Isaiah 35: 1-10 / Psalm 146: 5–10 / James 5: 7–10 / Matthew 11: 2-11
This is the written version of the
homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown,
Pennsylvania on Sunday, December 14, 2025 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.
“FAITH: BUILT WITH PATIENCE, PERSEVERANCE AND
EFFORT””
(Homily
texts: Isaiah 35: 1–10, James 5: 7–10, and Matthew 11: 2-11)
Ever give any thought to the things we
use in everyday life, the things that make life easier, more comfortable, or
better? Each and every one of those things, whether it is the food we eat, the
homes we live in, the vehicles we drive, or the tools we use, each and every
one of these things came to be because someone took the time (and the
imagination) to conceive of them in the first place, and then those who came up
with the ideas also created ways to construct or bring into being those things.
Finally, someone also had to do the work needed to bring the raw materials
needed to a finished product.
The bottom line, here, in each and
every case, is that the things we benefit from having, eating or using, none of
them came to us in their final form. They all began as raw materials of some
sort or another. Just about all of them did.
That same truth also applies to our
Christian faith: The faith comes to us as raw material, a gift from God (I am
sure that Martin Luther would agree with this assessment, for it is he who said
“Sola Grazia” (God’s grace alone).
But then, you and I are called – by
virtue of our Baptisms – to work out that gift of faith, to come to understand
it in all its fulness and in all the ramifications for change in our lives that
genuine faith requires, to undergo the rigorous process of being transformed
into the image of Christ. Put another way: You and I have work to do.
Our appointed lectionary readings for
this, the Third Sunday of Advent, are well-chosen.
The ancient prophet Isaiah points us to
the vision of God’s kingdom, come in all its fulness. This is the ideal, God’s
will for the world and the people who live in it, that divine ideal come in all
its power and in all its gracious intention for God’s creation and for the
people who live in it. (Recall that one of our Advent themes is that we are
called to prepare ourselves for our Lord Jesus Christ’s eventual return in
glory, at which time Isaiah’s ancient vision will become reality.)
But that glorious vision requires
effort on our parts to prepare ourselves for its return, and to show to the
watching world around us what that vision looks like, so that when it comes, people
will recognize it. Put another way: You and I have work to do. So, then, the
Letter of James encourages us to be patient, to do the will of the Lord while
we are able to do so. Put another way: We have work to do.
Our Gospel reading recounts to us the
efforts, the perseverance and the work that St. John the Baptist faced as he
called God’s people in the time of our Lord’s earthly visitation to repent of
their sins, to set aside any notion that simply “going through the motions” of
relating to God was good enough. Notice how our Lord describes John: “What did
you come out to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” Perhaps what the Lord is
telling us about John’s ministry is that John’s calling wasn’t an easy calling.
Indeed, it wasn’t. John was called to work to prepare the way for the Lord’s
coming. There was work to be done. The task of waking God’s people up in that
corrupt time was an enormous one, but John’s voice and mission is clear: He
called people to confess their sins, their wayward ways, and their ideas that
outward observance alone was “good enough” to curry favor with God.
It would be easy to think that God’s
perfect world will come instantaneously and without effort. Indeed, some
Christians seem to encourage such an understanding, as they proclaim that once
a person has been “saved”, their life will become one of pleasantness, ease and
joy.
The reality is, however, radically
different. For when we enter the waters of Baptism, then it follows that we
must do the work that God calls us to do, to allow the Holy Spirit to begin the
process in us of becoming more and more transformed into the image of Christ.
This is a process known as “sanctification”, being made holy. Oftentimes, this
is a slow process, not unlike the refining process that ore undergoes in order
to be refined into the metal that results. No wonder that Holy Scripture refers
to this as “silver, refined seven times in the furnace” (see Psalm 12:6).
Furthermore, once God’s saving work
begins in us, there will be opposition, perhaps such as that that John the
Baptist faced. There will be the ways and the behaviors of the world around us
that beckon to us, calling us to behave like people who do not know God or
God’s ways. John the Baptist, most likely, knew a lot about that dynamic in his
time and in his ministry.
So, then, we might say that the process
of salvation, of receiving God’s saving grace is like this: “I have been saved,
I am being saved, I shall be saved”.[1]
In other words, once we come to faith
and enter the waters by which we die to our old selves and are raised with
Christ in a resurrection like his[2], we
are claimed as a child of God. But then, the work begins, the work to allow God
to rework and remake us, more and more, little by little, into His image.
Finally, then, we come to God’s ideal, that time and circumstance when we enter
God’s kingdom, come in all its fulness, joy and wonder.
Come Holy Spirit, and lighten us with
your celestial fire, that we may be refined, like silver, into the image of
your beloved Son.
AMEN.
[1] I’m not sure who originated this saying.
[2] This is St. Paul’s description of the meaning and importance of Baptism. See Romans 6: 3–9.
