Philippians 4.4-7 + John 1.19-28
Rorate Coeli, the Fourth Sunday in Advent
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
John is not the Christ. Nor is he Elijah, though he comes in the spirit and power of Elijah. Nor is the Prophet foretold by Moses. He is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” John’s call was to make ready a people prepared for the Lord who was coming. A prepared people are penitent. The voice says, “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.” The valley signifies the humble penitent, those who acknowledge their sins against God and their neighbor, are sorry for their sins, and want to amend their lives. The mountains and hills—the high places—signify the proud who think they need no repentance. The voice levels the mountains and hills to the ground, showing men their sins and rebuking people for their spiritual pride, so that they might acknowledge their sins and their deserved punishment, while the voice forgives the humble penitent and raises them up to the status of ‘children of God.’ Sins are confessed. Sins are forgiven. Then sinful lives are amended, for the voice says: “The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth” (Is 40:4).
This is how John made ready a people prepared for the Lord. He preached so that they might know their sins against their neighbor and their sins against God. He preached against their sins of thought, word, and deed. He preached the wrath of God that sinners deserve on account of their sins so that men would acknowledge what they deserve, seek forgiveness for God, and desire to amend their sinful lives. This is why John baptized. God, who called him to preach, also called him to administer what the evangelists call “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Mk 1:14; Lk 3:3). The people came to him, heard him, confessed their sins, then received the forgiveness of all their sins through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Ti 3:5). Sins forgiven, all who were baptized reborn by the Holy Spirt as new creatures, children of God, in whom the Holy Spirit began to renew so that they would bear the fruits of repentance—an amended life—and His fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23). John preached and baptized to prepare a people who were penitent, who knew they had a gracious God who forgives them, and who bore the fruits of repentance out of thankfulness and praise for the salvation God had so freely bestowed, without any merit or worthiness in them.
This is how we are prepared as well. John’s ministry is no different than the Christ’s ministry, His apostles’ ministry, and the church’s ministry. God’s ministers, like John, are to make ready a people prepared for the Lord who will return to judge the quick and the dead. We preach repentance to you, so that you might know your sins, regret them, and acknowledge the eternal punishment you deserve. We lead you to the baptism for the remission of sins, in which the Holy Spirit regenerates you as sons of God who know that, for Christ’s sake, you have a gracious God, and begins to renew your hearts and minds so that you begin to bear fruit worthy of repentance—the amendment of your sinful lives.
It is to hearts and minds renewed by baptism and faith that St. Paul speaks in today’s epistle lesson. In this short lesson St. Paul calls you to continue to bear the fruits of faith—the fruits of knowing that your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake—toward God and you neighbor. He tells you, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” To rejoice in the Lord is to take joy in the Lord, so that He is your source of blessedness and happiness. And how could the Lord not be? He brings salvation with Him for those who are lowly, for those who are contrite over their sins. He brings redemption for those who deserve eternal punishment for their sins by enduring the full wrath of God against sinners. He takes what is yours as His own and gives you what is His, so that there is no wrath, no condemnation, no eternal punishment for those who believe in Him. For where wrath, condemnation, and punishment are taken away there is joy, there is thanksgiving, and there is peace. When you consider what you deserve on account of your sins and how Christ has taken them upon Himself to give you forgiveness and His righteousness, how can you not but rejoice in the Lord?
Many people rejoice in their money. They rejoice in their possessions. Some rejoice in their pleasures. Others rejoice in their health. Some rejoice in the world’s honor and favor. None of these—and whatever else besides the Lord people rejoice in—bring true joy and happiness. They may bring temporary joy. They may bring joy in them for a moment. But like the grass of the field, that joy is here today and gone tomorrow. The things of this world cannot bear the load people put on them. They aren’t meant to. True joy belongs only to the Lord. Since the Lord alone is the fount and source of all goodness, all bliss, and all blessedness, to rejoice in the Lord is to trust in Him, to glory in Him, and be confident that He is your gracious Father who has baptized you, given you the status of ‘children of God,’ and who therefore daily richly forgives you all your sins for Jesus’ sake as you repent them. And so that you don’t think this is something to do only once, or from time to time, St. Paul tells you, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He teaches your hearts to rejoice in the Lord—His gospel, His blessings, His promises to you—so that he writes, “Again I say, rejoice!”
But he goes on. “Let your gentleness by known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” It is sometimes translated “moderation,” to mean that you have a kind disposition toward all with whom you come into contact. This gentleness naturally flows out of rejoicing in the Lord. This is the only way you can put others’ needs before your own. This gentleness, a fruit of the Spirit, moves each one to look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Phil 2:4) and bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2), so that you submit to one another in the fear of the Lord (Eph 5:21). Even if someone were to treat you poorly, with disdain and ingratitude, even if they persecute you, you can still be gentle in disposition toward them because they cannot deprive you of our source of joy. They cannot take God’s forgiveness, His Holy Spirit, the promise of everlasting blessedness from you. They cannot take your identity as ‘sons of God’ by Holy Baptism. You can be gentle—adapting and accommodating yourself to others—for one reason: The Lord is at hand. He will not leave you nor will He forsake you. He will make sure you get the things you need for this life, and, if you are wronged, He will vindicate you when He returns and renders to each one according to his deeds (Rom 2:6).
This is why it follows, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” God takes care of you and all your needs. When anxiety about the future comes upon you, God wants you to make your requests known to Him. The Lord says in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” The apostle Peter teaches you to humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Pt 5:7). Rejoicing in the Lord, then, is the antidote for anxiety about the future and one’s life. Rejoicing in Him, trusting that in Christ, God is your loving Father, will you cast your anxieties upon Him in prayer, even with thanksgiving for the blessings He gives you in the gospel. Rejoicing in the Lord so that He your source of blessedness, happiness, and security means that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. It is not a worldly peace. Worldly peace is the cessation of violence, hostilities, trouble, or hardship. The peace that surpasses all understanding is the peace of contentedness with God Himself and what He promises.
John the Baptist made ready a people prepared for the Lord’s first advent in the flesh. He still makes ready a people prepared for the Lord; a penitent, forgiven, and fruit bearing people. His testimony prepares you for Christ’s return by pointing you to the things that make for your joy: repentance, baptism and faith. Live in these and rejoice in the Lord and in the Lord alone. Live in these and let your gentleness be known to all with whom you come into contact, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Live in these, and let your mouth be filled with prayer with thanksgiving. Living in these—repentance and the promises God made to you in your baptism—and you will be guarded by the peace that surpasses all understating. Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
