Associate Rector, Rebecca Tankersley Sermon by: The Rev. Rebecca Tankersley
Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration | Dallas, Texas
December 9, 2018
Second Sunday of Advent

Title: John

Texts:

“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius,”

In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

___________________________

Good morning.

Every year, on the second Sunday of Advent, we turn our attention to John the Baptizer. Most years, when we get to 2 Advent, John bursts onto the scene. He’s depicted marvelously in the opening scene of a classic Broadway show turned movie. I’m talking, of course, about Godspell. It’s a modern-day retelling of the gospel. Ok, it was modern in the 70s. As the film opens, folks are living life amidst the hustle and bustle of New York City – exiting office buildings, crossing streets, window shopping. Suddenly, a voice cries out:

🎶 Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. 🎶

Some appear not to notice, but others stop, listen, turn, and seek the source of voice. It’s a great visual of Matthew and Mark’s accounts of John the Baptizer; he appears in the wilderness, crying out, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”

Luke opens the account of John differently. He meticulously sets the stage with almost “pedantic attention to historical details.”