Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good morning, friends. Let's take a moment to pray.
God of the prophets, by the power of the Holy Spirit, speak your word to us and seal it within us that we may heed your call.
Amen.
Our reading this morning is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter one, verses 67 to 79. You'll find it on page 832 of your Pew Bible.
Let's hear from God then. John's father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham to grant us, that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the Prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins, by the tender mercy of our God. The dawn from on high will break upon us to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
This has been the word of the Lord.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: That prophecy of Zechariah that Jim just read is often called the Benedictus. The Benedictus, and it's given that title because the first word that Zechariah utters in this prophecy, in the Latin translation, is benedictus. Benedictus, of course, means blessed. And the great opening of Zechariah's prophecy is, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. Now, the Benedictus, you may know, has often been set to music. And that's because for many of us, the words of Zechariah's prophecy sound a lot like lyrics to a song. Immediately after the sermon, we'll get to sing one of many different renderings of the Benedictus where it's been placed to a particular tune. And maybe one reason that these words sound to our ears so much like the lyrics of a song is that they draw so heavily on that book of songs in Scripture called the Book of Psalms. It sounds in many ways like Zechariah, for at least much of this prophecy is singing the Psalms. That great opening, blessed be The Lord, the God of Israel, that you'll find in at least three different psalms. And so many other phrases that show up in the Benedictus come almost verbatim from the Book of Psalms.
But then, as we approach the midpoint of the Benedictus, another theme takes center stage. It's like the psalms recede into the background a bit, and free, front and center is placed this theme of the prophets. The prophets.
The theme first emerges in verse 70, as Zechariah praises God for having spoken through the mouth of the holy prophets of old. But then Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, gets really specific. He says, and you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High God, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.
A prophet preparing the way of the Lord, that is John the Baptist in a nutshell, even before he was born, you'll recall when an angel appeared to Zechariah and told him that he and his wife Elizabeth, even though they were well advanced in years, were going to give birth to a son. The angel said this about that son that he was to name John. He will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
One who comes to prepare the way for the Lord. That is John the Baptist in a nutshell, isn't it? That portrait of John we find in the Benedictus and elsewhere in Scripture, and it recalls the words of another prophet, of the prophet Isaiah. Where we read, a voice cries out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God, preparing the way of the Lord. That imagery calls to mind the words of another prophet, too. Malachi. In Malachi, God says, see, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. A prophet, a messenger from God, an opening act to prepare the way for the Lord that is John the Baptist in a nutshell according to Luke.
Prepare the way of the Lord. When I hear that phrase associated with John the Baptist, I can't help but hear in my mind at least a song from the musical God Spell. You remember that musical? It's based on the Gospel according to Matthew. And in that musical, even before Jesus steps on the stage, we have this John the Baptist actor coming forth. And after blowing a shofar, to call people together, Remember that song he sings. I can't get it out of my mind.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
And he goes on to sing that, and it calls people together so that they join him in that song. And when I read John the Baptist and that imagery of preparing the way, I think of that song.
Jesus, of course, will be the central figure in God's spell, just as he is the central figure in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, the Benedictus of which was read today. Jesus teaching his stories, his ministry, his death and resurrection. They are the center of the drama that is Emmanuel. God with us. But before that main event, before the Jesus show, there's this opening act, John the Baptist singing Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Zechariah's right when he sings praise to God, praise God, the Lord of Israel, for not only God's goodness and the coming of the Lord, but praise God for a child who would come to prepare the way for that Lord's coming. The Lord's coming was not in the form many people were expecting. And so having somebody go before and prepare the way was really important. He was born, we read, among animals laid in a manger. Not born the child of wealth and royalty, born in a mansion or palace. He came not as a temple priest occupying a seat of high honor in the Jerusalem Temple. He came as a prophetic voice challenging the temple authorities to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. If people had been looking for a conquering king coming in military garb, they might miss the one who came in peace, riding on a donkey. If you're looking for God's coming in the wrong people, in places, you might miss the arrival of this Messiah. And so God sent a messenger to prepare the people for the Lord's coming.
And Lord, can a great opening act be a powerful way to prepare people for the main event?
You know, to really appreciate the headliner, to really get all they have to bring. It helps to have someone step on the stage right before the main event and prepare people in heart, mind and spirit for the show to come. The show that will really rock their world.
I was reminded of the great impact an opening act can have when I went to see the Rolling Stones perform back in July. I figured I should probably do it now or never, because who knows how long the Stones will be with us.
