The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was moving toward a fevered climax. NBC had shown marching bands and recording artists who casually paused in the middle of Fifth Avenue to "lip-synch" their latest recording! Massive balloons of "Bullwinkle" and "Underdog" and the excitement in the announcer's voice made it obvious that Santa and his Reindeer were just around the corner. It was then that a small float came wheeling down the street with the wise men, shepherds, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. The NBC announcer excitedly proclaimed, "Here come the ones who got the whole thing started!"

And that's about all that there was to be said: "Here come the ones who got the whole thing started!" How can Mary, Joseph and a baby compete with Kenny Rogers, Bullwinkle and Rudolph? The Holy Family occupies but a small float in the passing parade. And yet more and more people are returning each year to Church and to the historic faith. Why? Because we need to know more about the straw in the stable than the tinsel on the tree! We need Emmanuel. We need to know "what Child is this who, laid to rest, on Mary's lap is sleeping?"

It may be inappropriate to say, "Here come the ones who got the whole thing started!" about the Holy Family, but that might be an acceptable statement to make about John the Baptizer and his relation to Jesus. When John appeared in the wilderness "preaching a baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins," he truly was the one who got the whole thing started for Jesus!

When we consider John the Baptizer, we can't help but notice his distinctive apparel and diet. He wore "a garment of camel's hair . . . and his food was locusts and wild honey." If you and I were to go down to the local department store, we could buy a beautiful camel's hair sport coat. At least, it's called camel's hair. But it would bear no resemblance to the coat John wore.

Sometime when you get a chance, visit a zoo that has a camel. Believe me, he's not wearing a sport coat. The coat he sports is tangled, matted and rugged. Can we imagine the impact that John made by wearing that coat and eating locusts? Would you want John to stop by your house for a cup of coffee? Would you want him to move in next door and open a clothing store or a restaurant? To our ears he sounds weird, but the scriptures tell us that all of Judea and Jerusalem came out to hear him. He didn't need to go to them, they came to him. Why? Was he a curiosity, a freak, something for the press to gobble up? Was John a first century "Macarena," popular for a moment, but forgotten the next day? Would he end up on the back pages of PEOPLE magazine under the banner "Camel Hair, Locust Eating Preacher Drawing Attention." No.

John called people to repent, and what he said touched them so much that not only did they regret their past sinfulness, they even were baptized by him, symbolic of their identification with his movement.

John the Baptizer is not a carnival sideshow, but is solidly within the tradition of the prophets, and his story is essential to the story of Jesus. In fact, Mark's gospel begins with the words, "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," and that good news begins not with Jesus, but with John. He really was "the one who got the whole thing started."

To understand that John was not a wide-eyed desert crazy; we read the story of his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and we read how God's hand was on John even before he was born.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were an elderly couple who had been unable to have children. Zechariah was a priest who regularly took his turn serving in the great Temple of Jerusalem. On one fateful day the lot fell on him to enter the sanctuary of God to offer sacrifice on behalf of all the people. This generally was a privilege which would fall on a regular priest but once in life. While in this sacred place something extraordinary happens. Apparently, not only did Zechariah pray for the people, he prayed that he and his wife would have a child. The angel Gabriel appears to him and announces that his prayers have been heard. Elizabeth shall bear a son and Zechariah shall name him John.

Isn't this a wonderfully human story? Here's Zechariah, in the big moment of his life, praying for all of Israel but also praying for a child! And it is the latter prayer which is heard! This reminds us that God listens not for silvery tongues but for sincerity. I've heard people say, "But I don't know how to pray," to which I say, "Good, then go ahead and pray!" God hears too many prayers from us clergy which sound more like political agendas or church announcements than prayer. God doesn't need clergy complaining about the price of gas or reminders to pick up the cake pans left in the church kitchen. God needs honest prayer!

Zechariah is startled by Gabriel's announcement. In fact, he outright questions it, so he asks with the sensitive tact of a long married man, "How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man and my wife is getting on in years."

Well, Gabriel is not too pleased with Zechariah's doubt, so he causes him to be unable to speak for the duration of his wife's pregnancy, thereby making Zechariah the unofficial patron saint of pregnant women! There may be more than one woman here who likes the idea of a husband keeping quiet during his wife's pregnancy!

