"The Preparation Continues Today"

John 1:6-8, 19-28


[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. [8] He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

[19] This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." [21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." [22] Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" [23] 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.

[24] Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. [25] They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" [26] John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, [27] the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." [28] This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

INTRODUCTION:
Charlotte Byrd told me that their family was decorating their house for Christmas. Charlotte and Randy have made sure that each of their children has a nativity set in their rooms to remind them of the true meaning of Christmas. Charlotte was reminding them all to get them out and asked Katie to go tell her sister to set up her Nativity Scene. Katie ran into the other room hollering, "Elizabeth have you got your "Activity" set?"

She wasn't really very far off. This Nativity scene is an Activity Scene. The nativity started a flurry of activity what with the coming of the angels and the shepherds and the wisemen and Herod's troops. The birth of this baby caused all kinds of activity. This birth changed the world. This child changed how we look at life and what we find as meaningful in life.

Even thirty years later, the child was still stirring up a flurry of activity as his cousin, John, known as the Baptizer, began his prophecy and pronouncements in the desert. John caused so much activity that Jews of every sort came to hear his message, hoping HE was the Messiah. The leaders came to challenge John and to find out who he was. So they asked: "Who are you? Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you the prophet?" To all of these John said, "No!" They got a little perturbed so they said: "Tell us about yourself. Tell us who you say you are?"

I don't know if anybody else has ever noticed or not but there is a marvelous play on words here. At the very beginning of John's Gospel he writes: "In the beginning was the Word," speaking of Jesus. Here, in front of the Pharisees, God and everybody, John the Baptizer declares, "I'm not the Messiah, or Elijah or the prophet. I'm just a voice. A voice crying in the wilderness." They all came expecting to hear the Word. Instead, what they heard was "The Voice" declaring the Word. Jesus was and is and always will be the "Word!" And like John, we're called to be voices, crying, declaring, pronouncing and living the Word for all to see. How do we do that? We're called to Testify, to Magnify and to Glorify God through Christ with our lives; with our words and with our actions.

I. TESTIFY:

A.To Testify means to bear witness, or give testimony and evidence to prove the truth of something. Like John the Baptizer, you and I AREN'T called to be the Word. We're called to be the voice. The voice of testimony about Christ. We are called to be witnesses for the presence of Christ in our lives and in the world.

According to Robert Wayne Pelton's book, LAUGHABLE LAWS AND COURTROOM CAPERS, there is a community in Idaho that requires its citizens to always appear to be happy when seen in public places. Rexburg, Idaho retains an old ordinance prohibiting local citizens from walking down the street while "looking gloomy." (1) Maybe we need a rule like that in the Church. I see so many Christians who walk around looking gloomy. How can we be gloomy when we have such Good News and the joy of Christ is our lives?

One of the Ten Commandments, in the old KJV is rendered: "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness" We translate that to be Thou shall not lie. But sometimes we do bear false witness about our faith. Our faces don't witness what our hearts should feel. We scowl when we should be filled with joy. We grumble instead of rejoicing. We complain instead of giving thanks. If we are the voice, we have an obligation to express the Word as it was spoken, in love and joy. B.In Friday's Ziggy, Ziggy is looking at a sign that says, "Love is contagious . . . we get it from each other." (2)

That's very true and it points to a very important truth, love and joy ARE contagious. As we prepare for Christmas, we need to go out into the hectic crowds filled with joy, filled with the same enthusiastic spirit of John the Baptizer, a spirit willing to share the joy of the Good News of the coming of the Messiah. If you're happy, let your face know it and let your voice show it. It will spread to others. You can be a Christmas evangelist just by smiling, by being patient and spreading good cheer. Love IS contagious. Joy is contagious. This is the Season of Good News, spread it around. Testify. Be the Voice in the wilderness of Chirstmas shoppers.


II. MAGNIFY:

A.Second, we're called to Magnify. We often think that to magnify means to "make something seem greater than it is" or "to enhance the status or position of" or "to increase or make something greater." But another way the word is used, is to pay a public tribute to someone in order to honor, celebrate or praise them.