They booked a great opening act for this show, a husband and wife duo called the War and Treaty. I've been listening to their music a lot since then. They get that title, the War and Treaty because so much of their music speaks about conflict and resolution. The War and the Treaty. Their music touches on a number of different genres. Some songs have a blues feel, and hearing them perform right before the Stones, it reminded the listeners of how deeply the Stones would draw on the blues music for their performance.
The War and Treaty, I learned, are the first black duo to be nominated for awards by the Country Music association and the Academy of Country Music. There's a country flavor in their song, and that could point A Stone's audience forward to the country impact on that band and especially Rolling Stone songs like Wild Horses or Sweet Virginia. But if I had to name one genre of music in particular that I heard brought out in the War and Treaty, that helped me prepare for that main event of the Stones taking the stage. It was gospel. The War and Treaty drew greatly on black gospel music and performed it beautifully. And after hearing them, then when the Stones did take the stage and come for their encore number, a song off their new album called Sweet Sounds of Heaven, it was unmistakable. The Stones were doing gospel and you were ready for it. Because of the War and Treaty, you were ready for it, prepared to hear that song.
Ah, but a bad opening act, that can crush the main event or it can make them look really, really bad.
An opening act, it could bring out themes that the main event really might not want emphasized. Let me give you an example also associated with the stones. Back in 1980s, the Rolling Stones performed in Los Angeles and they had as their second opening act that night a band that was skyrocketing popularity, Guns N Roses.
That band had just released a new album and you might remember this GNR Lies. And that album had on it a song entitled One in a Million. That song included a racist and a homophobic epithet.
The first opening act that night for the Stones, even before Guns N Roses came on, was an all black hard rock band called Living Color. And during Living Color set, the guitarist gave a short speech stating that hate talk and racist lyrics had no place in rock music. To many listening, it was clearly a talk about that Guns N Roses song. The audience gave Living Color a standing ovation after that speech. But backstage, the lead singer of Guns N Roses, actual rose, was fuming.
So then Living Color leaves, Guns N Roses comes on the stage and the first thing that rose does is give a speech himself, lambasting anyone who would call him a racist and defending that song.
Now, hearing that just before the Stones come on, you might say it colored how people then heard the Stones that night. When the Stones did not speak out against the lyrics of One in a Million, as Living Color had, but seemed to praise Guns and Roses performance. It sounded like they were supporting that song. And I imagine that when some heard the Stones performed that night, genres of music that emerged from black communities, genres like the blues, they sounded for many, not like a white band honoring those traditions, but appropriating them and not recognizing the community to whom their music owed so much.
And as if all this wasn't bad enough, Guns N Roses were unrehearsed. Rose fell off the stage. And he would proclaim during the concert, you know, this may be the last show we ever do because other members of the band are doing too many drums.
You can hear this, it's on video.
And those were in fact the last shows the Stones would do for decades. It was like the audience was watching a band implode before their eyes. That became the drama of the night, not the Rolling Stones performance, touring behind not one of their strongest albums. Anyway, that's not what you want in an opening act. The Gospels make clear time and again. John the Baptist was not there to be the heart of the drama, to seize the spotlight, to make headlines himself, to be the news the next day. He was there to be the opening act, pointing forward to the show that would really rock the house. He was there to prepare people so they could truly experience all the main events would have to offer. John was just the right opening event, opening act for the coming of God as we knew it in Christ.
You want an opening act to lift up the right themes, you know, not the wrong ones. To alert your ears to the genres you should be listening to in the one to come. John did that, highlighting the role of prophets, pointing people forward to the greatest prophet of all who would come on stage right after him, Jesus the Christ. Prophets, you know, they called people to turn from sin.
They called people to turn to God's commandments and God's ways. They invited people to the wilderness to hear God speak anew, to learn God's ways and to rely on God for their daily bread. Prophets relentlessly cried for justice and pointed to a day that it would flow down like water and righteousness like an ever flowing stream. Prophets would proclaim God's care for the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and call God's people to defend them. The prophets challenged those with wealth and resources to generosity and redistribution. Prophets spoke of the tender mercy of God, of a God who's compassionate and cares for God's people like a parent would their own children. These prophetic themes were placed center stage in the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist, the one who Prepared the way for the greatest prophet of all. And as people saw God at work in that opening act, John the Baptist, they were better prepared for the one who would come looking not so much like royalty, but more like a prophet. Not so much like an imperial commander, but more like a humble herald of peace. Not so much like a Pharisee who looked down on sinners and more like an associate, a friend of sinners.
