Luke 3:1-6
“Making Crooked Roads Straight”
By: Rev. Kenneth Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church,
Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
Johnny and his wife went to the funeral of cousin Billy at a little country church just down the road that they admired.
But when they went inside, it was not as it appeared to be.
The preacher shouted and screamed at them and all the other mourners: “It’s too late for Billy. He might have wanted to believe. He might have wanted to accept Jesus. But he can’t now. It’s too late for Billy.”
Johnny mumbled to his wife, “This is terrible. How can this be of any comfort to anyone?”
The preacher went on: “It may be too late for Billy, but it’s not too late for you. If you get right with God, if you accept Jesus, if you get your fanny back in church, you still have time! Now is the time. Do it!”
On the drive home Johnny continued to complain to his wife.
“That was one of the most insensitive, manipulative, and inappropriate funeral sermons I have ever heard. Who would ever want to go to that church? What do you think?”
Choosing her words carefully, she said. “Yes, it was insensitive, manipulative, and inappropriate. But worst of all…it was true!”
It is true that sometimes the truth must come dressed in rough clothing.
And that was certainly the nature of John the Baptist’s approach.
When we read the brief gospel summaries of his messages, some of us might wonder why people went to so much trouble to hear him.
Were they masochists looking for abuse, or did they perhaps hope to hear him thunder against the sins of their neighbors?
One way or another, the crowds flocked to him.
And mainly, I think, because they heard, in the integrity of his message, an opportunity which they had been looking for for a long time.
His was a message of judgment; but in the judgement was opportunity!
And this opportunity is wrapped up in the word “repent.”
This was John’s message, and it was a message of hope.
“Repent,” he cried, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
With the word “repent”, John was telling the people that they don’t have to remain like they are.
We don’t have to be held captive by our failures, our past, or our inadequacies.
We can repent.
We can get rid of the past.
We can start over.
Wouldn’t you hate to live in a world where there was no chance to repent?
In a sense, we could define hell as a place where there is no possibility of repentance. That’s one of the things that makes it hell.
There’s no way out, no opportunity to get rid of the garbage of life, no chance to start again.
Several years ago one of our Protestant denominations had a wonderful, but hard-hitting publicity poster.
It was aimed at people who had drifted away from the church.
At the center of the poster was a picture of six men carrying a casket up the stairs into a church for a funeral.
Printed over the picture were these words: “Will it take six strong men to bring you back to church?…The Church welcomes you back no matter what condition you are in, but we would prefer to see you breathing.”
Let’s face it, ‘Repent’ is one of the most beautiful words in our language.
It pays us human beings quite a compliment, because it says that we can do something about the road we have taken.
If we were nothing more than poor animals, we’d have to go the way our instincts demand.
But you and I, humans as we are, can repent!
If our road is crooked, it can be made straight.
If we are on the wrong track, we can turn around, or get on another train.
We may not be able to change what we’ve already done, and we may not be able to fully escape the consequences of our past choices…
…but we don’t have to continue down the same destructive road.
We can repent, and start again.
Perhaps that’s why people were drawn to John the Baptist.
They felt hope when they heard him preach.
He spoke harsh, direct words, but he led them to the door of hope.
“You can repent,” he basically said. “There is a way out of the dilemma you’re in.”
But John did make it difficult.
Because John presented his message in a take-it-or-leave-it fashion.
He was like a car salesperson who might bargain for a while, and then say: “This is my last offer,” and, as he says it, walks away from the customer.
This was John’s style.
“I have something great to offer,” he seemed to say, “and you better grab the opportunity now that it’s come to you.”
But sometimes our hunger for repentance fails to reach its goal.
We need to do more than simply say, “I’m sorry.”
Repentance needs some means of action.
If there are sins in our lives that must be removed—we must make that eternal decision to allow God to remove them.
We must make a complete U-turn.
John the Baptist got down to specifics.
When people asked, “What shall we do,” John answered…
…If you have two coats, give one to someone who has none…
…The same, should be done with your food…
When the tax collectors asked what course they should follow, John answered: “Collect no more than is appointed you.”
