Sermon for December 9th, 2012
Luke 3:1-6
1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
Prepare the Way: Looking Back
Once upon a time. Isn't that how every good story begins? Those famous words are actually a very intentional storytelling device, to accomplish a very specific purpose, although they do it so subtly that most of us don't realize what they are doing, or think too much about it. Once upon a time. With those four words, any connection to a specific time, a specific history, is obliterated. Once upon some vague time, somewhere in the past... it could be thirty years ago, it could be three thousand years ago. Once upon a time. George Lucas accomplishes the same thing in the preface to each of his Star Wars films: When do they take place? Oh, a long, long time ago. Not really sure exactly when. Where do they take place? Oh, in a galaxy far, far away. Somewhere you've probably never heard of... Once upon a time.
Today's story--the story of John the Baptist, the one who "prepares the way" for the coming of the Messiah--today's story has an altogether different sort of beginning: "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galillee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high preisthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness." How's that for specific? Time, place, cultural context, political context, religious context, and even family context are all minutely present and recorded in the beginning of this story. And I think there are some very good reasons for this.
