Return to the Home page
Return to Sermons page

Sermon Preached at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Granite Springs by the the Reverend Matthew Mead
December 6, 2009
Advent 2, Year C
(RCL): Baruch 5:1-9; Song of Zechariah; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6


Today’s Gospel begins Saint Luke’s Gospel proper. The first two chapters of the Gospel narrate the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Those infancy narratives serve almost as a prologue and set the stage and introduce many of the themes that will be important in the Gospel. Today’s Gospel account for all intensive purposes is the beginning of the Luke’s account of Jesus.

He begins with the Emperor of the known world, and moves to the territorial governor, the regional rulers and magistrates, the local religious authorities, and finally arrives at John the Baptist in the wilderness. If you were making a movie, you might have a shot of the Mediterranean Sea from space that zooms in and focuses first on the Near East, then on Israel and finally on the wilderness areas outside of Jerusalem.

Luke’s Gospel takes place in a specific place at a specific time – that point is obvious and it is important. The witness of John the Baptist to Jesus Christ, the ministry, life, passion, crucifixion and resurrection all happened. There are plenty of people who claim that one can never be sure if Jesus even existed. Saint Luke assures us that he did. He begins by placing his account of Jesus into known history.

I think that Luke is making an equally important point that might not be as obvious. He begins on a global scale and moves ever more locally. The story will continue to move from the wilderness where Jesus is baptized by John to Jerusalem where it will begin once again to expand outward. Jesus is tried and convicted first by those same local religious authorities that were named in today’s Gospel. Then he is handed over to the regional magistrates and finally he is convicted by the same governor named in the first verse of today’s Gospel.

The Good news of Jesus doesn’t end there. After his death, Jesus rises from the dead and meets his disciples first in Jerusalem, and then outside of Jerusalem. Luke continues the story of the Good News in a second volume, “The Acts of the Apostles”. After Jesus ascends to the Father, his followers begin to talk about the risen Lord who they have seen and spoken to. First, they tell everyone they meet in Jerusalem. Then they travel outside of the city and tell people there. The Gospel is spread rapidly throughout the local towns, then throughout the region, and finally across the entire Mediterranean and even to the city of Rome.

Luke’s account ends right where it began. Saint Paul has brought the news of the risen Christ all the way to the capital of the Roman Empire after having made an appeal as a citizen to be tried in Rome. If you were making a movie, you might simply zoom out.

But the story of the Good News of Jesus Christ doesn’t end there. The movement has continued to this day. If you were making a movie, the cameras would be rolling in this church today. The news has come to us, and we have been given the opportunity to continue to “zoom out” and move to Gospel along to new ears.

Christmas is a fabulous opportunity to tell someone about Jesus. Let the people you work with or hang out with or live with know that the doors of Good Shepherd have been thrown wide open for them. This Episcopal Church doesn’t just welcome you… we have opened our doors specifically for you. Services on Christmas Eve are at 5PM and 11PM (preceded by a fantastic Christmas Concert at 10:30), and on Christmas Day at 10AM. If someone were making a movie about us as Christians, what would it look like? I hope it would continue the same progression outward as more and more people believe the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Note for all sermons: The text published here and what was actually preached from the pulpit may vary considerably. Think of this version as the published draft.