Who Warned You?

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Thus John greets the crowds of Jews who have come to the Jordan to be baptized by him. Who was it that told you that there is great wrath coming, and that you must come here to be saved from it? Who told you that you must be baptized into the forgiveness of sins? Did you simply come to stare and gawk at the circus freak ranting in the desert?

Of course, John is more than simply a lunatic screaming into the wind. He is the child of whom his father Zechariah prophesied, “You, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way.” He is the one upon whom the word of God came, that he might preach a baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins. He is the one of whom Isaiah spoke in days of old when he foretold of “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord!'”

John is precisely the one who called the people to come to the waters of the Jordan, to repent of their sins, and to be baptized into the forgiveness of sins. And he could only do so because the Word of God had come upon him. He preached what was put into his mouth. He proclaimed the message prepared for him from the foundation of the world. He was the one given to be the faceless voice in the wilderness, the voice of the herald who called out before the coming King. He was the prophet calling the people of God to repent and return to the Lord their God. But John did not come to make nice to the establishment.

In the same way, God has sent His men to call people to repentance in this and every age. He has sent His men to be the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. For the same Word of God that came upon John in the Judean wilderness is the same Word of God that sounds forth from the mouths of the preachers in every Church of God in every land. John called the people of Israel to a baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins in preparation to receive the One who comes in the Name of the Lord. The called and ordained minister of God calls you to a baptism of repentance into the forgiveness of sins, that the One who sanctified all waters to be a life-giving flood might enter into your heart and cleanse you from your sin. The one who preaches Christ crucified into the ears and hearts of men prepares the way of the Lord, that faith come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

But why are you here? What brought you to this riverside, to hear the voice crying in the wind? Perhaps it was tradition. After all, when John commanded the Jews to repent and be baptized, they replied, “We have Abraham as our father.” As though that made things all better. Simply being of the house and line of Abraham is a “get out of jail free” card. Just maintain the proper bloodlines, make sure your genealogy is in order, and you are golden. How can anyone proclaim to you that you are a sinner in need of repentance and forgiveness?

After all, you are a good Lutheran. You have the blessed Reformer as your spiritual father. Your grandfathers built this church, and your fathers sustained it, and now here you are, in the same place they once sat, possibly for the same reasons they did. Tradition is a powerful motivator. The force of doing what you have always done is tough to resist. Change is hard, sometimes painful. And certainly the Church is no big proponent of change – we still worship the same God with the same words and songs our forefathers did millennia ago, and which our great-grandchildren will continue to use until our Lord Christ comes again in glory.

But “the way we always did it” is not the way of salvation. Martin Luther is not the savior, no more than Abraham or Jacob or David, or any of the saints of old. If you are here because of tradition, then you are in the wrong place.

Some of the people came and asked John, “What then shall we do?” How should we live now? What is the prescription of the Law? And John told them what the Law says – do unto others as you would have them do to you. They knew this law, and so do you. If you are coming to church to be told how to live, then you are in the wrong place. John was no life coach. He yelled and screamed at people. He cut them down with sharp words and a message of wrath and condemnation.

Likewise, the pastor sent by God to you is not your guide or coach. He is not here to preach nice things to soothe your tired ears. He is not here to lay out formulae to lead you in the way of happiness or success or purpose-driven living. When the pastor speaks to you, he speaks the Word of God, just as John did. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

You do not need a life coach or a twelve-step guide to living the Christian life. You already know what good works are. You are a Christian, and therefore you are doing good works, because Christ lives in you. But you are also a sinner, who does not want God's Name hallowed or His kingdom to come. So you resist doing the good works you ought to do for your neighbor. If you need to be told to do good works, it is because your pride wants a pat on the back, positive reinforcement that you are doing a good job in life. Repent.

Perhaps you are here to fulfill a social need. This is not uncommon, although socialization is waning in importance as our world is filled more and more with TV, phones, and the Internet everywhere you go. But church is a significant social outlet for many people.

Humans need socialization. People need to be around other people who share a common bond, a shared interest, a mutual cause. You need positive reinforcement that you are living the right way. You need to see your friends and neighbors. You need to be in the company of others who seem to care about you.

But St. John says that “even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.” Social time is nice and serves its own purpose, but that is not the primary purpose of Church. Hanging out with friends will not cause you to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Sitting across from people you would not otherwise speak to on the street does not somehow make you holier than those who are at home snug in their beds right now. Repent.

However, if you are here because you are broken, if you are here because you are struggling, if you are here because you cannot fix your life or live the good life – if you are here because the Word of God has been laid upon you and convicted you of your sin – then you are in the right place. Welcome to the temple of the Lord.

This is the place for sinners. This is the place where the repentance into the forgiveness of sins is preached, and the baptism is given which delivers that forgiveness. This is the place where broken people are made whole. This is the place where the path of the Lord becomes easy, where the valleys are filled and the mountains are lowered, where the rough places are made plain. This is the place where “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

For the axe is even now laid at the root of the trees, and your tree is barren. You must be cut off from your roots. You must die.

On the mountain, however, stands the Tree of Life. Upon Mount Zion is the one tree which bears fruit eternally growing and blossoming and giving life. And into this tree you are grafted. You who are cut off from your former ways are grafted into the life of Christ.

Upon this mountain, the one mountain which shall stand above all others, the tree of your salvation stands. The cross, which blossoms forth into bloody fruit, stands for all to see and to partake. Upon this cross, the instrument of death became the tree of Life. What was once forbidden is now commanded. You may – no, you must be grafted into this tree. You must eat of this fruit. This is offered to you, for the forgiveness of your sins. As by a tree in the garden did the devil once overcome, so now by a tree in this garden is the devil himself overcome by our Lord Jesus Christ. Come, see, and eat. Be grafted in, and have His life coursing through you.

The Lord comes to visit His people and redeem them. He comes to give life and health and healing. He comes to wash away sin and give the forgiveness of sins. And He comes to bring light to those who sit in darkness, even to you.

“'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming,' says the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1) The Lord sends His messengers in every time and place to prepare the way of the Lord. He sent John to prepare the road to Calvary, and the Lord suddenly occupied His temple.

The Lord sends His messengers of the covenant to prepare the way of the Lord, who will suddenly come to His temple. Delight in the messenger of the covenant, for he proclaims to you peace, the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. He sends His messenger to you to cause His Word to resound in your ears and lodge in your heart. He sends His messenger to you who gives you Jesus, because He comes to this temple, to this altar, to forgive your sins.

Thus says the Lord, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Mal. 3:6) Wrath is gone. You are at peace. Your sins are no more.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.