For those of you who have come here feeling lost, I have good news for you. For those of you who have come here willing to get lost, I have even better news. The good news is "fear not." The God we worship specializes in finding lost people. The God we worship gives life the moment we lose ours for the sake of heavenly causes.

Our text has two words that become backdrops for the entire season of Advent. Those words are "wilderness" and "about face." John comes out of the wilderness, the necessary passage on our pilgrimage toward God. Wilderness signifies being lost. We fear such moments, but God invites us to embrace those moments.

Michael Podesta was visiting our congregation recently along with his calligraphy work which inspires us in all seasons. One of his works has these words:

If as …