Now Announcing...

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and from the Holy Spirit, who gives us life, amen.

This is the paper that we received on our doorstep this morning. As you can see there are a lot of ads here for a variety of stores. Let’s see what we have here. (Peruse the ads looking for the juiciest ones). As you can see these folks who pay for these ads desperately want our attention. They want to announce to us that their sale is by far the best thing since sliced bread and that we would be a fools to ignore such a proclamation. It seems that at this time of year we are bombarded with messages of various stripes that compete for our attention. It all gets so confusing. And of course the cynic (and former business person) in me asks how can these places sell this stuff for so cheap and still maintain a profit? And my cynical answer is that theses places are still profiting from our desire to make sure we have that “perfect” Christmas. The other thing is that all of these ads say that we can save big money by spending our dollars at their establishments. Isn’t that an oxymoron? How is it that I can save by spending? Save big! Save now! Save today! And I want to scream, Lord save me from all of this!

Ok I think I have ranted enough. After all what does any of this have to do with our texts today? Just as businesses try to get your attention with these ads (hold up ads), our texts are about announcement and about proclamation. There are two announcements that are proclaimed in these texts. And although they speak of two different stories they are in essence saying the same thing. These two texts, rather than try to sell you something, or have you give up something, offer the greatest gift we could ever imagine. It is the gift of hope in a hopeless world. It is the gift of being saved rather than trying to save.

The first announcement comes in our gospel lesson. It speaks of a man named John who has been sent by God as a witness to testify to the light. Immediately there are several questions that come to mind. First, what does “the light” mean? Lets see what the proceeding verses have to say about this:

John 1:1-5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

In the first sentence we get what Jesus’ beginnings really were. It wasn’t just at the birth of the Christ child in a manger. The author uses the same words laid out in Genesis 1 “In the beginning”, to place Jesus at creation, and that he came forth from God as Word and as Light before he came to dwell among us. Simply put then, “the Light” is the co-creator of the world, Jesus the Word of God. The second question is then, who is this man named John? The other three gospels, also called the synoptics, often refer to this John as “John the Baptist”. This is the man who wore camelhair clothes, and eating locusts and wild honey. That likeness was to evoke the image of Elijah the great prophet. But notice that we have a different picture of this man named John. This man, he did not come on his own, unauthorized—to go before the Lord. No, he was sent, he was authorized by God to be a witness to the one who gives life as he entered into our lives in a very real and human way. And he came to testify, so that all might believe through him. He did not claim any proper title but rather as “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness”, like the prophet Isaiah. This man, whom we call John the Baptist, was in effect announcing the arrival of Jesus. And notice something else. He did not point to himself, unlike the advertisers of today do. He did not say look at how great I am. Look at how I live a life that is sparse and ecologically friendly. No, he pointed to, and then confessed, the fact that Jesus was truly the Son of God.

The second announcement comes in the Isaiah text. Listen to these words again: “The spirit of God the master is upon me because God appointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, announce freedom to all of the captives, and pardon all the prisoners. God sent me to announce the year of his grace – a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies – and to comfort those who mourn” (MSG). You may have heard these words before. In Luke 4 (3rd Sunday after Epiphany) Jesus stands before his home congregation in Nazareth and speaks these words to his community. And then he tells them that in their hearing the words of the prophet have been fulfilled. You may remember that Jesus was subsequently tossed out of Nazareth for claiming this prophecy. However, when Jesus claimed this prophecy, he added a stipulation to it. His [contention] was that this prophecy was not just for the Jews, but also for the entire world. That is what upset his listeners so much. But that is good news for us. Jesus was announcing that salvation was not just for the Jews but for all; that is, you, me, our neighbors, and for those who may not have heard these words.

We have in our texts two announcements. The first announcement, the one given by John, points to the One who brings good news to us. John also gives us the example that we should have in our own lives. We are too commanded to preach, to testify, to announce this good news. We all should proclaiming that Jesus came to us, as a vulnerable infant, to clothe all of us with garments of salvation. The second announcement, first expressed by the prophet, and then echoed by Jesus, proclaims the gospel, that is, good news. After all we live in a broken world, where our lives are far from perfect and that we need words and deeds of comfort. Don’t we need to hear that we are being set free from poverty, affliction, and oppression? Don’t we need to hear that our broken hearts will be bound up, healed, and fixed? Don’t we need to hear that we are released from captivity and that we are prisoners no more? Don’t we?

In this time of advent, when we are being assailed with the message of just buy more, it is at this time that we need to hear the message of not to save, be it time or money, or other resources, but rather we are saved. Saved from oppression, broken heartedness, and captivity. Saved by the one who comes in a manger to offer salvation for you, me, and the whole world. Amen