Sermon -- 3rd Sunday in Advent (December 17, 2023)

JOHN 1:6-8,19-28

WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT YOURSELF?

In the name + of Jesus.

     Every year, Jewish men travelled from Galilee down to Jerusalem for three religious festivals as the Law required.  Avoiding Samaria, they followed a road along the Jordan River down to Jericho.  From Jericho, they turned west to trek up the steep trail that led to Jerusalem.  As they got to the area around Jericho, they encountered a strange, poorly dressed man.  It was hard to ignore him.  He spoke forcefully, confronting the people and exposing their sins.  He called them to repent of their negligence of God’s Law.  As it is now, so it was then.  People identify as God’s people but don’t listen much to God’s word.  When John the Baptist showed that the lives of the people did not measure up to God’s word, they could not deny it.  They may not have liked it, but God’s Law exposed their guilt.  Their consciences confirmed it and inflicted a proper fear.  John’s message was clear: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). 

     Although John remained in the wilderness, word about him reached Jerusalem.  The priests and rabbis learned that there was a voice in the wilderness preaching about the kingdom of God and calling people to repent.  Maybe they would not have cared if the crowds dismissed John as a nutjob.  But the crowds were listening.  They took his message to heart.  They confessed their sins and were baptized by John in the Jordan River.  This could not be ignored, so the religious leaders sent a delegation to the wilderness to get information.  “They said to him, ‘Who are you?  We need to give an answer to those who sent us.  What do you say about yourself’” (John 1:22)?

     The question is significant.  One’s identity is a precious thing.  Just ask anyone who has had to spend hours on the phone because his identity was stolen and his bank account was depleted.  But identity is more than name, address, and security passwords.  People who want to get to know you start with your name, but they will ask for more.  Where did you grow up?  What’s your family like?  What kind of work do you do?  What’s your favorite restaurant?  What do you do for fun?  What do you think of the Barbie movie?  All these things tell people who you are.

     Many people today are confused about their identity.  We hear about people who go on journeys to find themselves.  I don’t know how successful those journeys are if you need to forsake responsibilities to do it.  Some people’s identity is linked to their job.  But if they lose their job, their identity is shaken.  Some find their identity in their talent.  But a car accident can take that away.  Then that person feels useless and worthless because he is no longer what his talent was.  What is most tragic today is that some don’t have their identity founded on anything.  Some deny basic biology and claim to be what they are not—men identifying as women, women identifying as men, and even children identifying as cats.  These invented identities ignore reality.  God created people to be male or female.  Confused feelings do not change those realities.  The devil’s lies are rarely so blatant, but many are buying it and demanding that everyone else does too. 

     What do you say about yourself?  What is your identity?  What matters?  John the Baptist had shaken people to their core by exposing their sins and their guilt.  We don’t want that to be part of our identity, but we cannot escape it, either.  We are sinners.  We bear guilt.  We have been thoughtless toward our spouses.  We have been harsh with our children.  We have held unfair expectations of coworkers.  We have formed unkind judgments about strangers.  We have considered ourselves superior to everyone and have treated them accordingly.  Our love is selfish, and our treatment of others is determined by whether they love us as much as we do. 

     What do you say about yourself?  We can lie to justify our unloving assessments or our unkind treatment of others, but God does not buy our lies.  God’s Law exposes our sins.  Our sins may be reactions to the sins of others, but they are still sins.  John the Baptist enables us to be honest about ourselves.  Rather than invent excuses, we make confession.  We are sinners.  Any hope we have for God’s approval must come from outside of ourselves.  John the Baptist assures you that it does.

     Initially, the authorities thought that, perhaps, John was the Messiah.  They wanted to know, “What do you say about yourself” (John 1:22)?  “He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’  And they asked him, ‘What then?  Are you Elijah?’  He said, ‘I am not.’  ‘Are you the Prophet?’  And he answered, ‘No’” (John 1:20-21).  There was no identity crisis with John.  He knew who he was, and he was devoted to what God had given him to do.  “John came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.  He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (John 1:7-8).  John was not the Christ.  But there is a Christ.  There is a Savior.  John prepared the way for the Christ, and then he pointed the people to him. 

