourishment we need. He's the headliner. He's the center of the meal.

[5:39] You, some of your children may go to godly play or have gone to godly play. And in godly play, at the end of the story, one of the questions that they asked the children to kind of get them wondering about the scriptures is, is there any part of this story that we could take home?

[6:00] Or if we could't get them to remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. So if you could't remember some thing for them. out, you've got something else entirely. And of course, that would be the same with the life of faith. Yet so many people have tried this, is you can't take Jesus out of the story. You can't take Jesus out. He's the main part. He's the main course. So you can tell that we're already starting our own parable, which is something that I'm trying to do more and more of, is to write my own parables. I'm inspired. And so I'm going to ask you at home, and we're not going to respond necessarily the way we used to, is if Jesus is the main course, what course would John the Baptist be? And I'll give you a few seconds to think about that. If Jesus is the main course,

[7:07] what course would John the Baptist be? I think you have it. I think you know where this is going. John would be the appetizer, right? He'd be the appetizer. He's the one that creates an environment that is the main course. He's the one that creates an environment that is the main course. He's the one that creates an appetite for a more substantial meal. And that's what he says even in what he says. He says, I'm here to prepare. Someone's coming after me that's more important than I am, right? So, but that doesn't mean appetizers, in my mind, the appetizer is like the second most important thing almost. Like appetizers are great. They're very nourishing. They're important meals. I think if you take the appetizer out of the meal, yeah, you still have the meal, but it really diminishes the meal without the appetizer, I think.

[7:50] Sometimes as a family, we eat at Chili's. We haven't been in the restaurant in the longest time. So this is a way distant memory, but you go to Chili's and you ask for the appetizer and it's this bowl of delicious chips and salsa. And then when it's empty, they come and bring you more and it's a bit dangerous. It's kind of like Olive Garden and those little breadsticks. I guess they just keep, they just keep trotting those out forever. And there's some funny stories on the internet about people who like stick them in their bag and get caught anyways. So sometimes when we eat at Chili's, I feel like the appetizer comes close. It never exceeds, but it comes close to rivaling the main course because I really like their chips.

[8:31] So John is now telling us what he's up to when people ask him. They say, are you the main course? Are you the main course? Or should we look for somebody else? Right? Are you the Messiah? Are you the prophet? Are you a liar? Are you the prophet? Are you the prophet? Are you the prophet? Are you Elijah? Right? Are you, are you, are you the, are you the fajita platter? Right? Are you, are you this thing that we really came here for? And he says, no. He says, I'm the chips and salsa. And I won't really leave you feeling satisfied. I'm here to prepare you for the real thing, for the main course. And he says, no, I'm not going to leave you feeling satisfied. I'm here to prepare you for the real thing, for the main course. Chips and salsa can't untie the sandals of the fajita platter. And you never thought you'd hear that phrase in church, did you? But there it is. Chips and salsa can't untie the sandals of the fajita platter. John says, I'm here to prepare you for the advent of the Messiah, the coming of the one who really matters. And he does this, and it's not in this particular gospel, but it's in other gospels, Matthew and Mark. And Luke, or Matthew and Luke. He does this by calling people to repentance. That's how he

[9:54] prepares them for Jesus. He baptizes them with a baptism of repentance. And he, here he quotes from Isaiah. He says, I am the one calling in the wilderness, which means you have to come out there to hear me. You have to come out to the wilderness to hear me. And I am saying, make straight the way for the coming Lord. So he's saying, I'm, I'm like the one foretold, in the prophet Isaiah, somebody who's going to make the way ready and make the world ready for the coming of the Lord. And if you've ever been on a country road and you've maybe thought about this, and I actually had to study this a little bit in college. I, I took one class in civil engineering and they talked about how they made roads straight. And it's actually a lot of work, right? Um, you, if you've been on some County roads, you know, that, you know, that, you know, that kind of work can be either very difficult or very expensive. And so it's too much to do on some County roads, like on the road, safe to big basin, Redwood state park, which is, is closed, but should open up again someday, right? They have sharp turns. They have sudden rises, sudden drops. It's difficult to drive quickly and safely at the same time on these roads. You just have to go slow.

[11:09] So if you want to level a road, what you have to do is to straighten out the curves. You have to kind of dig, sort of dig, a trench or sort of excavate the side of a hill. And so that instead of going around the sort of the contour of the hill, you go through it and you'll see that in some places. Um, if, if the road goes high, then you have to kind of dig that out so that it's flat. And then if you're smart, you kind of think ahead and you save all that for where there's a Valley ahead of you. And you kind of move the, Oh, there we go. You move the earth from one place to another. So in the end, you have this long straight, flat, um, road, but that's expensive. You know, you can even calculate how much that cost to, to kind of dig here, move it there. Uh, it's a lot of work. Um, so there's some work involved in straightening a road through the wilderness. And that's what John is saying here too, is that it costs us something. It costs us repentance. Um, but a straightened road is a good thing. It is a good thing. I mean, I like, I like county roads. I like country roads that are kind of windy. They're kind of fun. The people in the car don't think the driver likes it. The people in the car get a little

[12:20] car sick. A straightened road is like an interstate, right? It's wide. So you can pass the slow pokes, right? It's straight and level. So you can get to your destination with confidence. You can see far in the distance if there's a slow down or an obstacle. And, and John the Baptist is saying you need an interstate in your heart. You need to do some leveling work there so you can see ahead and get there. And that's what John is saying. You need to get to the destination, get to the center, get to Jesus with confidence. There's some leveling work to do in your heart. And so really there's a road that runs right through the heart and right through the soul of each and every person. And the question for you today and for me and all of us is what is our road like? What is the road like that's inside your heart? What does it look like?

[13:16] Have I put many things in the way of Jesus? Is my road cluttered up with debris? Can I even see him or are there valleys of sin and mountains of pride in the way, right? Is it like this and like this or is it like this and there at the end is Jesus visible?

[13:38] The appetizer, John the Baptist, he is saying that preparation means getting out to the wilderness away from the distractions. And working on our hearts. And that means repenting of our sin. Deciding that the main course is more important than the dessert. Better than the beverages. Better than the salad. It's taking a deep look inside and saying what can I take away so that the only main thing remains. Only Jesus is at the center of my heart. At the destination of my road.

[14:11] So I want that to be our work for this week. To get away from distraction. To look inside. and start leveling our hearts so that we prepare the way for Jesus to enter in this season. Prepare, make straight the path, take it easy on the chips, save your appetite for the main course. I'll see you next week. Amen.