First Sunday of Advent

(Is 11:1-10; Mtt 3:1-12) JG White

10:30 am, A2, Sun, Dec 7, 2025, FBC Amherst

December. It is a busy time of waiting, and waiting… and of not waiting. A little kid got a gift for his Papa recently, but asked his grandfather if he would open it up right away so he could play with it himself until Christmas! 

My theme for this Advent season is waiting: What can’t wait? We dive right into Gospel stories of John the Baptist, as we do every advent. John and his relative, Jesus of Nazareth, are about thirty years old, at this point. John is intense. It is time to repent, to make a turn around, to change your minds, he preaches. 

As our words for lighting the candle of peace said, we will wait for a lot of things, but let’s not wait for peace. And as John preached, let’s not wait for repentance: making a change and making things different.

John the Baptizer has a definite urgency in his message. He is what we might call ‘fire and brimstone.’ If you remember what Jesus' arrival is like, soon after this, His is not quite so harsh. Perhaps Jesus is, to the officials of His own Jewish religion, but not to the common people. Jesus will say what John does: repent, the kingdom of the heavens is nearby. 

There are times when some direct demands from God need to be heard. Need to be heeded. Need to be acted upon. Advent is about the coming of the Messiah in the life of the world. So it is partly about preparation, including making a turnaround in life. For us, it easily gets overshadowed - should I say, outshone? - by Christmas beauty and goodness. 

So we have, in the Churches, such Bible stories of severe warnings. John seems to think repentance just can’t wait. The Messiah is at hand, for heaven’s sake! 

We also have beautiful images of the Kingdom of God, the goal of all things. The vision from Isaiah 11, for instance. Though the Jewish royal family tree is cut off, there will be a new hope, a new Leader. And then there we be peace among every creature in creation. A vegetarian Bible chapter? I call this a Zootopia chapter. 

However we envision the future, we can keep such visions in our imagination. And we point our lives in that direction, the direction of incredible peace. Repentance along the way helps get us there. 

Repentance, this old, spiritual word, in part deals with sin. With things that go wrong in life. So, it is good news! Bad gets fixed. 

Repentance makes a difference against sin and injustice and pain. This is good news!

Repentance makes us into a Church of forgiveness, of healing, of peace, of freedom from shame and guilt. This is good news, when we are a fellowship of such miracles. We believe people can change, get changed. 

The prayer book I was using every day for about five months, until Advent, was A Contemporary Celtic Prayer Book. Every second Wednesday, the closing prayer had some phrases that I liked. These words seemed to ring true for me. Remember, this is for Wednesday morning, ‘hump day.’

Midway in work-week’s journey

Like a ship on its way through the sea,

I raise the sails of my spirit

And catch the wind of God’s breath. 

This week’s story half logged, 

Still time to adjust my course.

Still time to adjust my course? I’m fifty-five. Yes. 

Still time to adjust your course in life?

Yes. Yes, this is the message of Advent. We remember John telling people to take action, make a turn, find a change of mind and heart. 

Change can’t wait. We can start a new heading, with just the first step. Change. 

How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb? 

Change?!

Let us pause to consider our change, under the grace of God who sends this Saviour. Daydream with me, for a moment, about what God’s vision would be for you. Your next turnaround… what could it be? Is the Spirit calling you, is the scripture calling you, are the saints around you calling you into you next good step? 

Second, think about us as a congregation. What is something in our shared life that we might repent of and change? 

What is your part in us making that little turn?

John the Baptizer preached that the Messiah, who was about to appear on the scene, would come with his winnowing fork to take the grain and separate it from the husks, the chaff. Often this text has been used to see some people - bad or unforgiven - removed to be burned, and the good folks, receivers of grace, endure. But what if we consider the wheat and the chaff in our own lives getting separated. The best of me preserved, the crummy stuff of my life blown away and destroyed. That would be good news!

If John and Jesus walked through Cumberland County now, I think they might say: Look to the blueberry harvester! Berries and leaves and twigs and bits are all raked up together behind the tractor. But there is a conveyor, and a fan, and a drop. So much of the leaves and junk is blown away from the good berries, which are preserved and processed and become a beautiful harvest. So it is in the Kin-dom of God. 

It is December. Not the time of harvesting low bush blueberries. It is the time to hear John the Baptizer preparing the way for the Messiah, his own cousin, Jesus of Nazareth. Change your mind and heart! Take your next step to cooperate with the Gospel.