Don't Forget the Signs

For the last two weeks we’ve been considering the message of Advent as the coming of Christ for the salvation, and at times, the judgment of His people. What determines whether or not His coming to us will be for our salvation, or our judgment? The way we receive the message of Advent, which is the message of the Gospel. This morning we’ll see how the Jewish leadership failed to heed this plain spoken message. They were all full of questions for John the Baptist, but already had their own answers. Somehow over the course of the 700 years since Isaiah uttered his prophecy, the people of God had forgotten what to look for, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” In this the first century Jews were very much like Jill in the Silver Chair when she stopped repeating the signs that Aslan had given her and thus she kept missing them. Remember how Aslan had instructed her to repeat the signs over and over till she knew them cold. Well, in a sense that’s why we celebrate Advent year after year, rehearsing the story, repeating the signs. We do this time and again so that we’ll be ready to meet the Lord when He comes for us and so that we’ll know that He is coming for our salvation. We rehearse the story time and again because we know that we’re much more like the Jews of old than we want to admit. For many of you the story has grown old. Your hearts are dulled, and you’ve forgotten the signs. So this morning let us repent of allowing the message of Advent to become old, stale, and lifeless. It is anything, but that! And let us again repeat the signs and rehearse the story because in this way, in the way of repentance and faith, you can know that His coming to you will be for your salvation. And behold He comes to you visit you this day, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.