• "Moving From Sorrow for Sin to Faith in Jesus Christ!"
• Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Advent
• December 21, 2003
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

Last week we talked about John the Baptist and his call to repentance. John preached that Israel had to repent to be ready for Jesus. But then John did an equally important thing. He pointed to Jesus and left the scene.

Today's gospel (John 1:19f.) records the testimony of John the Baptist to the religious leaders who came to query him about his ministry. After claiming to be the forerunner spoken of by Isaiah, John said, "I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; he it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose."

A little later in John's gospel, John the Baptist said of his relationship to Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (3:30). This is to say that there is a limit and an end to John's preaching of repentance. Yes, we must understand the guilty verdict the moral law brings upon us. Yes, we must be sorry for our particular sins and intend to do better in the future. But if guilt, sorrow and good intentions are all that we have, we will not be saved. We must move from sorrow for sin to faith in Jesus Christ.

There are many people who feel guilty about their sins and want to do better, but have no peace because they have not found forgiveness and the grace of new life in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the answer to our sins. He, alone, is able to forgive us our sins. He alone, through the gift of the Spirit, is able to change us into the people God wants us to be. John comes before Jesus to highlight what is wrong with the human condition. Jesus comes after John to make it right.

Today's collect nicely describes how the grace that comes to us through Jesus Christ solves the problem created by sin. It begins with an Advent petition for Christ to come:

"O Lord, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us;"

Then it describes our dilemma and its answer,

"that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace may speedily help and deliver us."

I looked up the word "let". It means an obstacle or a hindrance. It is related to a "let" in badminton, where the shuttlecock hits the net and is hindered in getting over. It is the word from which our word "late" is derived. We are not just "let" in running the race; we are "sore let." The word "sore" is an adjective that means our hindrance is a source of grief and distress. Because of sin we are delayed and hindered in reaching our destination in such a way that it is a matter of great grief and distress to us.

In the condition of affliction, we pray that "thy bountiful grace may speedily help and deliver us." The grace of God is plenteous and freely given. God sends it to us in a speedy manner-which contrasts with the manner in which sin slows and hinders us. Grace helps us and delivers us from the power of sin. This is why God sent his Son into the world at Christmas. That is why Jesus comes to us in the sacrament. That is why we pray that he will come again in glory.

In our life of prayer, it is important that we spend as much time praying and hoping for the answer as we spend looking at and examining the problem. The call to repentance rightly leads us to self-examination. Self-examination leads us to see all manner of sins of thought word and deed. Sometimes self-examination can lead us to lose hope because we see in clear light our besetting and repeated sins. We wonder if we qualify for the grace of God.

But when we take our eyes off of ourselves and look to Jesus, we discover that all that is wrong in us is made right by him. The love of God that Jesus pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit purifies our motives and turns our half-hearted sorrow into true and earnest repentance. The grace of God works through all the evil we have done and turns it into good. The presence of the incarnate, resurrected and glorified Lord turns flawed and despairing sinners into new, transformed people.

The same Advent hope applies to the world at large. We see great evil in the world, for which there seems to be no answer and no hope. Jesus is the hope and the answer for the world also. At his glorious Second Coming, he will purge the world of all evil and transform it into a glorious new creation. In troubled countries we talk about interim governments preparing the way for better things. Well, all governments are interim. All current rulers are just keeping the seat warm as we wait for the return of the King.

As Advent draws to a close and the coming of Christ draws near, our focus shifts from the guilt and darkness of sin to the grace and light of Christ's appearance. We lift up our eyes and utter the most ancient of Christian prayers. "Come, Lord, Jesus." Or, in the words of the collect:

"O Lord, raise up, we pray thee, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord."