Sermon - Advent 2, 2024 - Luke 3:1-20

The Preaching of St John the Baptist, Giovanni Battista Gaulli, circa 1690

The Word Gathers the Church in the Wilderness

1. The world apart from Christ is a barren desert

2. The wilderness is prepared through repentance

3. Christ is the fruitful vine growing in the desert into whom we are grafted

This world, apart from Christ, is a barren, fruitless, wilderness; a desert if you will. In a way however, Satan imposes a mirage in front of you, suggesting that this world is able to satisfy your every desire. Christianity tears down that illusion, revealing the ugly truth hidden behind the mirage, in order to transform this barren landscape into a fruitful field. Christianity reveals the sin sickness infecting our souls, in order to sow God’s Word and reap a bountiful harvest of faith. So it is that the Word gathers the church in the wilderness.

This is stunningly illustrated in the book of Exodus. While the Israelites were in Egypt they were slaves to the Egyptians, although they were surrounded by many riches and delicacies. When they were released from their bondage the Lord led them out into the wilderness, where He fed them rather meager rations. As such the Israelites complained to the Lord, longing for the meatpots in Egypt. The Israelites were under a delusion that the delicacies of Egypt were worth slavery to Paganism. The Lord wasn’t starving His people in the wilderness, rather He was drawing them nearer to Himself, and providing them bread from heaven. Their earthly riches were but an illusion, because it is better to dwell with the Lord and eat more humbly, than to dwell among pagans and eat like a king.

The world continues to operate in this fashion today. Satan imposes a delusion on us, convincing us that all that glitters is gold. Look around you, the wealth of the average American is astounding. We live in houses that are automatically warmed in the winter and cooled in the summer. We drive vehicles so that we can travel anywhere we want on the continent in a matter of hours. We have so many changes of clothing we don’t bother to repair our clothes, we just throw them away when they get holes in them, or when we think they're no longer fashionable. A machine cleans our clothes, another our dishes. If we want to eat, we don’t have to cook; we can just tap a few buttons on our handheld computers and it will be delivered to our doors a few minutes later.

Yet, beneath all of this luxury lurks a barren wilderness. You Christians know it, and you see it. Broken homes are practically the norm today. There are so few babies born today that we’re not even keeping up with the number of deaths. There’s over a thousand abortions a month in Minnesota alone. Anxiety and depression and loneliness is through the roof. We’ve probably all been personally impacted by at least one suicide. Addictions to alcohol, drugs, and screens are rampant. Woefully few people are capable of even defining men and women today. Church attendance is plummeting across the country. Fewer people are dying with the comfort and confidence that God will receive them into paradise. What’s most frightening is that the evil we see around us in this wilderness also lurks within our own hearts. The world that looks so luxurious is but a barren wilderness, full of leaves but devoid of fruit.

It is into this fruitless wilderness that God sends His Word. “The Word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.” The Lord brought His people out of Egypt and into the desert to draw near to Him. The Lord called His people out of the cities in the region of the Jordan to the wilderness, to draw them near to Him. The Lord spoke through John, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The Lord sees us ignorantly perishing in the desert, unaware of our own plight, in order to rescue us.

The wilderness of our own hearts is prepared for Christ through repentance. “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places a plane, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” In order to see the salvation of God, we first need to have the illusion removed, and discover that we’re living in a desert. Christ calls us out of the illusion of luxury and into the wilderness. It’s sobering to come to terms with reality and realize that this world is ruled by the devil, and that if we’re shaped by the world we are thus shaped by Satan. Think about that later today; ponder which parts of your life are shaped not by Christ and His Word, but by the world around you. 

This is an important thing to consider because if you’re shaped by the world, which is a fruitless barren desert, then be warned of the wrath to come. “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Like any grower, if a tree does not bear good fruit it is cut down and thrown away, and if it's diseased then it is burned in fire to prevent the disease from further spreading. If we are shaped by the world, we are fruitless, diseased, barren trees, then we will be cut down and burned. The imagery there is clear enough: If we do not have faith in Christ, if we live according to the passions and sins of this world, we will be thrown into the flames of hell.

Hopefully this leads you to ask with the crowds: “What then shall we do?” The answer is to “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” Having examined your life in light of scripture, having reflected on how much the world has shaped your life, instead take efforts to shape your life after Christ. This is a big ask, I know it, but this is what God instructs you to do. Repentance means not just saying sorry and then continuing in sin, but it means turning away from sin and towards the life the Lord would have you lead.

This word of repentance may strike hard, and yet it is the Lord’s work wherein He prepares you to be His fruitful field. For in the wilderness a shoot from the stump of Jesse has sprung forth and it is He our Savior! He says: “I am the true vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” The Lord has come into the wilderness and He is the fruitful vine! Those who are attached to the vine also bear much fruit. When we are with Christ we become a fruitful forest in the midst of a desert. “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.”

The church, that is to say, you Christians are an oasis in the desert of this evil world! The Lord has come to you who are living in the wilderness, straightening out the crooked paths of your hearts, in order to graft you into Himself. You, who are living in this evil world, surrounded by a plethora of temptations, surrounded by so much wickedness and depravity: Christ has come to you! I know it can be depressing and discouraging to be a Christian today, when you feel like a minority and like you always have to walk on eggshells. It’s so frustrating that so many churches are closing and even more churches are caving into worldliness. But here’s the glimmering spark of hope: God sends His Word into the wilderness; God gathers His church in the wilderness. God has not forsaken us nor abandoned us.

You who are discouraged, you who have failed in the face of temptation, you whose lives aren’t going according to plan, you who are enamored by the meatpots of America, you who suffer under a load of sin, the Lord has come to you living in this wilderness! Break forth into song! “Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of His praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip… we went through fire and through water; yet You have brought us out to a place of abundance.” The Lord has brought you into the oasis of His church, to dwell among His fruitful vines, as He has grafted you into this vine of His church through Holy Baptism.

This world is a fruitless, barren, desolate wilderness; no doubt about it. However, be encouraged dear Christians, for the Lord Himself descends from heaven so that you may dwell in Him. All is not lost, and the Lord has not given up on us. In this fruitful garden of the church grows the tree of life, upon which the fruit of Christ’s body hangs to nourish the saints, and beneath it the baptismal river of life flows to renew His saints. Though the barren wilderness may strike out against us in anger, as Herod did against John the Baptist, remember that the winnowing fork is in His hand and at the last He shall gather you into His barn of paradise.