Sermon for Rorate Coeli, 2025

John’s appearance and preaching were not just for the corrupt multitudes that came to him; they were also for the Pharisees. What’s more, they are for you. Consider what John says here: that he is not even worthy to unloose the strap of the Christ’s sandals. To whom is he addressing? It’s not the corrupt multitudes; it’s the Pharisees: those who came to him to ask who he was. Consider also John’s overall message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Again, who is the audience of his message? Were there not Pharisees who heard this preaching? And when they heard this, do you suppose that they just believed that John was, to turn the phrase, preaching to the choir? Does the call to repent mean anything to you? After all, you are nothing like the corrupt multitudes out there: the ones that have really gone over the deep end with all their immorality and their wanton lack of conscience. Nevertheless, John’s call to repentance is addressed even to those who think that society needs to be reformed and turned around, ah, just like the Pharisees: the reform people. It is especially to people like the Pharisees—and you—that John the Baptist cries out in the wilderness and says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” because the truth of the matter is that the reformation, or the changing of what is wrong with society, needs to begin in your own heart. Hearken, therefore, to the preaching of John the Baptist.

Readings:

• Old Testament: Deuteronomy 18:15-19

• Epistle: Philippians 4:4-7

• Holy Gospel: John 1:19-28

  
  

Sermon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Xj994ati0