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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the text is the gospel reading, especially the part called the Benedictus, or that which was sung just now, and that which Zechariah proclaimed by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You may be seated. The very last aspect of what Zacharias said specifically about his son, John, was that he was going to lead us into the way of peace. There are lots of different ways in this world that people espouse. But in an early catechism, and I’m talking the first century, double-digit years, not triple-digit years, the first century, The Catechism had a statement in it that said there’s only two ways in the world. The way of God and the way of man. The way of God seems right in God’s eyes because it is God’s truth. The way of man seems right in man’s eyes and man is the one that has to have that viewpoint changed by the Holy Spirit so that we see the one true way, which is and leads to… The way of peace of which John was proclaiming. Now, step back and look at John’s life. He is not a normal boy. His parents had him not at the age of a whoops baby, which is typically at the tail end of one’s fertility as male or female. Zechariah and Elizabeth had him way beyond that date and time. Miraculously, they… So John’s time with his parents was very short because his parents went to glory at John’s young age. So John was an orphan at a very young age. The text don’t talk about whether an aunt or uncle took care of John because when you begin to think about Zechariah and Elizabeth’s peers at their age, they probably also were dead. The text this morning talks about John’s possible place of repose until his time to come out when it says, and he, meaning John the Baptist, this is in verse 80, he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel. He was a street urchin, except it wasn’t the street upon which he was living, it was the wilderness. Any of his peers would look upon him with a canted head saying, And a questioning eye. Think about the people that were surrounding Zechariah and Elizabeth. It says in the beginning of the text that the neighbors rejoice with Elizabeth and Zechariah at the birth of John. And then just a little bit later in the text it says they have fear come upon themselves at the birth of John. Why this 180 turn emotionally? Going from, what a great gift, the miracle of God, that God gave you a son, to, this is kind of an unusual thing that’s happened to us. And the text is very clear. It’s what was proclaimed by the father of John the Baptist about who John the Baptist was. And about whom John the Baptist was to prepare the way for. Whom? Jesus. Because it required of everyone the very words that John and Jesus both said, repent. That’s why it caused fear. They knew God had them dead to rights. It’s a lot like when you were a little boy or a little girl. As long as you didn’t get caught, You didn’t think too much about that which you had done. Then when you are called to account, all of a sudden fear fills you and stuttering and stammering and making all kinds of self-justifications out of your lips. Your parents, by God’s grace, was trying to lead you to repent and receive forgiveness. Yes. And to repent means I’m not giving self-justifying words of my point, of my person, but taking ownership so that I can give it away to Jesus and let His blood cleanse me. So there are many things in your life that are very important. There are many things in this church’s life that are very important. The church has just gone through a big strategic plan and you all gave a bunch of input into that strategic plan. There was one thing missing from that strategic plan, and it should be the number one thing on the list. Can you guess what that one thing might be? The number one thing that you need and we need as a parish is to repent. We’ve made excuses to God. We need to repent. We haven’t fulfilled our vows. We need to repent. We haven’t always been as kind and loving. We need to repent. We haven’t always supported others. We need to repent. We haven’t always been a good son or daughter, a good husband or wife. We need to repent. John’s message, as well as Jesus’, was one of repentance and forgiveness. Could that be why the people all of a sudden… Who once were rejoicing at John’s birth, now were fearful of John’s birth. And if you read on in the text, everything about him was talked about throughout the whole hill country of Judea. And it says they laid it up in their hearts wondering, what will this child be? He not only told people to repent, he also told them where their repentance was to go. To the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the way of peace. The only way that God has given to you that has life and salvation. The way of peace through the forgiveness of your sins. The knowledge of salvation in Jesus. And that’s who this man, John the Baptist, pointed. Now when you consider peace, you consider oftentimes an emotive response to a feeling of well-being. Things go well at work, you have a sensation of Peace. Things are going well in your marriage, you have a sensation of peace. Things go well with your children, you have a sensation of peace. Things don’t go well in those three areas and others, and the feeling of peace flees from you. And what is replaced within it is anxiety and worry and all kinds of trepidation. Do you have peace when you are in that kind of moment? When you don’t feel it, and it’s far from your… And the answer is yes. Because the peace of which John proclaimed is a peace that is not tied to your emotions. Your marriage could be over, and God’s peace is still there for your repentance to receive. Your children may not have stayed on the rails, and they may have gone off. God’s peace is still there. Because the feeling comes and goes and comes and goes again. But God’s peace, the way that John pointed to, is an, here’s a new vocabulary word for you, inviolable. It isn’t ever violated. It’s never broken. God’s peace is eternal. It’s inviolable. The peace that you’re feeling, that’s a violable peace. It changes. It changes. Goes with the winds. What you see, what you perceive, how you experience, but not God’s peace. Think about this. The guy that was pointing you and all of the people to the peace that passes all understanding, Jesus Christ, is the same guy that had peace when he saw Jesus and said, Behold the Lamb of God. What joy must have filled his heart. And yet this is the same man who heard the raucous of drunken laughter upstairs in Herod’s palace as he laid his head to be severed so that this head could be given to Herod’s stepdaughter-in-law or stepdaughter. He had that same inviolable peace at both places, but his emotions were at two different places, were they not? And is that not like you? And is that not like me? I know so many of the areas that I need to repent, but I don’t know the ones you do, but you do. And God does, and He’s telling you and me, we need to repent, not just as individuals, but as a parish. That’s number one thing. We haven’t trusted as we ought. We haven’t risked as we ought. This is what John stepped into, a world that was continually bound up and swallowed up with worldly and political aspirations. They thought as many Christians today think, if we do it right we can Christianize the nation. That never has been God’s desire. God’s desire has never been to Christianize a nation. God’s desire is to save souls, but His earthly desire has never been to Christianize a nation. It’s impossible. Not because it’s impossible to God, because it’s an earthly thing. Why did the Jews not see Jesus as coming for forgiveness of sins and saw rather in Him an earthly Messiah to throw off the oppression by the Romans? Because of that very reason. They wanted to solidify their role in society and in their politics and worldly aspirations. That is not the way of peace. There’s only one way of peace. Through the one who brings peace, through the forgiveness of sins, Jesus Christ. John’s message was repent and believe. Repent and believe. And Zechariah told us that he, John, would lead us into the way of peace. You have been led into the way of peace, for there are only two ways in this world. Let us repent. Let us repent. And let us receive the way of peace and the forgiveness of our sins, for therein lies the beauty of John’s message. And guess who has that message still? You do. To proclaim to your husband and wife, to proclaim to your children, to proclaim to your grandchildren and even your parents the same message that there would be only one way, God’s way. In the name of Jesus, Amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