     What do you say about yourself?  John was given divine charge to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ, but he still knew who he was—a man who needed that Savior as much as anyone else.  John said the Christ is “he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:27).  John did not pretend to be anyone other than who he was—an unworthy sinner in need of divine mercy.

     John was not the Christ, but the Christ had come.  John pointed people to the Lamb of God who would be slain to pay for the sins of the world.  The man John pointed to was Jesus of Nazareth.  Scripture reveals the ID of Jesus.  He is the true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, but he is also true man, born of the Virgin Mary.  As man, he suffered and died as all mankind deserves.  As God, his sufferings and death count for everyone.  When God pays the price for your sins, the payment is sufficient for every sin.  When God is slain for the sins of the world, the payment is sufficient for every sinner.  Therefore, God became a man to die for all mankind.  That man, then, conquered death.  When a man conquers death, he shows that the grave must give back all mankind.  When that man ascends into heaven, he proves that he is the way for you to enter the gates and to dwell in the Paradise of God.  What does Jesus say about himself?  He declares emphatically, “Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).  Jesus’ identity is not based on outlandish words; it is backed by his life, death, and resurrection.  Jesus is the Christ.  He is the Savior of the world.  He is your Redeemer from sin and death. 

     So, what do you say about yourself?  The reason you confess that you are a sinner is because God has shown that to you.  You are acknowledging that God’s word is true.  But now, you can say that you are a child of the Most High God.  Why?  Because that is what God says.  You have heard me say it many times before, “How great is the love that the Father has lavished upon us that we are the children of God.  And that is what we are” (1 John 3:1).  “In Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26).

     Your identification is found in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He uses many phrases to tell you who you are, and they are all true.  You are children of the Most High God.  You are sons and daughters of the resurrection.  You are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.  You are saints.  You are the apple of God’s eye.  You are heirs of the kingdom of glory.  And you have been baptized into God’s name to be assured that this is your true identity.  God has put his name upon you; therefore, you are his.  His blessings and benefits are yours. 

     What do you say about yourself?  No matter how you introduce yourself, no matter what you write in your biography, above all things you are a Christian.  You are a child of the Most High God.  Now, you may wear many hats and serve in many vocations—married or single, employer or employee, student, professional, or unemployed, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat, Spartan, Wolverine, or even Buckeye.  But you do all of these as God’s people.  Everything you do is done in the name of the Lord.  Everything you do is an act of worship through which your neighbor is served, and the Lord is glorified. 

     You are like Daniel who served in both the Babylonian and Persian governments.  I doubt Daniel was obnoxious or in-your-face about his faith, but his faithfulness to the Lord was known by all.  He took God’s word seriously in his religious practice and in his vocations.  Even his enemies had to admit that.  Daniel was a servant of the Lord no matter what—whether rightly carrying out official duties or wrongly sentenced to die in the lions’ den (in which the Lord miraculously preserved his life).  So it is with you.  You are God’s people whether you are asleep or awake, whether at home, at work, or at church, whether living or dying. 

     What do you say about yourself?  That may change over time.  Married people may find themselves divorced or widowed.  Children may find themselves without their parents.  Athletes will lose their strength and speed.  The elderly may lose their eyesight, their hearing, or their balance.  The economy may take away your money.  A job transfer may take away your hometown.  You live and serve in these vocations as God grants them to you, but God may also relieve you of them.  These are your vocations; your identity is found in Jesus Christ.  Vocations are temporary.  Your place in the family of God is eternal.  If you haven’t figured out your place in life or in the world, you do know this: Your place in the kingdom of God is certain.  Whoever is loved and redeemed by Jesus Christ can find their peace in this blessed identity.

     “What do you say about yourself” (John 1:22)?  The Pharisees and priests demanded to know this from John the Baptist.  John answered honestly and intentionally: “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20).  But there is a Christ, and John proclaimed him to all because all need him.  Jesus is the Christ, sent to rescue you from death, decay, and disappointment.  Jesus is the Christ, sent to bring you to eternal glory and everlasting joys.  Although the glory is still to come, your place in his kingdom is already set.  And no matter what happens to you in your life, your identity is certain: You are the redeemed of the Lord and heirs of eternal life.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.