Advent Sermon - John 3:1-18
…and Action!

[start with great exuberance, but each time get a little less excited and seem to give up hope]

A great thing is about to happen!!! This will be beyond anything you have seen or experienced.

[wait]

I promise you, this will be fantastic. Really good for you. Better than popcorn!!

[wait]

It will be amazing. Really.

[wait]

Any time now…

[wait]

Well, maybe it’s been delayed. Maybe something went wrong. But I’m sure it’s coming. We’ll just have to wait a bit, that’s all.

[wait]

Isn’t waiting annoying sometimes? Especially when you’ve been set up for something really good. Then you have to wait.

I think the worst waiting is when you don’t know how long. It’s bad enough to have to wait a week, or two weeks, or 3 weeks (like for Christmas), but when you don’t know how long you have to wait, that’s horribly difficult.

[wait]

There’s only one thing that makes that kind of waiting even more unbearable. When there’s nothing to do. Time just seems to drag on forever. A minute seems like and hour. “When’s it going to come? When’s it going to come?”

[wait]

After a while, I just can’t stand it anymore. I start to fidget. I start to play games in my mind. I get out my brain [show Pocket PC] and play solitaire. I start looking for signs that it’s coming. Something to keep myself occupied!! How hard it is to just sit and wait.

[wait]

I wonder if that’s what it felt like for the people who went out to hear John? “Someone is coming” he said. “Someone much greater than I.” “Someone who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit, not just with water.” I can imagine the first question people would ask: “When?”. And John would look them in the eye and reply, “I don’t know, but soon”.

“Soon?” “What do you mean, soon?”

“Soon.”

“How soon?”

“Soon.”

“But what do we do until then?”

“Wait.”

“Just wait?”

“Wait.”

“But there must be something we can do to hurry this up?”

“Well, I have this water. We’re at this river. Why not be baptised?”

“Will that make him come sooner?”

“No.”

“Then why bother?”

“It will help you get ready.”

“Huh?”

“Baptism is a symbol. It’s a sign that you have made some choices in your life that will help you be ready when he comes. It’s a sign that you have recognised that not everything in your life is the way God wants it to be and that you have decided to make some changes.”

“Changes?”

“Yes, changes. Do you remember that closet full of clothes you have at home? All those clothes that you don’t wear, or that don’t fit, or are out of style? Why do you still have them? Why not give them to someone who needs them? Changes.”

”Or how about the person at work that keeps stealing your lunch? You know who it is. Instead of reporting them to management so they get fired, why not invite them out to lunch some day, pay for their meal, and get to know them better? Changes.”

“Treat everyone else with respect, as you expect to be treated. Be generous with what God has given you. Make friends. Share yourself gladly. Don’t let other people’s negativity or evil trap you and drag you down. Help where you can and leave things well enough alone when you can’t. Keep your nose to yourself. Changes.”

“Then when he comes, and he is coming, then you’ll be ready. Then your life will be in line with his life and with God’s hopes and dreams for you. Then, because of those changes you choose to make, the world will be different; better. Maybe only a little; maybe a lot; but when it comes to better, every little bit helps and every little bit counts.”

And I think some would walk away frustrated, shaking their heads. But others would go home with a smile on their face and a glint of determination in their eyes, sopping wet.

During this Advent season, we too wait. We wait for Christmas. We wait for Jesus. We don’t know how long. But following John’s advice, while we wait, we prepare.

And to help us be active with those preparations, here are some things to think about and work on this week.

1. If John was talking directly to you about changes, what would he suggest?

2. Other than baptism, what are some signs that show people that you are choosing to live in line with the One who is coming and with God’s hopes and dreams for you?

3. Spend some time this week imagining what it might be like when the wait is over.

AMEN.