who was John the baptist?

Sermon notes
Can you imagine complete silence? It’s hard to in our culture today inwhich televisions, radios, etc. are constantly blaring. But in thismorning’s text a silence of 400 years is broken. Don’t misunderstand me,not everyone was silent during this period. Women and men were talking..Boys and girls were talking. But there was no prophet speaking the Word ofthe LORD. No one was truthfully saying, “Thus says the LORD…”In reality two silences are broken in this morning’s text. For one, the400 year period without a Word from God and for another, a gap ofapproximately 30 years in the life of Jesus. John skips directly fromhis birth and infancy narrative to an event that occurs approximately 30years later: the ministry of John the Baptist. Both of these silences arebroken by the sound of a voice.The voice that breaks the silence is the voice of John the Baptist, whomay rightly be called the last of the Old Testament Prophets. He isfunctioning as a Herald by announcing the coming of the King. In theancient world, a herald was one who went ahead of a king’s chariot toprepare the road. He would command a crew which would smooth out theusually rough roads of that day by filling potholes and removing boulders.The herald would also go before the king shouting, “Make way, the King iscoming!” “efforts to make a road level and smooth were restricted to times when royalty was on its way” The king was on his way!

A number of years ago a couple travelled to the offices of an AdoptionSociety in England to receive a baby. They had been on the waiting list along time. They had been interviewed and carefully scrutinized. Now atlast their dreams were to be fulfilled. But their day of happiness wasanother's pain.Arriving at the offices of the Society they were led up a flight of stairsto a waiting room. After a few minutes they heard someone else climbingthe stairs. It was the young student mother whose baby was to be adopted.She was met by the lady responsible for the adoption arrangements andtaken into another room. Our friends heard a muffled conversation and afew minutes later footsteps on the stairs as the young mother left. Theyheard her convulsive sobbing until the front door of the office wasclosed. Then, there was silence.The lady in charge then conducted them next door. In a little crib was asix week old baby boy. On a chair beside it was a brown paper bagcontaining a change of clothes and two letters. One of these, addressed tothe new parents, thanked them for providing a home for her baby andacknowledged that under the terms of the adoption each would never knowthe other's identity. Then the young mother added one request. Would theyallow her little son to read the other letter on his eighteenth birthday?She assured them that she had not included any information about heridentity. The couple entrusted that letter to a lawyer and one day theyoung man will read the message which his mother wrote on the day, whenwith breaking heart, she parted with him.I wonder what she wrote? If I had to condense all I feel about life andlove into a few precious words what would I say? I would have no time fortrivia. I would not be concerned about economics, politics, the weather,the size of house or the type of car.
At such a time I would want to dwell on the deep things of life, on what life was all about and what things were absolutely essential.John in the desert was in the great tradition of the Hebrew prophets. Hewas aware that time was running out. In his burning message he had no timefor everyday matters. He was not playing Trivial Pursuit nor was heprepared to splash about in the shallows. Soon the sword of Herod's guardwould flash and his tongue would lie silent in the grave. Superficialpeople came out from Jerusalem to see him. They were intrigued by thisstrange phenomenon of a wild man preaching repentance. They werefascinated by frivolous things such as his dress, his diet, and his fire and brimstone sermons. They wanted to interview him and then tell all theirfriends about their remarkable experience. "Who are you?" they asked. Hisanswer was curt: "I am not the Christ." "Are you Elijah?" "No!" "Then whoare you?" they persisted. They had their doubts about who he was but hismessage to their ears was clear: Repent.There comes a moment when the preacher longs for his hearers to lose sightof everything except his message. "Don't listen to my accent. Don't lookat my clothes. Don't comment on my style. Don't search my biographicaldetails for my University pedigree. Just listen to what I am saying.Repent!”
Christmas season. A time of preparation. Most Scots prepare for theholidays with lights and gifts, cards and good cheer. But the Churchreminds us to prepare spiritually. What does that mean? John the Baptist gave us a direction.
We prepare for Christmas by repenting. Repenting in the Biblical sense ismore than having a change of heart or a feeling of regret. It is more thana New Year’s Eve resolution. Repentance is a turning away and a turningback. A turning away from sin and a turning back to God.
We need to have the conviction of sin! RepentanceThe Romans sometimes compelled a captive to be joined face-to-face with adead body, and to bear it about until the horrible emanating smelldestroyed the life of the living victim. Virgil describes this cruelpunishment:'The living and the dead at his commandWere coupled face to face, and hand to hand;Till choked with stench, in loathed embraces tied,The lingering wretches pined away and died.Without Christ, we are shackled to a dead corpse -- our sinfulness. Onlyrepentance frees us from certain death, for life and death cannot coexistindefinitely.

Bishop Joe Pennel of the United Methodist Church, once attended a Christmas worship service in Bethlehem at a placecalled Shepherd’s Field. As he heard the songs of the season, he thoughtto himself and later wrote: “I did not look to God and say: See howvirtuous I am. I did not utter: God, pat me on the back for all of thegood things I have done. I did not pretend by saying: God, look at all ofmy accomplishments, aren’t you proud of me? Indeed, I found myself askingGod to forgive me of my sins. That is how it works. The more we turn awayfrom Christ the more enslaved we become to the power of sin. The more weturn to Christ, the more free we become from the bondage of sin. Turningtoward Christ enables us to repent.”

We need John

John had three angles in his message 1. John's Message Called People to Repentance2. John Told People to Share.3. John's Message Was to Serve.

Carl Michalson, a brilliant young theologian who died in a plane crashsome years ago, once told about playing with his young son one afternoon.They were tussling playfully on their front lawn when Michalsonaccidentally hit the young boy in the face with his elbow. It was a sharpblow full to his son's face. The little boy was stunned by the impact ofthe elbow. It hurt, and he was just about to burst into tears. But then helooked into his father's eyes. Instead of anger and hostility, he sawthere his father's sympathy and concern; he saw there his father's loveand compassion. Instead of exploding into tears, the little boy suddenlyburst into laughter. What he saw in his father's eyes made all thedifference!The sharp blow of God's message to us is: Repentance. But, look into yourfather's eyes. What he offers you is forgiveness and that makes all thedifference. Repent and you will be forgiven.