"Prepare the Way of the Lord"
Luke 3:1-6
12/10/06
This time of year I imagine that many of you will
either host or attend a Christmas party or two. And if I told you
to prepare for such a party at your home, youd know exactly what to
do. Youd send out the invitations. Youd probably vacuum,
dust, and clean up around the house. Youd go to the grocery store
to buy the food youd need for the occasion. You might even
decorate your home with all kinds of things appropriate for the
holiday. Yes, it might be a lot of work and some things about it
might not be so fun, but preparing for a party on the whole is usually
a work of love.
So, when we come to todays text where John is
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and we
are told to prepare the way of the Lord, at first glance this looks
like an easy thing to do. Sure, there might be some work on our
part and some of it might not be so fun, but on the whole preparing the
way of the Lord should be an exciting endeavor filled with joy.
But theres a two-fold problem here: first, we have our own ideas
about how to prepare the way of the Lord and dont really know how to
properly prepare His way; second, even when we are instructed as to how
we are supposed to prepare the Lords way, we actually think that we can
do it ourselves, when in reality we cannot.
First, we have our own ideas about how to prepare
the way of the Lord. Heres where our misunderstanding of
repentance comes in. When we hear that word repent, all kinds of
different ideas come into our heads. Some think this means you
have to clean up your life before Jesus can be received as a guest into
your home. In other words, those sins that you know you commit
must be stopped. No one forces you to commit those sins, after
all. You do them by your own volition. Sin is an act of the
will, right? So, stop sinning. The less you sin, the more
youll prepare the way of the Lord. Then, once you stop sinning,
the next thing you need to do is get holy. In order to get holy
you have to do holy things, like going to church more often, reading
your Bible and praying more often, helping others and being nice to
them, giving money to the church or other worthy charities, and so
forth. Follow the golden rule about doing unto others as you
would have them do unto you, and youll be well-prepared to receive the
Lord when He comes to you. For Luther, preparing the way of the
Lord included punishing the body physically and living a simple and
austere lifestyle.
But all of this is not what the Scriptures mean when
they talk about true repentance, the proper way to prepare the way of
the Lord. True repentance consists of two parts: contrition
(or sorrow on account of sin) and faith (or trust in the promises of
God in Jesus). When you are contrite you realize that you have
sinned against God in your thoughts, words, and deeds, both by what you
have done that you shouldnt have and by what you have failed to do that
you should have. When you are contrite you confess this to
God. You not only confess the sins that you are aware of, but
even the ones youre not aware of. In fact, you confess that you
are guilty of all sins, that you have broken every one of Gods
commandments, and that you deserve nothing but Gods temporal and
eternal punishment. Our Confessions talk about repentance as
terror on account of sin and Gods wrath, the realization that you ought
to spend eternity in hell, suffering the torments of the lake of fire
forever.
When you are truly repentant you realize that no
amount of good works or lifestyle changes on your part will help you
out of this predicament. When you are truly repentant you confess
what God says about you, that you are spiritually dead in your
trespasses and sins, that there is no good that dwells within you, and
that you are in fact an enemy of God from birth. Which answers
the second part of our question as to whether we have the ability to
prepare ourselves to receive the Lord when He comes to us. The
answer is No! We are not only unable, but we are also unwilling
to work up true terror and sorrow over our sins and to confess that we
deserve nothing but Gods judgment and wrath. Its Gods word of Law
that works this in us. Gods commandments reveal to you that you
have not perfectly obeyed Him. It shows you that you are not
righteous and holy and that you cannot become righteous and holy by
your works. And it condemns you and sentences you to hell for
such unrighteousness. So, when we are told to prepare the way of
the Lord, the first thing we must confess is that we dont know how to
properly prepare the way of the Lord and that we cannot prepare the way
of the Lord as we should. We must be prepared ourselves before
the Lord can come to us, and its the Lord Himself alone who can and
does this preparing as He works on us through His Word.
