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| Before you can give out your presents John the Baptist has something to say to you. |
This sermon was preached on the Third Sunday
of Advent. The readings which inspired the sermon were the following:
In only eight and a half days we will be kneeling down to peek
into the makeshift crib to view the Christ child. As you came into church this
morning—to pray, to sing, to hear God’s Word, to confess sins, to be forgiven,
to eat and drink of the Sacramental Body and Blood of Christ, and to be sent
back out into the world transformed—as you came here today perhaps you, like
me, were distracted by thoughts of final Christmas preparations and purchases.
But, now after hearing John’s challenging, caustic, and cajoling words,
Christmas may be the last thing on your mind. How in the world are we going to
get from the Jordan’s banks to Bethlehem’s manger after all of this fire and
brimstone?
Today’s Gospel lesson almost feels like a prank by the brain trust
that came up with our reading cycle, the Lectionary. Are there hidden cameras in
here? John just called the crowds—and vicariously us—“a brood of vipers.” Then,
he threatened that if we don’t bear good fruit we’ll be chopped down. That was
before he told us that the coming Christ would soon be burning up any chaff in
an unquenchable fire. And, Luke had the audacity to cap it all off by claiming that
these exhortations are good news. What? This cannot possibly be good news can
it? See, friends as strange as all of this sounds you aren’t in some sort of
nightmare before Christmas.
Actually what John the Baptist preached in the wilderness long ago
really was and is still good news. Hang with me for a little bit—don’t worry
the Christmas to-do list will still be there when I finish. You might even look
at it differently.
First off, let’s acknowledge a basic truth about us human beings. We
don’t like it when we are told we are wrong. We don’t like being in trouble. As
a kid, I avoided getting in trouble like the plague. Correction: I avoided
being caught getting in trouble like the plague. And, there was one person that
put the fear of God in me more than even John the Baptist could—someone whom I
never wanted to catch me doing something wrong. That person was my maternal
grandfather. His go-to phrase when I was misbehaving was, “Do we need to go
have a chat in the locker room?” Whenever he said it, I knew I was in trouble
and whatever I had been doing I would stop doing it. This was his own little
call to repentance. Sort of like what was going on with John the Baptizer talking
with the crowds down by the river side. So, the first thing about us humans is
we don’t like being wrong.
Here’s a second thing about us human beings, we may not like to be
told we are wrong, but sometimes we are. What is more sometimes we need
desperately to hear difficult truths. When the crowds came to John they must
have been in sore need of hearing truth—even if it was going to be tough.
Whatever had been working in their lives was no longer cutting it. So, the
crowds headed out to see this wild preacher draped in camel’s hair and a
leather belt with bean pods (yep, that’s what locusts are) and honey on his
breath. Amazingly in today’s Gospel lesson we see these crowds being told the
truth and not hiding from it.
The crowds so needed to hear the truth that they even withstood
John’s initial fiery address—the one about them being snakes—and kept
listening. There’s no mention of people running off, crying in their milk, or
saying John was wrong. Instead they stuck around to ask him, “Teacher, what
then should we do?” This was a good question. They were seeking a deeper truth.
This close to Christmas—when we approach the Creator of the universe
now in flesh appearing—might we have the same question? We do not like being
wrong, sinful, or broken, but sometimes we are and sometimes we need to know,
“What then should we do?” Perhaps this is the very reason we have such a
challenging passage a week and a day before Christmas Eve. We’re getting closer
to some Good News!
John the Baptizer tells this gathered crowd, “Bear fruit worthy of
repentance.” In these words he challenges us to see that while the gift of
turning to God and being forgiven is completely free, it will also cost us. God
loves us so much that God would come dwell with us, teach us, be killed by us,
and still love us. This way of Christ opens to us repentance and forgiveness
forever. And yet, how do we show the fruit worthy of such a gift? Truly we
cannot ever repay God, but that’s not the point. We simply cannot rest on such
a gift. We can’t hide it away. What then should we do?
When the crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers asked John
this question the Baptist responded with real-world advice. “Whoever has two
coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do
likewise.” In other words, share with those who do not have. “Collect no more
than the amount prescribed for you.” A.K.A. do what is just. “Do not extort
money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your
wages.” Said simply, live within your means. As someone wiser than me wrote regarding
this passage, “John’s advice to all of them is very practical and pointed. His
answers reflect his knowledge of the vocations and values of those who ask the
question, and his answers involve acts of mercy and justice…share, keep no more
than you need, be fair, treat others with care, and be honest.”[1]
Friends, I believe we have happened upon some Good News.
We as Twenty-First Century followers of Jesus have the same
question as those First Century followers of Jesus’ Forerunner John. We want to
know how we are to bear good fruit and what we are to do. So why don’t we walk
out to that same wild baptizer who is still speaking eternal wisdom and ask
him?
What might it look like if some modern professionals had their
toes dipped in the Jordan listening to John? If a lawyer approached him and
asked, “What then should I do?” John might reply, “Stop chasing ambulances!
What’s with these ridiculous billboards? Do some cases pro bono. And, be okay
with lawyer jokes.” If a wealthy CEO happened out to the River Jordan asked the
same question, John might say, “Don’t take your bonus this year. Turn around.
Give it to your employees. Maybe start a fund for underpaid teachers or single
mothers. Live not within your means, but within one of your employee’s means.”
If it were an Episcopal priest going out to see John, the Baptist could very
well reply, “What’s with the outfit? And, stop talking about how busy you are.
Slow down. Tend to your flock and your family.” What might John say to you when
you are wrong? We could go on all morning, but by now I am sure you are back to
thinking of your Christmas to-do list. So, let me close with the following.
We are weaving our way along this path of Advent on the way to
Bethlehem. We are so close to the celebration of the Christ child’s birth, we
are already awaiting Christ’s coming at the fullness of all things, and we are
watching for Christ even coming here among us right now. And, as much as it may
hurt us to know this, we are not going to get it all right before we meet Our
Lord face-to-face. So, we wonder, “What then should we do?” Well, know this: God
will always meet us with mercy, fairness, and love. As we turn or repent to
receive this gift from God, we are exhorted (and yes that is good news) by Jesus
and His Prophet to bear fruit worthy of this gift. What does that look like?
Well, it looks just like the gifts we receive—mercy, fairness, and love. As you
return to that Christmas list, don’t let anyone tell you that re-gifting is a
bad idea, at least not when we are giving away the gifts that God gives to us.
[1] Kathy Beach-Verhey, “Luke 3:7-18 Homiletical Perspective.” Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 1. Ed. by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 71.
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