Thanks to John the Baptist, preparing the way some eyes could see in a child born in a manger. Not a nobody, but the very coming of the Lord.
Thanks to John, there were hearts prepared for the one who truly could proclaim sins forgiven and could baptize not just with water, but with Holy Spirit, filling people with the very presence of God, surrounding them, shaping them, molding them.
Blessed or benedictus be the Lord, the God of Israel, for providing an opening act to point people forward to the coming of the Lord. Praise God for John the Baptist and praise God for you. For you. For isn't your calling also that of preparing the way of the Lord? You and I, aren't we all? God's gift of an opening act.
This season of Advent, we're all remembering and celebrating and reminding children of Christ's coming. We're pointing forward to that great day the prophets imagined where the fullness of God's presence and love and mercy as we knew it in Christ will be known in full in that great day to come. We remember in Advent that we're waiting. We're waiting for all God has yet to do in Christ. And so we get to take on a John the Baptist like role. We get to sing Prepare ye the Way of the Lord like John did. And I wonder, I wonder, how do you sing that song? How do you prepare hearts and minds, yours and others, for all God has yet to do in Christ?
How are you preparing the world for the coming our Savior?
This past Wednesday, many of us got to attend a memorial service for Bill Pinal. Some of us knew Bill as a colleague at Fuller. Some of us, including me, had been blessed to have him as an instructor in preaching and evangelism. Some of us have been impacted by his speaking or preaching or writing. He graciously preached at this church in the past. And some of us knew him as mentor or as friend. The new center for African American Church Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary is named after this extraordinary disciple of Jesus Christ. And getting to hear people share about the impact of Bill's life and witness last Wednesday, it was like hearing of a modern day John the Baptist who prepared hearts and minds to know the fullness of Christ's saving love that transform not just hearts, but communities, societies, even nations.
One of my own strongest memories of Bill came back when I was a student at Fuller in the early 90s. I had heard lectures that Bill gave on preaching and on the importance of evangelism and personal conversion to Jesus Christ. I knew those were themes Bill was passionate about.
But then I remember well a talk I heard him give as part of a forum at Fuller Seminary. On this particular day in 1991, a US led coalition had recently launched an aerial bombing campaign against Iraq and Fuller was hosting a forum on some of the issues raised by the war. One of the speakers was then President Richard Mao, who spoke about the just war tradition in Christianity. Another speaker was David Augsburger, who spoke of the tradition of pacifism and non violence in the Christian faith. And then there was Bill, who spoke powerfully into my ear, prophetically about war and race. He noted how many of those actually fighting in Iraq at that time, how many of those being sent by the United States to Iraq were African Americans like him? He posed a powerful prophetic question for us. Why are so many of the lives placed in the path of bullets and bombs carrying out the wars of a nation, people of color?
It was a call to repentance that pierced my heart and mind that day. And it was one of many times in my life, you know, when the Jesus of scripture emerged in powerful prophetic tones for me. A savior who posed piercing questions back in his time and poses them still for us. Bill helped me to see that day how the coming of God in Christ would not only be the outpouring of love and mercy, forgiveness and welcome, but it would also be world upending, controversy stirring and life and society transforming.
That was Bill.
How might you prepare the way of the Lord? What themes might you highlight for people that will help prepare hearts and lives for all Christ has yet to bring? Might you highlight the prophets in their call away from sin and towards God and God's law and God's commandments?
Might your theme be baptism or the power of personal or social conversion? Might the wilderness be your theme directing people to the natural environment and how it can be a space to hear God's voice anew and how rich relationship with it is an urgent call for disciples today.
Might teaching be your way to prepare people? The teaching of Scripture or of theology or the history of the church, whether to children, to youth, to young adults, to older adults. Might that be the way you help prepare people for the world Christ is ushering in and will one day bring in full? Or might prayer be your call alerting people to the relationship we can know daily with God through Christ in pointing them forward to the fullness of rich communion we will know in the future? Or might service be your witness pointing to the one who came and will come again not to be served but to serve the one who gave his life as a ransom for many and points forward to a rich community of mutual service we will know in him as part of his body. Might generosity be your example and witness leading others to look that radical generosity and the kingdom of sharing that is coming in Christ? Or might worship be your theme preparing communities and spaces like this one for that day? Our lives together will be unending praise as we sing with the psalms and Zechariah and the saints through history. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.
How will you be an opening act for the coming of Christ? How will you sing John the Baptist song and my hope is that you'll leave here with that song too stuck in your mind, you know. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. And sing it too. Try a little higher key. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Sing that once again. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Amen.
