Second Candle of Advent

Yesterday was the second Sunday of Advent. In lighting the second candle, we proclaim that we are in a time of preparation. We are getting ready and we will announce his coming. This candle is probably best represented in the life of John the Baptist.

Mark 1:1-8 1The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.[a]
2It is written in Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"[b]— 3"a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "[c] 4And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I baptize you with[d] water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."



Last week I wrote about Isaiah proclaiming the promise this week I will be looking at how John the Baptist prepared for God’s promise. John the Baptist is clear prophecy, he appears to be vital testimony of who Jesus is -> people understood prophecy.

Nothing can completely prepare us for the greatness of the incarnate Christ, but we can take steps in preparation of our hearts and lives. God's kingdom was breaking through into the ordinary in the form of an infant. Are we allowing Christ to break through the ordinary today? God's kingdom changes the rules, breaks bondage, forgives sin, heals the sick, raises the dead, casts out demons, and sets all types of people free!!! Are we prepared for that? Are we preparing for that?

I know it sounds crazy, but I know a man Dale Begley who was pronounced dead, and was dead for almost 12 hours before his mother got there… she prayed for the power of God to come down, and he woke up. Now do I know if it wasn’t some sort of medical mistake? No, but I believe that it was God. Some people will suggest I believe that it was God, because that is what I want to believe… but isn’t that the truth for anything we believe.

John the Baptist was saying that the new had begun and there would be much much more. Where is the edge of our wilderness. Where are we? Who is out there crying for the Kingdom's cause? How has the coming of Christ the second time already began? I know that sounds like a crazy question, but seriously if we are getting closer and closer all the time, how has it already started. How are we preparing our own lives, the church, the lives of those around us?

John the Baptist’s good news, then, was the kingdom of God had come and that He, Jesus, is its herald and expounder to men. More than that, in some mysterious way, he is the kingdom. The good news now, is that Jesus still is. Preparation like all action is forever. You can’t take action back. In our preparation have we been so seized by a transforming conviction, extravagant grace, and overwhelming love and forgiveness that all we can do is proclaim God’s promises? At every moment of ever day of our lives we are living in the interface between our lives and God’s kingdom among us—we should be proclaiming something and preparing for something. God is actually here, and actually out there and actually in our hearts and lives are we preparing a life that we are happy to have him a part of?

So let us go out proclaiming God’s promises and preparing for them to come to pass.