December 7, 2025

Matthew 3:1-12

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” So the saying goes. Most of us have been called names at some point in our lives, and maybe it’s not so easy to brush it off. Part of the reason we call people names is because it does hurt – and it often contains bitter truth. Whether the names were a schoolyard taunt or a calculated adult insult…. in some ways, sticks and stones hurt less than the names that we are called, and that we call each other.

It’s not very nice, is it, to call someone a name? It’s not very Christian-like, is it? Would someone tell that to John the Baptist? In our Gospel reading today, he calls those pharisees a “brood of vipers.” You, you’re a bunch of slithering snakes! And he implies that they are withered old trees that are good for nothing except to be chopped down and burned. Yes, John makes no bones about calling them names. Not very nice. Not very politically correct. But very, very Christian.

Even Jesus was a name-caller. He called those same Pharisees “hypocrites” and “white-washed tombs.” He continually called them out in His parables and His teaching. He was just as fierce as John the Baptist in pointing the accusing finger. And if the names don’t hurt enough, Jesus even fashioned a whip to clear out the temple from the “den of thieves” as He called them.

John, I think, gets a bad rap as a fire-and-brimstone preacher. He was really, essentially, no different than Jesus in this way. Jesus, too, taught a harsh word of law. He called people the names they deserved. And the truth hurts.

And I do the same. Maybe a little less brazen about it, but every Sunday when you come here, I call you names, I call you “sinner.” You call me that, too, of course, we call each other names. But that shouldn’t blunt the force of the blow.

Perhaps we’ve grown so accustomed to that name, “sinner” so that it doesn’t hurt anymore. Perhaps it doesn’t even phase us. Some people outside the church would bristle at such an accusation. “I am NOT a sinner! Don’t call me a poor, miserable sinner, I’m a good person! I do what I’m supposed to do. God knows I mean well. Don’t you judge me, you Christian.” Well if you think like that too, all I can say is what John said, “Repent! The kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

The truth hurts, and it should. We are sinners. We’re no better than the brood of vipers, the white-washed tombs, the den of thieves.

For all the excuses and justifications we bring, we can’t escape the wages of our sin. We know our name – and it is mud. Sin has our number. We all are equally sinful, and we all have a desperate need for our Savior. We see each other as sinners but also finally, we need to see each other as redeemed in Christ. People for whom Christ Jesus died. We all need to hear the words of forgiveness. We all need to have that grace proclaimed over us. And when our sins weigh heavy on your heads, your pastor is called to place his hand on your head and tell you “Jesus Christ died for that sin as a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority I declare to you you are forgiven.” And ML says in the catechism you should believe that as firmly as if Christ Himself were speaking to you.

The Triune name is upon us, and into which we are baptized. A name that matters more than the name of “sinner.” A name that makes our old name irrelevant.

The sticks and stones of sinful names hurt us, but life and salvation come in Jesus’ name. Forgiveness comes in that new name – the new birth in Him.

For He conquered our sin with two sticks – fashioned in the shape of a cross. And He vanquished death with a stone, rolled away from His tomb. And in His resurrection, we see our future – and in His reign from heaven He prepares a place for us. An inheritance – waiting with our name on it. A book of life, in which our names are written.

John prepares the way by calling sinners what they are – “sinners.” And by calling them to repent. And by washing their sins away. Jesus is the way who called sinners what they were, and called them to repent, and won for them a new name.

Today, you are a sinner, and you are called to confess your sins and repent. But also called to believe. Believe in the Christ who came to win you back from sin. Believe in the Christ who died and rose for you. Believe in the Christ who gives you a new name in Baptism. My friends, Christ came only for sinners. That means Christ came for you. Yes, names can hurt you. Sticks and stones can break your bones, and even kill you. But His gracious Word of promise brings you grace and forgiveness, life and salvation. Thank God for calling us by His name.

Take that grace and that forgiveness with you. Have such joy with it! That as you look around and see sinners being selfish see them as you see yourself. Someone who needs a savior so desperately and for one whom Christ has died. One for whom Christ has shed His blood. He gives Himself freely to them, even as to you. You see, they have the forgiveness of Christ also, it’s just that so many people don’t know it yet. So I send you today, not that you might be saved by proclaiming the gospel to others but so that you might be salt, in a bland world. So that you might be light in the darkness. So that your need for a Savior might be fulfilled, as others have that same need. Go and know nothing will ever separate you from the mercy, love, peace, forgiveness of your Savior Jesus Christ. Go as one forgiven as anyone could ever be. You are forgiven. He forgives you even in the midst of it. We who are in Christ Jesus are saved no matter how badly we might behave. Yet we know as Christ died for those sins that we are brought to a place to despise that sinfulness within us.  Even when we act like we don’t have a Savior, He is standing there between us and judgment and He declares you not guilty. We have a Savior, who has done all of the saving for you. Because if left to our devices there would be only damnation for us. He has redeemed you and He came for the life of the world.

As you go in this Advent season, we anticipate the coming of Christ, both in the manger and as He comes to redeem all things seen and unseen as He is coming again. Rejoice. In Jesus name Amen.