That's what you and I are called to do when we're called to magnify the Lord. We can't make Christ any bigger than Christ already is, except in our hearts and minds and in our lives by putting Christ in first place. But we can live a life that pays tribute to Christ. We can live a life that celebrates Christ's presence and praises Christ for the salvation which we have experienced. We can magnify the Lord. We can be the Voice which sings praise to God through Christ and because of Christ.

B.It's time to magnify the Lord, to let the greatness of God's incarnated love shake us up and stir our souls. When we magnify the Christ child, we no longer coo and cluck over a baby Jesus "meek and mild." Instead, our eyes and our hearts are opened to the enormity of God's gift to us, and what that gift means in our lives. Our knees tremble at the thought of the tremendous love and sacrifice that lies wrapped in a manger crib.

So, how do we become the voice, how do we pay public tribute to honor and praise Christ during the Christmas season without being a public nuisance? Well, the first place to begin is in your home. Express your faith to your family. Share the Christmas story. Share how it has impacted your life. Share your best Christams memories. Spend time together at Church and at home. Don't get so over involved that you miss the glorious family moments.

Let me suggest something else that may be very hard for some of you. If your heart is aching this Advent season for any reason: the loss of love in a marriage, the memory of someone you love who is now with God, concern about a teenage child, concerns about your health. Don't let despair defeat you. Replace the blues with Joy. This is the season of Good News. Find some way to share the Good News to defeat the blues. Join a group that is singing carols, work in a shelter, adopt a needy child for Christmas, think of shut-ins who have no one to care about them; do something positive, something heart-warming, something that will bring someone else joy. Joy has a way of boomeranging and giving the person who gives it more joy than the one who receives it. Be the Voice, Magnify the Lord.


III. GLORIFY:

A.Finally, we're called to Glorify God. Maybe the first question we should ask is: Who is at the center of your Christmas? Santa or the Savior? What do your Christmas traditions, activities and attitudes really glorify? Let me get specific. During this season would you rather listen to "Here Comes Santa Claus" or "O Holy Night"? Believe it or not our taste in Christmas music reveals what we most honor and glorify, what we truly worship and proclaim during the Advent season.

B.I just read the story of a woman who was very busy on the day before Christmas. She had her little son with her and was running from store to store. She had just come from the supermarket and now was battling her way through the department store for some last minute gift buying. She had made her purchases and was looking around for her son so that she could rush home and finish decorating the house.

The little boy was looking at a crib set, a manger scene. He saw his mom and yelled out, "Mommy, Look! It's Jesus. There's the baby Jesus in the crib!"

Very impatiently the mother grabbed him by the arm and said, "Come on, we're in a hurry. We don't have time for that." (3)

Especially at Christmas we are called to be the Voice and glorify God. We glorify God not just by making time for God but by putting God first. When we put God first, there is always time for God. When we put God first, God always gets the glory. When we put God first, then like John we are the Voice; the Word gets spoken and we glorify God. When we testify and magnify we glorify God.


CONCLUSION:
During the Advent and Christmas season we're called to be the Voice that spreads the Word. The preparation conctinues. We're called to Testify, to Magnify and to Glorify the Word made flesh which dwelt among us.

The Kellogg's cereal people found that the sales of their staple cereal, Kellogg's Corn Flakes, were falling below all of the high tech competition cereals. Convinced of the value of Corn Flakes, they instituted an advertising campaign in which people were told to "taste them again for the very first time."

Christmas can be like that. A relationship with Christ can be like that. If your Christian life has become dry, stale, expected, normal, cold . . . maybe it's time that you got to know Christ again for the very first time. (4) Come to the manger. Meet the baby Jesus again for the very first time. Let Christ enter your life and warm your heart. Let the Holy Spirit bring a fresh blessing. And then let yourself become the Voice and share the Good News of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Get invovled in the activity of faith. Testify, Magnify and Glorify God this Christmas season.

This is the Word of the Lord for this day.

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  1. (New York: Walker and Company, 1993), p. 75.
  2. Ziggy, Ft. Worth Star Telegram, 12/13/96
  3. Pastor's Story File, Saratoga Press, December 1996, p. 5.
  4. From Tender Warrior, by Stu Weber, pg. 38, submitted by Damian Gerke, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada