The salient point of Pastor Will Rose's homily is the profound reminder that the nearness of God often manifests in the most unexpected and unconventional locales, particularly during the season of Advent. This sermon invites us to reflect upon the figure of John the Baptist, who emerges not within the confines of established religious institutions but rather in the wilderness, challenging us to undergo a spiritual metamorphosis. As we navigate through this Advent season, we are beckoned to embrace the transformative message of repentance and renewal, which calls us to bear fruit worthy of such a calling. Furthermore, Pastor Rose emphasizes that the path to the incarnation—God becoming flesh—necessitates traversing the wild and untamed terrains of our lives, where God may reveal divine surprises. Ultimately, this homily serves as an exhortation to open our hearts to the revolutionary presence of God, urging us to recognize and embody the love that transcends all boundaries and expectations.

On the second Sunday of Advent, Pastor Will Rose delivered a profound homily reflecting on the significance of preparation and repentance as embodied by John the Baptist. He emphasized the notion that Advent is not merely a countdown to Christmas, but a spiritual journey that leads us through the wilderness of our lives toward the incarnation of God in Christ. The sermon draws heavily from the Gospel of Matthew, illustrating how John the Baptist, a figure of urgency and fervor, calls the people to repentance in the wilderness of Judea.

Pastor Will articulates the stark contrasts present in John's message, highlighting the call for a radical transformation of hearts and minds in anticipation of God's kingdom. He reflects on the imagery of the wilderness as a place where God often reveals Himself, challenging the congregation to seek Him in unexpected places and circumstances, underscoring that the nearness of God often manifests in the most unlikely of settings. As the congregation prepares for the Christmas season, Pastor Will encourages them to embrace the spirit of Advent as a time for introspection and renewal, urging them to bear fruit worthy of repentance, and to actively engage in their faith journey with a renewed sense of purpose and community.

Takeaways:

1. Pastor Will Rose articulates the significance of John the Baptist's role in preparing hearts for the coming of Christ during this Advent season.
2. The homily emphasizes that God often reveals Himself in unexpected and unconventional places, challenging us to seek Him in the wilderness of our lives.
3. A central theme of the message is the call to repentance and the importance of bearing fruit worthy of this repentance as an expression of our faith.
4. Pastor Rose encourages the community to embody the love of God by actively loving and serving one another, reflecting the transformative power of the Gospel in our daily lives.
5. The sermon underscores the necessity of community engagement and the pursuit of justice, urging us to follow Jesus' example as we navigate a complex world.
6. Ultimately, the homily invites listeners to remember their baptism, affirm their faith, and embrace the unexpected ways in which God manifests His presence among us.

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Foreign.

Thank you for engaging with the homily by Pastor Chill Will from Chapel Hill.

I hope this message encourages you, challenges you and moves you to go deeper in your faith and enrich how you love God and love your neighbor in your day to day life.

Just a reminder.

Like the Scriptures and Gospels themselves, this homily was written for a particular community in a particular, particular context, time in history.

And yet, like our sacred texts, I hope that these words hold timeless truths about God's unconditional love and grace.

We hope these words speak to you in a meaningful way.

Welcome to Holy Tree Lutheran Church and Lutheran Campus Ministry on this second Sunday of adventure the Holy Gospel According to Matthew in those days, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea proclaiming, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

This is the one whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.

Now.

John wore clothing of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath, therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance.

Do not presume to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our ancestor.

For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees.

Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance.

But the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I and I'm not worthy to carry his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit fire.

His widowing fork is in his hand and he will clear the threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary.

But the shaft he will burn with unquenchable fire.

The Gospel of the Lord in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit.

So have you put up your John the Baptist Advent decorations yet?

Maybe the John the Baptizer in the Wilderness section of your Nativity scene.

You know, the one where you're just kind of sitting right just outside the Nativity and he's waving his finger at everyone walking by calling them snakes.

You don't have that.

You haven't seen that anywhere.

I haven't either.

In all seriousness, I know that I've used that Advent John the Baptist joke before because every year I love that it is at this time in the holiday season that John shows up.

Christmas music has been playing for a few months now.

I think the first Christmas commercial I saw was a soft launch by Walmart at the beginning of October.

That's fine.

No shade thrown.

In a hard and complicated and gloomy world, we need something to look forward to.

And yet here comes John the Baptist.

One Sunday around this time of year at the church I served in South Carolina, we had someone dress up as John the Baptist with ratty and messed up hair and a fake beard hanging off his chin and carrying a cereal box full of honey o locusts.

And it kind of freaked out the children.

At the Children's Message.

It was like one of those viral videos of the Grinch crashing a Christmas party and the kids just running away screaming, yeah, we didn't do that again.

John the Baptizer isn't the Grinch per se, but he should make us a little uncomfortable.

It's not that his heart is too small, almost too big.

It's on fire.

He's really fired up.

He's jarring, he's blunt, he's off putting.

He's a street preacher, similar to the one that you don't make eye contact with or avoid walking on the other side of the street.

But also there is something about him.

It is like an out in the open performance artist whose purpose is to grab our attention, who stokes curiosity, is someone who resonates with our longings for something different, who is advocating for change, perhaps even revolution.

Someone who shakes us out of complacence.

When I read this text, this go around for Advent, of course I notice the attention to detail of what he is wearing and eating.

