Advent Project Devotional: Day 10

Day Ten

Rev. Matthew D. March Associate Pastor

Mount Olive Lutheran Church Lake 

Havasu City, Arizona

Psalm 72.1-7, 18-19
Isaiah 40.1-11
John 1.19-28

I Think I’m Just A…

When I lived and worked in Ohio I volunteered with the local fire and EMS departments as a firefighter/ EMT-B. In EMS there are different levels of Emergency Medical Technicians. At the time I served there were three—EMT-P or Paramedic, EMT-I or Intermediate, and EMT- B or Basic. Each certification level filled a specific role in an ambulance.

Paramedics are the “doctors” of EMS. It is the certification that requires the most training and carries with it responsibility beyond the other two certifications. Many times people would mistakenly call me a Paramedic and I would correct them, “No, I’m just a Basic.”

Until one day a Paramedic corrected me. He told me, “There are no ‘just-a’s’ in EMS.

The Pharisees didn’t know how to classify John the Baptist so they priests and Levites to him with a long list of titles. Each of those titles carried high expectations and responsibilities. They also carried great honor. John denied each of them.

Finally, it comes down to the real question: Who are you? John places himself as a servant of the one who came after him, Jesus, but he did not diminish the importance of his work. He is the voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare for the coming Messiah.

We are also called to prepare the way and to baptize with water to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. We are not the prophet, we are not the Messiah, and we are not Elijah: we are the voices crying in the wilderness proclaiming the coming of the Lord. We are not just a voice. We are the voice that someone will hear proclaiming the Good News of freedom Jesus Christ.

This Advent you are not a “just-a.” You are a servant of the Incarnate One who came to set the captives free. You have an important job in proclaiming this truth. You have a story and a message to proclaim. You proclaim it every time you open your mouth and every day you live your life.

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Tell the story again this advent. You are a voice crying into the wilderness of the lives of your community this Advent. You are the one to share the Good News. Lord Jesus, you created no “just-a’s.” Help show me the way to proclaim your Good News of freedom and new life. I am your servant; use me for your will. Amen.