December 14, 2003
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One
writer has this to say about this season of anticipation and preparation: “the
habitual, predictable character of Advent makes it easy to think of this time of
preparation as essentially benign. Music, exchange of gifts, decorations –
various aspects of Advent celebrations suggest that the event that lies ahead is
to be welcomed without hesitation or anxiety.
“From beginning to end. Luke’s report about the ministry of John the
Baptist contradicts this cheery picture of what it means to prepare for the
arrival of Jesus. The tone here is thoroughly eschatological, that is having to
do with the last days, or end times, opening with the address of the crowds as, ‘You
brood of vipers!’ (3.7) and concluding with the promise that Jesus will
destroy the ‘chaff’ with
an ‘unquenchable fire’ (3.17)” (Texts
for Preaching – Year C: Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press. 1994, p.26).
Here is what John is doing. John has
been preaching baptism, a water ritual for the forgiveness of sins. As people
went into the water, they emerged symbolically cleansed of all that kept them
separated from God and each other.
The people have been listening to him since that day he emerged from the
wilderness proclaiming words of the prophet Isaiah who said to those returning
from exile. He looks at people whose spirits are in exile, far away from what
gives real meaning and hope, love, peace, and joy to their lives. He says to
them someone is coming who will give your lives meaning. Now is the time for
preparations and expectation. “Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
It was just as people began to believe John the Baptist that things got
complicated. Have you ever looked forward to something and then been
disappointed when things took an unexpected turn? Maybe you had a great
interview but you didn’t get offered the job. Perhaps you baked the best pie,
but did not get the blue ribbon. You are good student, but no academic
scholarship is in the picture. You spent time and money getting ready for the
big date, but you got stood up.
You responded to a call to give your life to God and when you showed up,
the preacher said you are not worthy, and it all confirms the low self esteem
and feelings of worthlessness you already felt.
They had come in their white robes and
their towels ready for baptism. The choir is singing, “Wade in the Water”,
baptismal certificates have been prepared. The reception is ready and when the
preacher sees the crowd, everything changes. They are ready to hear, “PRAISE
THE LORD!” Instead
he says, “You brood of vipers!” In the country gospel telling of the gospel
of Luke, the John the Baptist character says to the crowd, “YOU SONS OF
SNAKES!” I imagine a few daughters were in the crowd too. “Who told you to
flee, who told you to run as fast as you can and as far as you can from your old
life? Who told you to repent, turn around and go another way from what has left
your soul cold and empty and toward what gives you life?
“Judgment is coming – who told you to escape from what is coming? Who
did that?” His words were not what the people were expecting. They have come
ready to be affirmed, they were unsettled instead. Already feeling down, now
they are confused. We
can understand if people in the crowd are thinking, what does he mean, who
warned us?
I like to think that somebody in the
crowd spoke up and said, “John, you want to know who warned us? You did! You
told us to repent, we believed you, and we did. We thought that things were
settled. Now here we are ready to be baptized, and you are calling us names?
What kind of preacher are you? It is not there isn’t enough in our lives
already making us feel down. Where is the joy in that? What are you trying to do
to us?
John is not trying to be cruel; he is
trying to help people know how to find and claim true repentance which leads to
true joy. His methods might be unusual, but he really does want people to have
joy in their lives. He wants them to understand four things.
First, joy comes from true repentance.
John says, “bear fruits worthy of repentance”.
Act in ways that show your life belongs to God, now. We cannot rely on
our past laurels to live in new ways. Our past – our past as
individuals as families, as a congregation – is important. But it is not where
we live. We are called to live in the present and plan for a future that looks
forward to what God will do in our lives. The day of God is coming.
Then the people said, “Yes, but
Abraham is our father”. In other words, they said, we are heirs to the promise
God made all those generations ago. All we have to do is sit back and claim our
inheritance. John says, God can raise up heirs out of rocks.
We say, I am a third generation member
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). My family has been in this
congregation for years. One writer reminds us that as important as our heritage
is, what is called for is a new or renewed life with God.
“We believe our deep roots in a
congregation guarantee us a special place in the kingdom. Or [that our special
place is assured by our membership in] our denomination; or our place on the
church board; or our faithful church attendance. We believe our membership in
the choir will win our place in heaven. Or our generous donations! Or our
baptism, or our ordination. Some of us even put our faith in our racial or
national roots! Or our accomplishments, or our family! Or our wealth! Or our
social standing; or our position in the community. Or our degree from the right
school! John warns us that none of these has any value in the absence of genuine
repentance. ‘Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree
therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’
Judgment is at hand, and pedigree is no defense” (www.lectionary.org.
p. 2-3).
