Messengers and Ministers

Messengers and Ministers

John the Baptist Preaching

Third in Advent

Collect of the Day: O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee; Grant that ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise prepare and so make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost ever, one God world without end. Amen.

It’s the Christmas season, school is out, and you’re off work and having  a “lazy day.” The kids are playing noisily in the playroom. In the kitchen the breakfast dishes are scattered because you haven’t unloaded the supper dishes from the dishwasher. You haven’t done any picking up and straightening of the rooms in the house. You’re in your pajamas, old bathrobe, and slippers.

Then there’s a persistent ringing of the doorbell. You open the door and to your horror it’s the CEO of your company come to talk about big changes he’s going to make at work.

You’re not ready for this! Couldn’t he have had his secretary call with a message that he’s coming? You needed some warning so you could have prepared for his visit.

There are two comings of our Lord - his first and second - and in both cases he sends messengers to prepare his people.

1. Messenger to Prepare of Christ’s First Coming

1.1 Prophecy of the Messenger. The whole Old Testament is preparation for what the Collect for the first Sunday in Advent calls the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ “in great humility.” He sends his messengers to prepare the people for his coming. From Moses to Malachi all the prophets prepared the way for our Lord’s coming.

But there was one prophet who stood out from all the others as the messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord. Isaiah foresaw his ministry:

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3).

The last prophet of the Old Testament also foresaw his ministry:

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the

way before me (Malachi 3:1)...Behold, I will send you Elijah

the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful

day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5).

Whom did Isaiah and Malachi foresee? The Gospel writers leave  no doubt. It was John the Baptist. St. Mark wrote that both Isaiah and Malachi pointed to John:

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 (Mark 1:2,3).

1.2. Messenger

What do we know about John and his ministry as the messenger? The angel who announced the coming birth of John to his father confirmed that the prophets Isaiah and Malachi predicted John’s ministry. The angel said:

And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah), to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:16,17).

John the Baptist is the man the Collect calls “thy (Christ’s) messenger to prepare thy way before thee.” John always said that he was not the Messiah but only the messenger sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. John never focused his ministry on himself but always on Christ:

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: (Matthew 3:11).

When Christ came on the scene, John knew it was time for him to recede and for all attention to be focused on Christ, the Messiah and Savior. John told his followers:

He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).

John was a bold but humble man willing to set the stage for Jesus and then focus the spotlight on Jesus.

1.3. Message

Like the Old Testament prophet Elijah John’s message was firm and demanding. There were three main points to his message:

• John announced, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven (God) is at hand.” John meant that God’s kingdom was near in the coming of Jesus, the Son of God. That was both bad and good news. It was something like the announcement to kids, “Dad will be home soon.” For rebellious kids the arrival of Dad means the time of reckoning. For obedient kids Dad’s arrival is a cause of joy. The bad news about the nearness of the kingdom was that God’s judgment was near for all who continued in rebellion and did not receive the Messiah. The good news was that the day of God’s great salvation was near for all ready to receive Jesus the Messiah.

• John warned of the coming judgment and called on all to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins. He did not let his hearers get by with an easy nod of the head. He pressed the message of repentance:

O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance...And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Luke 3:7-9)...

• John pointed all to Christ as the Savior God was sending. When John saw Jesus coming to the place where he was preaching, John proclaimed:

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of

             the world (John 1:29).

In the Old Testament the lamb was laid on the altar as a

sacrifice for sin. The lamb died in the place of the sinner so he would be forgiven. John says, “Christ is the Lamb to whom all those sacrifices pointed. He takes away the sin of the world.” Ultimately it is not the repentance of those who are warned of judgment that saves them but the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Though he preached judgment, the purpose of John’s ministry was not to bring people under judgment and condemn them. His purpose was to prepare them for the first coming Jesus whose short public ministry would soon begin. He called them to repent and be baptized so that they would be ready to receive the Lamb of God as their Savior from sin.

2. Ministers to Prepare for Christ’s Second Coming

2.1. Minister’s Titles. Christ’s coming in great humility was accomplished 2000 years ago. What’s next is that he will come in great glory to judge the quick and the dead. And, just as Christ sent a messenger to prepare for his first coming, so he sends messengers to prepare for his second coming. Who are these? Ministers and stewards of his mysteries. We pray for them with the third collect:

Grant that ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise prepare and so make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight...

• They are ministers. Paul said to the Corinthians: “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ” (1 Cor. 4:1 ESV).” The New Testament word for minister is servant. The Corinthian Christians were very mixed up about the men who ministered to them. They formed rivalries based on whoever they preferred. Two of the most prominent were Paul and a man named Apollos. Paul wrote:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through

whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:5-7 ESV).

Ministers whether they are Bishops, Presbyters, or Deacons are just servants - servants of Christ through whom the Holy Spirit brings people to faith.

• They are stewards of the mysteries of God. In Paul’s time large household had stewards. They were something like chief butlers in English households - Mr. Carson from Downton Abbey, if you will. The steward was in charge of everything, but he owned nothing, and his job was to handle what the head of the household entrusted to him with honesty and faithfulness. Ministers are stewards of the mysteries of God. What are the mysteries of God? They are what God had done and was doing in Christ to reconcile the world to himself. These things were previously hidden, but now God had made them known. The job of the minister as a steward is to dispense the mysteries by preaching the Word of God and by administering the sacraments of Christ.

2.2. Minister’s Task. What is the minister’s goal as he preaches the Word and administers the sacraments? It is to prepare people for the Second Coming by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just.

The truth is that all who are disobedient - who have not submitted themselves to Jesus as Savior and King - are not prepared for the Second Coming of our Lord. His coming means he will judge every person. There will be no appeals or second chances. His judgment will be final. The hearts of the rebellious must be turned away from rebellion against God and turned to the wisdom of the just.

What is this wisdom of the just? It is to hear the warning that Christ will come again to judge and to take heed to that to call to be prepared. It means to repent - to turn away from sin. Repentance does not mean that you try real hard to be better. It means you give up your self-will and submit yourself to God, asking him to change you. The wisdom of the just is also to receive Christ as your Savior from sin and judgment. St. Paul wrote to Timothy:”from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15 ESV). Wisdom is to know and receive salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.

Ministers prepare us for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ by calling us to repent of our sins and to entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ so that “we may be found an acceptable people in thy (Christ’s) sight.”

Soon we will come to the Table of the Lord and the minister will, as a steward of Christ, dispense the mysteries of God’s work in Christ for the salvation of the world. He will give to you the bread and wine in effect saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” - not that the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of our Lord so that Christ’s body is on the Table. Rather the whole service of Holy Communion pictures and proclaims Christ and his saving work. Take and eat the body of Christ given for you and feed upon him in your heart... Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for you.” He lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Soon he will come and give you the fullness of salvation.