The climax of the story comes eight days after the birth of the child, when he is to be circumcised and named. Since poor Zechariah cannot speak, the relatives suggest that the child be named Zechariah, after his Dad. How ˜bout that? John the Baptist was almost named Zeke, Jr.! Zechariah quickly motions for a writing tablet and writes down, "His name is John." Immediately Zechariah can speak, and speak he does! One of the finest speeches in all the New Testament follows. It's Zechariah's song of praise, and we shouldn't be surprised that it was a good one for Zechariah was a preacher who had been unable to speak for nine months, that's thirty-nine weeks of sermons! Zechariah had plenty of time to work on that perfect sermon!

We move to John's adult years. Yes, he did dress oddly and eat with peculiarity, but those who heard him saw him fulfilling the role of a prophet! When one is a prophet, one doesn't have time to check out "The 2-Day Sale" at the department store nor the gourmet section at the supermarket!

John was an authentic voice of God. The scriptures are clear that people from Judea and Jerusalem came out to hear him. He spoke with authority of the need to repent and people responded.

Did John use the element of fear in his speech? The answer is, "Yes," but fear isn't always bad. Fear, or the understanding of consequences, can be useful. I need a little fear when I drive on the Interstate. I need a little fear when I cook in the kitchen. I need a little fear when I mount the steps of this pulpit. Fear reminds me to take seriously what I am doing, whether that be driving a car, boiling potatoes or preaching a sermon.

Has the fear of God still a place in our Christian faith? Sure, as long as we understand fear to be a knowledge of consequences, and understand that fear is not our final destination. When I drive a car, boil potatoes or preach a sermon I need to know my responsibilities, but fear cannot be my dominant emotion. Fear stifles the love of life! It is possible to love driving, cooking and preaching, and it's 100% possible to love God.

Please listen to how John Calvin wrote of how a fear of God should yield to a love of God. In his INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, he wrote, "All who have at any time groped about in ignorance of God will admit that the bridle of the law restrained them in some fear and reverence towards God until, regenerated by the Spirit, they began wholeheartedly to love him."

John was the trailblazer for Jesus. Like a highway grader he made the hills smooth and rough places plain, but his fiery oratory was not the last word and John was the first to admit it! He said that there's one following me who I am not fit to even untie his sandal. In Biblical times, that was slave's work and here John, this incredibly popular prophet, says I'm not even worthy of that. John's fiery words about repentance were important, but were not the last words. It's a pitiful fact that too many people have been force-fed the wrath of God while they were kids, and have been so turned off, that now they've walled themselves from the love of God. John Calvin was right. Fearing God must yield to loving God.

John spoke about the need to repent. In the original Greek the word for repentance is "metanoia" which is not just changing one's mind, nor one's decision, nor one's direction, but is turning toward God. All of us need that repentance, for if we take seriously being Christians, we cannot be content with lip service to our faith. As Soren Kierkegaard has written with great wit and insight, "A little water on your head when you are born, a little rice on your head when you get married and a little dirt on your head when you die do not make you a Christian!"

John the Baptizer is a fitting symbol for Christmas. He teaches us to take our faith seriously. Certainly amidst the glitter of this blessed season, the hope of change can emerge. The blessing of Christmas is to realize that in Jesus, God has already given us the bridge to our true humanity. It is not hard to repent. It is not hard to receive forgiveness, but first we must see our separation from God.

C. S. Lewis wrote of this in MERE CHRISTIANITY: "Christianity tells people to repent and promises them forgiveness. It therefore has nothing to say to people who do not know that they need any forgiveness. It is after you have realized that there is a Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken the law and put yourself wrong with that Power it is after this and not a moment sooner that Christianity begins to talk."

Mark's gospel begins by telling us that the story of Jesus is Good News, that the good news begins with John the Baptizer, and that John began by preaching repentance. WHAT WE NEED TO SEE IS THAT REPENTANCE IS GOOD NEWS, FOR FORGIVENESS CAN BE RECEIVED!

An announcer watched a drab float come down Fifth Avenue and proclaimed, "Here come the ones who got the whole thing started!" Let's pray that we don't miss the real parade of God's forgiveness and love. I close with this:

Michigan Upper Peninsula has a village which is quite busy this time of year. It's on the Lake Superior shoreline, and I understand that as one drives down M-28 and nears Christmas, Michigan there is a sign which reads "Christmas Go Slow." The sign is good counsel. Go slow this Christmas. Savor the good news of repentance and forgiveness. Wear your camel's hair sport coat with the joy of "Emmanuel!"