None of that sounds particularly
joyful. But here is the good news that causes joy and hope to rise up within us.
The door to knowing the joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ is never closed.
It wasn’t with John and it is not with us. So the second way joy comes to us
is when we make up our minds to live as people loved and redeemed by God.
John knows that genuine repentance
means that we are open to doing some new things in new ways. It means desiring
to be in such a life saving, soul restoring, joy brining relationship with God
with each other that we will ask what should we do?
John’s answers are simple, live
ethically. Show the love of God in your life by treating people lovingly. Treat
people respectfully, deal with people honestly. No matter who we are, we can let
people see a bit of the living, loving, God in us. We can know that we are part
of a community that is gathered community, and is beyond this particular
community. We are part of what happens around this building and in the places
where we live, work, and study.
What then should we do? This is the
giving season and people tend to turn on their generosity impulse. But when we
are genuinely caring, the generosity impulse is not for a season, it is always
on. So no matter the time of year, if you have more than enough of what you need
to live – more than enough clothes or food for instance, share what you have.
The most despised people in the community, the tax collectors and the soldiers
have heard John and want the new life he talks about. They ask, “What should
we do?”
“Tax collectors, don’t collect
more taxes than are owed. Do not profit from other people’s obligations.
Soldiers of the Roman empire, treat people as if they were citizens, not victims
of your occupation. Don’t extort money, don’t take over people’s houses,
do not use the power of Rome to bully people.
John
is so persuasive that the crowd begins to wonder whether he is the promised
Messiah. John is clear, “I am a messenger of what is to come. You felt my
water, his baptism will be like fire on a threshing floor and separate wheat for
bread and chaff that is only fit for burning. Now
if you are a city person like me, you are asking what in the world is John
talking about this time? Here is the answer: “Farmers poured wheat from one
container to another on a windy day, or tossed the wheat into the air with a
fork or shovel so that the chaff would be blown away, leaving the grain clean.
The chaff burned with explosive combustion. To this day, farmers know that a
fire in a dry wheat field cannot be contained or controlled. [John’s point is
that] when repentance and forgiveness are available, judgment is good news. The
primary aim is to save the wheat, not to burn the chaff” (Interpretation
series. Luke. Fred Craddock. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1994,
p. 49). We
are not chaff to be burned and blown into the winds. We are wheat, fed and
nourished by God, held and loved by Jesus Christ, and watered and fired by the
Holy Spirit. The third way joy comes to us is by believing that because we have
turned toward God and God’s coming Christ, we are not doomed, hopeless, or
helpless, even when the spirit of these times tells us that we are. The
negative spirit of these times calls us to despair. The state of too much in our
lives from the safety of the street to an uneven economy, to unstable families,
to ill health, create anxious and uncertain times do not call us to joy. But
when the spirit of the times is down, the Holy Spirit in us, in God’s people
calls us to prayer and reflection, and from that prayer and reflection come the
actions that celebrate that our God can redeem these times. Know and share the
joy. Anxiety
can become peace, a way out of uncertainty can be found. That same spirit of joy
and confidence that God will see us through is captured in the promise of the
prophet from our first reading; Zephaniah holds a promise for us. Zephaniah
describes the fourth source of joy. Our delight in God replaces fear. Why?
Because God is with the people and with God comes forgiveness and the chance to
start life over. We can be glad for all the ways we know joy, and for all the
ways we are renewed by God’s love. In the presence of God, there will be
restoration. Rejoice
and be glad that the One whom God gave to the world, whose birth we anticipate,
the one in whom we place our faith is here and promises to come again into our
lives. That is what I am going to do. I
am going to walk into the future God has for me with joy and thanksgiving. I am
going to live in this season of joy knowing that there will be difficult days
here and there, that is the way life is. But God is stronger than any difficult
day and will see me and all of us through. The declaration of II Corinthians 4.8
says: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down,
but not destroyed.” Join
me won’t you and celebrate this good news: “God has taken away the judgments
against us. The evil we have feared cannot triumph. The enemies we have
harbored in our own souls will no longer oppress us. Disasters we have
experienced are not the last word. God restores us to the family, welcomes us
with open arms, and strengthens us for each day’s challenges. Praise God, give
thanks, and let the world know of God’s marvelous deeds” (Gathered
by Love. Lavon Bayler. Cleveland: United Church Press. 1994. P.9). Thanks be to God. Amen. Dr.
LaTaunya M. Bynum |
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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