But His preparing us doesnt end with His words of
Law. Once He has brought you to the knowledge of your sinful
condition, worked terror and sorrow in your hearts over those sins, and
caused you to despair of any help that you could offer yourself, then
He proclaims the promise of the forgiveness of your sins for Christs
sake. Where the first part of repentance is contrition over sin,
the second is faith in the Gospel that Jesus has paid the price for
your sins on the cross, and that His blood applied to you at your
Baptism cleanses you from all sin. This good news comforts our
consciences that have been terrorized by the Law and announces to us
that God has poured out His wrath on His Son instead of you. This
good news tells us that Jesus has done everything necessary to achieve
your salvation through His life, death, and resurrection. The
work was finished on the cross; it was confirmed by Christs bodily
resurrection from the dead; its been delivered to you through your
Baptism, through Holy Absolution, and through the Lords Supper.
Now you are no longer dead in your trespasses and sins, but alive in
Christ Jesus. Now you are no longer enemies of God, but children
of God. Now, not the fires of hell but the glories of heaven are
reserved for you. Death is not your lot, but life - eternal life
now and in the resurrection of the body on the Last Day.
And just as the sorrow over sin was not a work which
you did but which was done in you by the words of Gods Law, so the
faith in Jesus Christ is also not a work which you do but which is done
in you by the words of Gods promises of forgiveness, life, and
salvation for Christs sake. As the Apostle Paul writes, For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves; it
is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
So, we have seen what true preparation or true
repentance is and we have seen that we cannot prepare or repent on our
own. Its only by Gods grace and His work in us by His Word that
we are brought to repentance and faith, which prepares the Lords way
for Him to come to us with His gifts. But when John preaches, he
gives the command, Prepare the way of the Lord. Some might say,
If we are commanded to prepare the way of the Lord, that must mean that
we are able to prepare the way of the Lord. After all, God
wouldnt command us to do something that were unable to do, would
He? Well, just look at the ten commandments. Are these
things you can do? Can you fear, love, and trust in God above all
things with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind? Can you
perfectly love your neighbor as yourself? According to Gods Word,
the answer is No! The commandments first and foremost job is to
show that you havent kept them. The command to prepare the way of
the Lord also reveals our inability to do it. But as the Word of
God has its way with you, revealing your sin and revealing your Savior,
then the work of preparing the way of the Lord happens, and you repent
of sin and trust in His promise of forgiveness. Then and only
then, will all obstacles be removed from hindering Jesus and His gifts
from coming to you. Then and only then will transformation occur
in your life as the Holy Spirit works through the Word and the
Sacraments to cause you to live holy lives, working in you what is
pleasing to Him, producing the fruits of repentance. Then and
only then will every valley will be filled up, every mountain and hill
will be brought low, the crooked will become straight, and the rough
roads smooth. The obstacles that would hinder Christ and His
gifts from getting to you will be removed by the Lord Himself.
And with the obstacles removed, youll see the
salvation of God. That salvation is seen in Jesus Christ.
This was confessed by Simeon when he held the baby Jesus in his arms
and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have
seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people
- a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of your people
Israel. Now we sing those words after the celebration of the
Lords Supper, confessing that here at His altar we have seen the Lords
salvation which He is delivering to us with His body and blood, given
and shed for us on the cross for the forgiveness of all our sins and
now given us to eat and to drink in, with, and under the bread and wine
in this holy meal. And He gives this gift to those whom He has
prepared to receive it. Up to this point in the service He has
been preparing you to receive Him and His gifts, pointing you to your
Baptism, bringing you to repentance and faith in His promises,
forgiving you your sins. The crowds who came out to see John went
out into a wilderness. There they were baptized, they heard the
proclamation of the Word, they were brought to repentance, and they
were given the forgiveness of their sins. And thats where the
Lord has brought you today to prepare you to receive Him - to the
wilderness where you recognize the poverty and death to which your sins
have brought you, to the Word which announces Gods judgment and wrath
on account of those sins, but also to your Baptism which washes away
your sins, and then to the Gospel which announces to you Gods
forgiveness for the sake of Jesus, crucified for you.
The Lord is coming to you with His salvation.
He came 2,000 years ago to work that salvation, He comes today to
deliver it to you, and He will come again to bring you to its
consummation in the new heaven and the new earth. So, prepare His
way. How? By putting yourself in the places where He is
preparing you to receive Him. Then by His grace you will be
prepared to receive Him when He comes to you. Amen.