St John's Anglican Church

Signposts along the Way!!

 

Blessed Lord, would you open your Word to us today that we may grow in faith and maturity. Amen

 

I want to begin with story. A true story – albeit a little embarrassing for me.

 

Sign-posts can be very confusing.

 

- Many years ago – Gay and I – Trafalgar Tour around Europe. Whistle-stop. Germany flashed by one morning while I was still very asleep. But when I woke up I was interested to see where we were in that magnificent country and so looked out of the bus window at the road-signs to get an idea of which town we were speeding towards.

 

- The first signpost crept up on the right hand side and I hadn’t heard of that particular city or village and so didn’t take much notice of it but waited for the next sign which was also indicating a turn off to that same town or village – so did the next one and the next one – until I realized that what the signpost was really saying was “Exit the autobahn here”. In German that is AusFahrt which is NOT a name of a town or village. How embarrassing!

 

- Another quick illustration – on one of his first journeys down from Jhb to P.E. my son missed a crucial turn-off at Colesberg – they were doing roadworks and the signposting was all temporary – apparently many others were also mis-directed. What it meant was that instead of travelling down to Port Elizabeth he ended up half way to Cape Town before he realized that he was on the wrong road.

 

If any nation ever needed clearly defined signposts it was Israel in the time before Christ. They were so embroiled in legalism and idolatry and syncretistic worship that they couldn’t see any directions clearly at all. 400 years had passed since the last prophet had given them direction and they were floundering under the Roman Empire and the burden that the  Pharisees placed upon them.

 

Into this confusion came John the Baptist who could never, ever be accused of ever giving false directions to the people. He was perhaps one of the most focused individuals in Biblical history.

 

He needed his message to be crystal clear and understood by everyone because his message contained the only answer that mankind has to the problems of life and death, of salvation and damnation, of liberation from the shackles that bind us through the influence of the devil and the world around us.

 

He certainly never ever invited respect or admiration or adoration in his day. Matt 3:4 tells us that John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. Not an attractive diet and a really bad fashion sense one might say

 

No-one could to be confused about the message that he brought. In fact, he wasn’t presenting a message or a philosophy – he was introducing the Messiah – the one whose sandals he didn’t feel worthy to untie. – John was preparing and calling the people to enter into a new relationship through repentance and acceptance of what God had planned for them

 

It is in Matthew 3:5 that we read of his preaching alongside the River Jordan. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

 

For his message was simply  “repent for the kingdom of heaven is near” Get ready for the next crucial exit from disaster and destruction and death – don’t just follow the highways of this life

 

A signpost that some recognized as being vital for their salvation while typically – a bit like me in Germany – others didn’t recognize for what it was – and still others where so distracted about the mess around themselves that they shot past and didn’t see – a bit like Mark and Liezl on the Road to P.E. through Colesburg.

 

Turn with me to our Old Testament reading for today which was from Isaiah 40. An amazing portion of Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 40-66 which includes the Servant Songs of Isaiah.

 

Here in Chapter 40 we see the opening verses of this particular portion of Scripture.

In the preceding chapters Isaiah had shown that he was very concerned with the connection between worship and the ethical behavior of the worshipper. They were saying one thing with their mouths and living out blasphemous lives.  For instance, one of his major themes is God's refusal to accept the ritual worship of those who then go on to treat others with cruelty and injustice.

Isaiah also spoke against idolatry, which was common at the time.

The Canaanite worship, which involved fertility rites, including sexual practices which were forbidden by Jewish law, had become popular among the Jewish people. Isaiah picks up on a theme used by other prophets that the nation of Israel is like a wife who is committing adultery, having run away from her true husband, YHWH. Directionless and uncontrollable.

Not too different to our lives today. I suppose that every generation feels that it is living in the worst of periods in world history but I cannot believe that our current society could possibly get any worse than it is. Surely!

 

And we are all products of our societies and our cultures to one degree or another. We are equally prone to the temptations of the world and the flesh that those pre-Christian Jews were. Not one of us here can claim to be sinless and properly focused on the road God has laid out for us. Repent – says John

 

Surely, the place to begin is to admit that we need a savior or we will never look out for His signposts to glory.  The Holy spirit pointing us towards the Father through the Son. The message proclaimed by signposts which God places in our path to take notice of.

 

John was such a signpost – prominent and standing and teaching with integrity of word and deed. So much so that the people stopped along their way to be directed by him into repentance and baptism in the Jordan .

 

What kind of signposts are we? Are we lost within the mess of a messy world – or are we clear enough for even the dumbest observer to eventually get the drift that if they want to get off the wide and dangerous roads (akin to the great autobahrns – then we have to ausfahrt – get off the wide road and move onto the long and narrow road prepared specifically for us unto salvation.

 

Let’s stick with this picture of Ausfahrt.

 

EXIT – Exit the rough roads and the hills and the valleys, the windie highways and the valleys, mountains, hills, and turn off to the straight highway in the wilderness of your lives and the glory of the Lord will be revealed to you – says the Word.

 

Isaiah says part of the reason why many never receive blessings is that the roads of their lives are in a mess. Potholed and worn, rough edges and dirty.

 

Get rid of the garbage and the baggage is what John was preaching. Those things which make for rocky roads and aweful mountains in our lives.

 

To live a life of righteousness – being right with God – begins with knowing your need for him and the mess that the infrastructure of your lives is in.

 

Once we confront our ness God brings us to Jesus who washed us clean through His blood shed on Calvary and turns us 180 degrees through repentance to Life – from darkness to light – from lostness into a deep and personal relationship with the living God. John, Jeremiah, Isaiah were all calling us into this new covenant of promise.

 

So, this message is for each and everyone of us sitting here this morning or listening to this broadcast today. Exit the way of the world and turn off to the path prepared for you by God Himself.

 

This will bring real comfort to those who are hurting. As we draw nearer to God and grow in our living relationship with a real God we will find that when our hills and valleys become too much he is there walking alongside us – gently helping us cope with the things of life. When the path is rugged and tough it will seem as if He is rushing ahead of you to make the tough places smooth and storms of life will not overwhelm us.

  

But I am probably talking to many who have made that decision in their lives already. Do we sit back with complacency in the knowledge that we are walking faithfully along that road God being our helper.

 

One of my favourite hymns comes from a little song book called 100 Hymns for today and is entitled

 

 We have a gospel to proclaim,

 Good news for all throughout the earth;

 The gospel of a Saviour's name:

 We sing His glory, tell His worth.

Jesus was clear about that because He says Go into all the world!

 

Be a John the Baptist out there – be a prominent signpost to direct others onto the path that God has for them.

 

In fact Isaiah says this to us, doesn’t he….

 

9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. ….. lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"

 

I love the words in Isaiah just a few pages further on from Chapter 40. Page forward a little and stop at Isaiah 43:1-5 for words of great comfort to one that turns away from sin and follows the signposts presented to you into grace and love

 

"Fear not , for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”

 

Wow! What a message.

 

To grasp your need for the Lord, to open the way for him to enter into your life, to receive the blessing of God the Holy Spirit, to live to the glory of God ….. is your destiny and the purpose that God has planned for your life.

  

To prepare your lives for the Lord in this way will ensure that – like John – you will grow in wisdom and become strong in spirit.

 

If that is what you want for your life then get off the crumbly paths that you are on – Ausfahrt – EXIT – Repent and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed Lord, we praise you that whereas The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Amen