The second Sunday in Advent traditionally recognizes the importance of John the Baptist as the forerunner, baptizer and proclaimer of Jesus as the Christ. We are told in Marks’ gospel that John “appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” and declaring that “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John is important, because he points all Israel, and us, and the whole world to Christ. In his preaching and lifestyle John evokes the prophet Isaiah, who declared not only that the word of God is constant and ever-faithful especially to the despondent, defeated, exiled and constantly-harassed people of Israel, but that word now proclaims exceptionally good tidings to her, namely, “Here is your God!”

Today, coincidentally, is the day on which we commemorate Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who on this date in the year 374 was baptized, ordained a priest and consecrated bishop. Ambrose was a well-known government official in Milan who had just settled a major dispute between orthodox Catholic Christians and a powerful schismatic, not to say heretical, group within the church known as the Arians. His piety, theological acumen, keen judgment, powerful oratory, and skillful settlement of the dispute led the people of Milan to demand his service as their bishop. Ambrose proved to be an exceptional and exemplary bishop, a preacher of renown, a courageous defender of orthodoxy, and a reputed composer of hymns and canticles, many of which continue to be sung to this day. It was Ambrose’s saintly example and preaching of the Word of God that, among other things, helped to move and convince Augustine to be baptized. Ambrose baptized Augustine in 387. Augustine, who would go on to become Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, eventually became one of the most important and influential of what we now call the early church fathers. Ambrose and Augustine, like John the Baptist, proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as they, courageously and powerfully, pointed the world, and especially their opponents, to Christ.

So now it comes down to us. It is our task as well, as it was John the Baptist’s, Ambrose’s and Augustine’s, to point the world to the real source of its life and to the definite, decisive, and final outcome of its hope. That we are called in our baptism to do this is clear; precisely how we are to go about it, however, is not always obvious or even apparent. That mostly depends on the context, on the particular people you are talking to and on what is going on around you.

I can give you an example that happened to me after the 11 am service last week. Among the clearest commands in the Bible is that we should help those who are in need, to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and give aid to the poor. The opportunities for doing just these things are all around us every day of the week. Last Sunday I was brought face-to-face with such an opportunity even before I could change out of my vestments. Some of you may have overheard the conversation I had with a certain individual who had been waiting patiently to talk to me. He needed help to pay his housing costs and demanded that I give him cash on the spot. Now this is someone I have met with many times over many years, and his story is always the same. It’s the story he tells other pastors in the area as he is known to make the circuit of churches. Though I was sympathetic to his need—and he has many needs—I was not willing to give him the money he wanted then and there, but rather I offered to work with him and with his social worker to identify ways that would help get him out of the lifestyle and situation he is in. But that particular plan, which has been offered to him many times over, was definitely not to his liking and he walked off in a huff, which was consistent with the way our meetings in the past usually have ended.

Now the questions for us today are, “Was I right in the way I handled that situation?” and “Did I follow or ignore the Biblical mandate that clearly demands that we help the poor?” Some of you will think that I handled the situation correctly and prudently, while others of you will claim that I did not do what I should have done to help that needy person. Do I think I handled that situation in the right way? To be honest, I’m almost never certain that I’ve done the right thing, never 100% sure that I am always acting in the right way. Did I do what I should have done to help this person? I think so, but I’m also haunted by the realization that I could have done more, done what I did differently, taken more time with him, given better advice, handed over the cash.

My dilemma, I dare say, is the dilemma most of us usually find ourselves in when we take seriously the command and the opportunity to conform our lives to Christ, to follow in the way of the cross, to live lives that are both obedient to what God demands, and free to respond to the gospel in loving service to others in the name of him who have himself for us. The important thing is that we continue to struggle to find the right answer and to make the best response. That struggle to live as God’s people, especially if that struggle is seriously undertaken and discussed and debated openly and passionately as an important and fundamental issue for us and for the whole church, can itself become a significant aspect of our public witness to Christ. That we are deeply engaged, seriously and self-critically, in finding ways to give our lives up for the sake of the world in conformity with Christ our head, is precisely a way in which we point the world to the cross.

To be engaged in this struggle is a part of our life in the wilderness. One struggles for survival, for life, especially in the wilderness. John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The wilderness is a place of struggle and temptation, a place of wandering and pilgrimage, a place of trial and error. It is the place in which our struggle to become disciples takes place; and yet is also the place where we receive a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and thus the place of our witness to Christ and where Christ himself is surely present.

So keep struggling to find the way through this wilderness; but know that, as you struggle, you are being led on your way by a powerful voice that proclaims, “Here is your God!” It is a word of hope and salvation that, despite our many failings and wanderings and even in spite of death, will stand forever.

-Amen-