12/08/2024 - Advent The Weary World Rejoices - From The Wilderness With Love

"...the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." - From Luke 3:1-6 "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire" Malachi says of the Lord's Judgment, even as he promises a messenger, an Elijah to come ahead of the day of the Lord. (Malachi 3:2). This Elijah coming before the Day of the Lord, Christians (and Jesus himself!) associate with John the Baptist, a figure about as cuddly as a cactus. Yet, gruff as he may be, John the Baptist has a message for us that is truly good news. A weary world is unprepared to see God or God's salvation, so the landscape must, and will, change by God's action. John testifies to the one who comes after him. He testifies to Jesus. Preparing to see the salvation of the Lord, we change our hearts and lives. What is wrong that has been exalted and celebrated? Let it be brought down. Where has what God has called good been trampled? Let it be lifted. And what's more, let judgment start with me, with you, with us. As 1 Peter 4:17 says, "For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household." Read more at fbcmuncie.org/blog.