The Rev. Dr. Kenneth H. Saunders III
Greeneville, TN
The Second Sunday of Advent
December 7, 2025
As we heard in today’s reading, we are introduced to a person named John who is out in the wilderness bidding people to repent... to change their ways and return to God. The pericope we read in the Gospel according to Matthew depicts John as an interesting character. We might even call him strange…
And, I’m not just talking about the way he acts… His manner of dress is even stranger. He is all dressed up with his camel hair and leather, not to mention the “strangeness” of his diet of locusts and wild honey. I was wondering what we would think of John if we met him on the street today?
Would we recognize him as a great prophet of God, and then would we follow him into the wilderness to hear his prophetic message? I doubt that very seriously. Now, I know that we shouldn’t judge folks by what they wear or what they eat, but I also know some folks who get caught up in those little gossip circles with their friends when they run across someone they feel isn’t dressed right.
Rumors fester, and people form preconceived notions about who we are or what we are about. Usually, distorting the truth and causing harm. But somehow, someway, the people were intrigued with the strange character of John and his message, "Prepare the way of the lord… Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” What could he possibly be talking about??? They were all fascinated…
The folks back then would be familiar with the ancient scroll of Isaiah, and they knew what it said about a voice crying out… (by the way, there was no punctuation in the ancient text… so the interpretation of Isaiah is a bit askew) It was either a voice – ‘crying out in the wilderness’ or a voice crying out – ‘in the wilderness...’ Nonetheless, Matthew’s take on it was this… “There’s a voice crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.” The people wanted to know more… so they followed John out into the wilderness.
I’ve talked about the wilderness before, about how it is a place of unrest and barrenness... A place where demons were thought to be living. In the ancient world, and even today, the wilderness can be a scary place.
Have you ever been lost in the wilderness? The desert or the forest… I mean, really lost - deep in the woods? It can be a very scary experience. You look around, and everything seems to look the same. After an hour, it is hard to tell one tree from another. You may see footsteps and think you're following someone, only to realize they are your own…You get more and more frustrated by the second, and cannot find your way out. I am sure that most of you can relate to that feeling.
Now put that on top of going into the woods with a man as different, as “strange” as John… It’s not a very comfortable feeling. And it probably shouldn’t be!
You only traveled through wilderness places for specific reasons (for family, for feasts, or for business). It wasn’t a destination, so traveling TO the wilderness was unheard of. So, why go to the wilderness with John?
All four of the Gospels tell us something about John the Baptizer. The evangelist, Matthew, spends a few lines this morning describing what John is wearing… I think that maybe his manner of dress might be a clue for us. Please understand that coarse camel’s hair and leather was not the preferred dress code in ancient Palestine.
It was extremely different and definitely worth mentioning. But not only worth mentioning… I think that it is significant to who John is and the message he brings… This isn’t the first time we have heard of this kind of “outfit.”
Some of you may be familiar with a character in the first chapter of the second book of Kings, where it describes a prophet of God who is “A hairy man, with a leather belt around his waist” – sitting on the top of the mountain… He made fire come down from heaven and consume 2 kings’ armies before going down with the third to meet the king, only to tell that king that he is going to die. This was Elijah the Tishbite. The great prophet of the living God of Israel who shook up the Hebrew scriptures.
Now, if I were a good follower of the God of Israel, for me, that would be enough reason right there to follow John anywhere. The folks back then thought John might be Elijah, who had come back to give them a prophetic message.
But John wasn’t giving just any old message. He was telling them to get ready for something big that was coming. He is here to shake them up a bit – and give them a reality check! He was telling them to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” To denounce their evil ways and turn back to God. So, to some, John was possibly Elijah the Tishbite who had come to prepare the people of Israel for “the great and terrible day of the Lord.”
This excites the Pharisees and the Sadducees, so they come out to John to be baptized… You remember the Pharisees and the Sadducees… The Pharisees (the pompous religious elite) and the Sadducees (the non-believers in resurrection)
But John ridicules the Pharisees and the Sadducees and compares them to a "brood of vipers" snakes running scared from the judgment that is coming. He challenges them to change their heart, to “repent” of their sins, to prepare and make themselves ready.
Last Sunday, we were reminded again that Advent was a time to stay alert – to be awake. We learned that we are the keepers of the watch in this season, and we are to keep awake and live faithfully… to make ourselves worthy and ready. Those themes continue this week with today’s text – And John is here to show us the way… to shake us up a bit… and to give us a reality check.
In Advent, we are called to search down deep… Deep down into those dark wilderness places of our lives… Deep into those desolate places where our demons dwell… Those places we don’t like to go... Places that are strange and different to us…
We go to these places to prepare and examine ourselves… to see if these “trees” that we are growing in our lives are truly bearing the good fruit? This process of examination, discernment, and repentance can be difficult. It requires us to have an open mind and a desire to be changed, a heart wanting to be warmed.
It requires us to be ready to admit to ourselves that we DO need change and guidance, even when we think we don’t. John is here this morning to help us take the journey... take that journey to those wilderness places, and the strange and different John gives us a message… A message of hope that something extraordinary is happening… something special is coming, and we need to prepare for it.
But the narrative that we are given today in the third chapter of Matthew doesn’t really identify who is coming…. (now, we know the rest of the story, and we know that John is talking about is Jesus the Christ). But, today it hasn’t been revealed to us… All we know now is that John says the person is very powerful, so powerful that John himself is not worthy to even carry his sandals. The rest is a mystery… and our lectionary is careful not to reveal the rest of the story too soon in this season of preparation
The story about the awesome power and glory of God that lurks just around the corner. So we are called by the text this morning to exercise a little restraint and not get too terribly anxious… We are called to spend some time in active anticipation, looking inward at the good in our lives and what fruit we are bearing, in hopes that we are bearing the true ripe sweet fruit that our God expects of us. Because the rest of the story will unfold to us in due time and ALL will be revealed…
All we can do today is be here in our Advent anticipation and examine ourselves… examine ourselves and repent, for the kingdom of God has indeed come very near!
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