December 6, 2015
Sunday

“…the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:2 – 6

“Luke begins his story by making the outrageous claim that God is at work in the weak and small – babies and barren women and unwed teenage mothers and wild-eyed prophets and itinerant preachers and executed criminals – to change the world. And, to be quite honest, God’s not done yet. God continues to work through unlikely characters today – unpopular teens and out-of-work adults and corporate executives and stay-at-home parents and underpaid secretaries and night-shift workers and police officers and volunteer baseball coaches and even burned out preachers – to announce the news of God’s redemption. It’s a promise, as I said, that’s easy to miss, but when we hear it – and even more – when we see it taking place in our own lives – it changes us along with the world.” (David Lose, Dear Working Preacher, A Promise That’s Easy to Overlook, December 02, 2012)

It is easy to fall into the belief that G-d only works through the powerful, the popular, and the precise. The scriptures are filled with all kinds of broken and sinful people through whom G-d does amazing things. But somewhere along the line we started to believe that G-d only speaks through the prophet and priest, and not through the homeless and the imprisoned. Some of my most G-d-filled moments have been sitting with people who are just trying to get through life.

John, the son of Zechariah, was as ordinary as they come. Yes, he wore outrageous clothing, and yes his diet was unusual, but let me reassure you, in the first century, there were a lot of “interesting” people out and about. There were zealots trying to convince people to fight against the Roman occupation. There were others living out in the desert, hoping to find G-d in their own way. And there were those who claimed to be the long awaited Messiah. The people ask John if he is the One they were hoping would come to save the people. He made it clear he was not, he was just there to prepare the way of the Lord.

All throughout the scriptures, G-d has selected ordinary people (like Amos, a dresser of Sycamore trees; and Joseph, the dreamer) to be G-d’s messengers. You and I, we are part of a Great Cloud of Witnesses – a long line of ordinary Joe’s and Jane’s called to share the story.

Pastor Dave