The secret of wealth for those first-century tax collectors was in cheating; and John quickly set them straight.
To the soldiers, John gave a two-pronged answer: “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
He told them to live out their faith where they were, by being honorable and godly in their current occupations.
He didn’t tell them it was going to be easy, but just the right thing to do.
But John was able to offer the people more than one repentance.
And the people sensed that there must be more than what John was preaching.
Because John was pointing beyond himself.
His goal wasn’t personal advancement or position.
He was the “voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”
He was not a name to be reckoned with, but a voice to be heard.
He wasn’t building a kingdom for himself, but preparing the way for another.
And when the Other came, John had the ability to slip off center stage gracefully.
The primary key to John’s greatness was his commitment to something and Someone beyond himself.
And this should be our key to greatness as well!
John’s style doesn’t fit well in our hype-and-publicity age.
The late Andy Warhol said that we live in a time when everyone will be a celebrity for fifteen minutes.
And when we see how easily the media makes public figures and how Humpty-Dumpty-like they smash when they are ignored, Warhol’s prediction seems kinda true.
The lifestyle of our times seems to justify self-promotion: “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”
But don’t be deceived.
John’s way is still the key to greatness.
The self-promoters come and go, but they make no lasting impression on human lives.
There was a toughness of spirit in John the Baptist, demonstrated not so much by his wardrobe and diet as by a mind that could say, “I don’t care what happens to me, if only I do the job I was called to do.”
Someone has said that no one can estimate how much good could be done in our world if no one cared who got the credit.
And this is how it should be within our church! We are not in competition!
We are here to enable God to make crooked roads straight.
John the Baptist had a goal higher than himself.
Do we?
By nature he must have been a man of strong personality—he could hardly have preached such a demanding message otherwise nor have put himself in such a perilous ministry.
But he had such a strong commitment to the purposes of God that he could submerge his powerful temperament into his mission.
“Christ is coming,” was basically what John had said, “and He brings with Him glory and power such as my ministry cannot even suggest.”
“I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
One day he was near the Jordan river with two of his disciples.
“When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look the Lamb of God!’
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.”
And isn’t this what we are called to do as the Church of Jesus Christ?
We are not to point to ourselves…
…but by our actions…
…by our smiles…
…by our witness…
…by our words…
…we are to point out to others—“Look, the Lamb of God!”
“Follow Him and He will make your crooked road straight!”
And in John chapter 3 John likened himself to being like the best man of Jesus—the bridegroom---Whom we, the Church of Jesus Christ will one day marry.
His disciples were dismayed.
“Rabbi,” they said to John, “that man…the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
And this made John glad, very glad! Not envious, but glad.
And this should be our reaction should we ever be given the great privilege of seeing someone turn to Christ!
John declared: “You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’
The bride (that is the Church) belongs to the bridegroom.
The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”
He must become greater, I must become less.
This is the mindset that all of us must have if we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ who prepare the way for Christ to be born into the hearts of the people of the world.
And this is what we are called to do!
Every single one of us!
And John the Baptist is a man who is to be an example to us all.
Now it is our turn.
We know that God is constantly looking for people like John the Baptist, who will gladly pave the way for God’s grand purposes.
And we know, too, that there is much work yet to be done…the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.
These are great days to be alive.
We are needed, my friends; you and I are needed.
Our times need a new introduction to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and I are favorably situated to be the introducers, the way-preparers. There could hardly be a more favorable and challenging time.
We will not be dressed like John the Baptist nor will we follow his diet—matters for which most of us are probably grateful.
But we can commit ourselves to the same Lord, and with the same greatness of purpose.
Let us commit ourselves, like John, to prepare the way of the Lord.
Let us pray: Almighty God, we thank you for the message of repentance. We thank you for second chances. We thank you that there is a Way out of the dreadful situations we find ourselves in. As we prepare our hearts to come to this Your Communion Table…instill within us a repentant heart for opportunities lost. Give us the greatest of convictions that now is the time, here is the place, and opportunity knocks. Thanks be to God for such an opportunity. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
