Announcing The Nearness Of God
Rev. Erik Swanson
December 7, 2025
You can watch the entire sermon here.
Announcements are usually loud, dramatic, hard to miss. I think of President Trump descending the escalator ten years ago, the jubilant cheers when the right-colored smoke signals a new pope, or soccer fans across North America waiting to hear the World Cup draw. Announcements are meant to make a splash.
John The Baptist’s Arrival
The church gives us a powerful announcement every second Sunday of Advent: the reappearance of John the Baptist. In Matthew’s gospel (Matthew 3: 1-12) he stands as a new Elijah, baptizing crowds and proclaiming something world-changing. Matthew uses John to announce something for his own community — and for us.
What Is Our Wilderness?
So what is being announced? First, I notice where the announcement happens: the wilderness. That location is intentional. The wilderness was a place of wandering, hunger, confusion, and danger for the Hebrew people. Matthew’s community was in its own wilderness — upheaval, uncertainty, systems failing. And many days many of us feel the same. The wilderness is not where we expect God to speak.
I’ve been taught that God shows up in comfort, calm, and abundance. But Matthew confronts that. What if the new thing God is announcing is spoken from the wilderness, in my wilderness? In your wilderness? Instead of raging against the difficulty, what if I listened? What if we paid attention to the announcement Spirit is offering right in the chaos? That shift in perspective might change everything. It invites us to ask: What is my wilderness, and what is Spirit announcing through it?
The Kingdom Of Heaven Has Drawn Near
And again — what is being announced? Matthew tells me the Good News is this: the kingdom of heaven has drawn near. Not far away. Not someday. Near. This nearness of God is a core truth of contemplative faith — that I move through each moment in the presence of holy closeness. The birth stories echo it too: shepherds and angels together, foreign magi and a local family together, humanity and divinity woven into one life. How do we embody that nearness? How do we behave when we remember we stand in the presence of God — even when we’re irritated in traffic or tempted to gossip? For me, that awareness is a wake-up call, one that nudges me toward greater kindness, justice, and love.
The Call To Repentance
John the Baptist’s announcement also calls us to repentance — not shame, but turning. Turning from what is broken toward the life God offers, toward this holy closeness. And no one gets a pass. Matthew underscores this by showing even the religious elite — the Pharisees and Sadducees — being called out. Their pedigree doesn’t matter; what matters is producing real spiritual fruit right now. The “brood of vipers” image reminds me of the poisons within me that kill new life. Repentance is about clearing space for God’s new way.
Embodying The Nearness
Finally, John announces that One is coming who fully embodies this nearness, this way, this new life. And here is the challenge for me: I live on the other side of Matthew’s story. Can I be one in whom the Spirit takes form now? Can I embody the transformation John announced? That, I realize, is the deeper meaning — and challenge — of Christmas, and of my life. Amen.