But I also notice that he's drawing a crowd.

People aren't avoiding him, people are coming to him.

The Gospel of Matthew shares that John appeared in the wilderness that is outside the city, outside where normal life happens, outside of where the temple is a place where you would think not much happens or is wild.

It's dangerous.

Perhaps God doesn't show up in those places.

It's there, out in the open, in the wild, unscripted, uncurated places that he proclaims and advocates for a turning around the change as God has come near.

In continuity with the prophet Isaiah, he is preaching and advocating for this holy reversal A flipping, if you will, of where the weak and the vulnerable are not preyed upon, but rather are safe to live, to grow, to thrive.

It's out there in the wilderness where he screams out that God is indeed near.

The God of surprises, showing up in the least likely of places, in the wild and in untamed places.

I noticed that it's not a street preacher coming to the middle of the city to yell at people and condemn people, but rather it's John out in the wilderness and people going to him.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

You see, prophecy, the prophetic task, is about conviction, not fortune telling, is about cultivating inspiration and action that leads to change.

And this fits perfectly with what Advent is about.

The surprising news that God is coming near, that God is near.

This invokes and stokes spiritual revolution.

A chance and an invitation and an opportunity to move, earn, see things differently.

The change.

During the season of Advent, we are on a journey to the incarnation, which is a fancy theological word that means God becoming flesh, carne, meat, God becoming meat.

And as we get closer to Bethlehem, as we get closer to the surprise of God showing up in a manger, surprisingly, it appears that we have to go through the wilderness to get there.

The way to the manger goes through the wilderness.

It goes through those wild and untamed, perhaps even dangerous places.

Yes, indeed, John the Baptist seems weird and out of place this season.

But if he is an image and an icon of God showing up in least likely places, if he is calling for us to wake up and see that God has come near, if he is advocating for those who long for revolution and change, and it has everything to do about Christmas, this is what I noticed this go around.

John's vision of nearness of God has within it this image of axes and chopping down trees and consuming fires.

And yet it seems that the incarnation and Jesus even surprised John.

Yes, with the nearest of God there is this reality of the fire of the Holy Spirit that is life altering and transforming and purifying.

And yet this God shows up in unlikely and surprising places.

The wilderness, the manger and water at a table with bread and wine.

Yes, there is continuity with John and Jesus's vision of the nearness of the kingdom of God, with the first being last and the last being first.

And yet God shows up not in a temple, but in the wilderness and in a vulnerable baby in a feeding trough.

Again, God Showing up on a cross, saying, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And then the ultimate surprise, an empty tomb.

And the good news that death will not have the final word on our lives.

That love wins.

That God's love wins.

Today we have our congregational meeting voting on new leadership and on a new ministry plan for the new year.

Talking about trees and bearing fruit, I can without a doubt say that this past year was a fruitful year for our community of faith.

We are a growing community and in a hard and unsettling world.

We are leaving leaning even harder into our vision and mission and our core values of what it means to follow Jesus together.

There is no doubt that God will continue to show up at the font and at the table, but also taking our lead from John the Baptist, I hope and pray that we can continue to be open to God, showing up in wild and unexpected places in the midst of that, keeping our focus on Jesus, a God who is full of surprises.

Perhaps, like John the Baptist, we too will continue to show up in wild and surprising spaces to speak up and speak out about the nearness of God and how that impacts how we love God and love our neighbor.

Perhaps as we continue to journey to the manger into Bethlehem through the wilderness, we will find oasis of water, remembering our baptism that we are beloved child of God.

Nothing can change that.

As that warms our heart, we in turn turn to others, share with them the nearness of God.

What I want you to do now is get out your red handles, they're there in your few chairs.

And turn to page 237 towards the end of the Liturgy of Baptism.

There when we do affirmation of baptism, I thought on when John the Baptist shows up in the wilderness on our way to Christmas, perhaps we too can remember our baptism and affirm our baptisms as we meet together as a congregation.

Thinking about how we use our money and our stewardship of gifts, perhaps we can remember the gift of baptism and how that leads us to walk and follow Jesus to the Manger into Bethlehem, here at the top of the page says affirmation by the assembly.

And as we read this, I want you to note that if anybody asks you what's the job description of a Christian, or what do Christians believe?

Or what do Christians do in the world?

This is a great paragraph and snippet that you can show them.

This is what we are called to be in the world.

We will affirm this together and pray for one another, knowing as we get closer to Bethlehem, we remember our baptisms and the gifts we we have for the community of faith and for the whole world, even in surprising and untamed places.

So each and every Sunday you make public profession of your faith.

You intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism, live among God's faithful people to hear the word of God and share the Lord's Supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people following the example of Jesus and to strive for justice and peace in the earth.

I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

People of God, you promise to support and pray for one another in your life in Christ?

We do, and we ask God to help.

And God let us pray.

We give you thanks, oh God, that through water and the Holy Spirit you give us new birth.

You cleanse us from sin and raise us to eternal life.

Stir up in your people the gift of your Holy Spirit, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the Spirit of joy in your presence both now and forever.

Amen.

Foreign.

Thank you for listening.

If there is anything that stood out for you, or if you have a question or you just want to have a conversation, you are always free to reach out and contact us.

And remember you are not alone and.

That you are loved with a love stronger than death.

Sam.