Introduction – It never bothered John the Baptist to play second fiddle. It bothers most people. Aaron Rodgers never liked playing second fiddle to Brett Favre. Prince Charles doesn’t like playing second fiddle to the Queen. I’m guessing Kamala Harris doesn’t like playing second fiddle to Joe Biden even if she can’t say it out loud. But it never bothered John the Baptist. The Gospel for today told us: There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, but he himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. When the Jewish religious leaders asked him who he was, John did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, I am not the Messiah. They pushed him on this, and John said, Among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. No problems playing second fiddle for John. He knew his place. He knew his message. And he was ready to let Jesus do the talking.
It never bothered Isaiah to play second fiddle, either. He know his calling. God sent Isaiah to the unbelievers in Judah and Jerusalem to thunder God’s warning about their approaching destruction. Isaiah preached bad news very well. He had a message for the believers, too. Relief was coming not just in the short term, not just relief from armies and enemies, but relief in the long term, relief from sin and death. A virgin will conceive and bear a son, Isaiah wrote. A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. Isaiah preached good news very well. Just like John the Baptist looked ahead to Jesus Isaiah did, too. And sometimes, not often, but sometimes, Isaiah just stepped aside and let Jesus do the talking. That’s what he did in the First Reading for today. No problems playing second fiddle for Isaiah. He knew his place. He knew his message. And he was ready to let Jesus do the talking.
That’s what we’re going to do this morning. We’re still in the season of Advent, The Third Sunday to be precise. But we’re going to move past Advent prophecies and Advent preparations today and go straight to Christmas. We’re going to listen to the words of the Son of God himself, not the one who is coming, but the one who has come. And what he says leads us to sing one of the world’s most famous Christmas hymns. It may be Advent, but the theme for today is Christmas:
Joy to the World
It’s a message of joy for the world
And a message of joy from the world
1. Actually, the words we heard from Isaiah aren’t actually the words of Jesus. Jesus is the name Joseph gave to Mary’s child. Jesus is the name of the Son of God who became fully human to serve as the Savior we needed. The words we’re hearing this morning are the words of the Son of God before he was born in Bethlehem. This is Messiah before his incarnation. This is the same Son of God who was present at creation. St. John the Evangelist calls him the eternal Word: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Sometimes the Old Testament calls him the angel of the Lord or the messenger of the Lord. Isaiah calls him the Servant of the Lord. That’s who’s talking to us this morning. The Son of God, the pre-incarnate Christ, the Servant of the Lord—but he’s talking to us as though he’s already on earth. Listen: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah is writing, but the Son of God is speaking, and he’s speaking as though he’s standing on a hill in Galilee or walking on a road to Jerusalem and preaching the good news.
This is poetry, so the Savior’s words aren’t just factual, they’re also beautiful. Listen to this series of nine word and phrases; they’re all here: the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the prisoners, those who mourn, those who grieve, those who wear ashes, those who mourn again, those who despair. All of those words describe the people of Judah and Jerusalem who were dealing with foreign enemies. They describe the conditions of war and exile. But Isaiah didn’t write 66 chapters just to focus on war and exile and the Savior didn’t speak these words just to describe physical problems. These are words that describe us—you and me—and every human being on the face of the earth.
Really? Do we think of ourselves as poor brokenhearted captives? Maybe not. Well maybe we should. Have you ever messed things up so badly that all the money in the world can’t fix it? Has an action toward someone you love been so rotten that your heart breaks whenever you think back about it? Is there a sin you’ve committed so often that you feel like an addict, like it’s got you in chains and won’t let you go? Has something you’ve done made you cry, maybe even sob and then it tears you up just to think about it? Have you ever carried guilt around for months, maybe for years? Have you ever wondered if God could forgive you? Ever wondered if God makes you sick or takes your job away or ends a relationship just to punish you? I don’t know. Maybe you have it too good. Maybe sin doesn’t bother you like it should. But if it does, then you are poor, brokenhearted, captives, prisoners, grievers, guilty, despairers—you are the one The Son of God came to save.
The Son of God brings joy for the world. He does what the Lord commissioned him to do. Good news: Jesus pays the price for the mess you made. Good news: Jesus forgives you and puts your broken heart back together. Good news: Jesus frees you from the Satan’s chains and throws light into the devil’s dungeon. Good news: His love dries your tears and puts a smile back on your face. There’s more. Listen: He provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness—what we call evergreen trees, trees that stay green all year--a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. I wish I had an hour to explain all this in detail, but I don’t. Here’s the point the Son of God wants to make to you today. When he left his throne and took on human form, when he was baptized in the Jordan River, when he lived and died and rose again, a new age dawned in the world. Nothing was ever the same after that, not for those who trusted him and not for those who rejected him. He came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor—good news—and the day of vengeance of our God—terrible news. And ever since we came to know him, we have had his joy in our lives. He forgives, he renews, he empowers, he promises. Joy to the World! The Lord is come!. Let earth receive her King!
2. Do you catch your heart racing a little with this? Do you feel your mouth turning into a smile? Any goosebumps or shivers? Here’s how Isaiah felt: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. And these weren’t giggles or goofy smiles. Isaiah understood what the Son of God gave him: He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. You know what sin does to us. You’ve heard it from this pulpit and you’ve felt it in your own life. Sin is dirty and ugly: Anger is dirty and ugly; so is gossip and jealously and lust and cheating; so is disobeying your parents and skimping on your offerings and ignoring God’s Word. Sin leaves us naked before God. Jesus came to cover up the naked and the dirty and the ugly in us. The garment he places over us is his perfect obedience to God; the robe he puts on us is the blood he shed for us. Now God sees nothing on us and nothing in us but Jesus. To God we look as beautiful as a perfect couple on their wedding day: A beautiful dress and white tie and tails. And not only us. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow—farmers and gardeners are pretty sure about that, aren’t they—so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. The Son of God brings joy for the world and then receives joy from the world. You can count on it. Joy to the world. The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing!
How are you and I going to rejoice this Christmas? Not with handshakes and hugs; we can’t do that. Not as much with our families as we would like. Not with fancy Christmas parties. Not with concerts we can’t attend. Not with hopes for a happy new year, at least not yet. And it’s hard to sing joyfully with masks on. Maybe we can do what John and Isaiah did. Maybe we can set our hearts and minds to play second fiddle to Jesus. Maybe we can know our place and realize our task. Maybe we can put ourselves in second place and think more about Jesus than we do about ourselves. Maybe we can value his Word more than we value our free time. Maybe we can bring our offerings remembering the gift he gave us. Maybe we can love each other the way he loved us. Maybe we can drop our doubts and listen to his promises. Maybe we can forget our fears and focus on his strength. Maybe we can deal with our sins by recalling his forgiveness. The second fiddle always exalts in the brilliance of the first violin. Give it a try and experience the joy. Amen.
