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The Second Sunday of Advent, 12/08/2013
Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12, by Pari R. Bailey
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 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. "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
By now, most of us are in full Christmas swing. Making lists, checking them twice. Buying presents, decorating the house. Putting up the tree. Baking cookies, writing the Christmas letter and making out the cards, lighting the outdoor lights. Kids are waiting for school breaks and wondering about presents. It seems as if everyone is preparing for December 25th : The Big Day.
In the middle of all the festivity and fun, is this scruffy guy, his beard sticky with honey. He's got locust breath. He's wearing an untanned camel-hair shirt. He stinks. He's got sand between his toes. John the Baptist. He keeps telling us to prepare the way. But prepare the way for what? He doesn't say anything about cookies or lights. Or shopping or cards. Or Christmas trees, though he does say something about chopping trees down with an axe.
No John isn't about the trappings of the season. Instead, his message is this: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Live in hope and harmony, believing in the promises of God. Repent, for the kingdom of God has come near. Confess your sins to the Lord. Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. The Lord is coming soon. Repent. Wake up! Live in hope!
That's the message in church for the "holiday season." And it just doesn't line up with us, does it? I've heard it said that most Americans are puzzled by sin. Most people don't feel very sinful, and so they tend to think that they have nothing to repent of. A message to turn from sin is just not what you want to hear in these jolly, frazzled days.
The call of John the Baptist is for us, now, just as it was for those at the Jordan River 2,000 years ago. One is coming soon who will harvest his crop, and the good grain will be taken in to the barn, and the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire. You know what John is talking about here: it's not an actual crop in a field. Instead, it's Jesus Christ coming to harvest his crop of people, to separate the sheep from the goats, as it says in Matthew 24. The good grain, those who have repented, followed him and confessed him as Lord-they will receive the unfading crown of glory. Those who have not bothered to have any real commitment to Jesus Christ, who have put off and put off being serious about their relationship with the Lord: they will be burned with unquenchable fire.
Now, don't tune me out here. At this point, a lot of people start going, "Yeah-everything is so judgmental in the church. Can't we just live and let live? I'm so sick of hearing about how bad people are!" It's true--it's not very popular to talk about hell and damnation these days. People find that very off-putting. Too much law, they say. No one wants to hear about hell, they say. Let's not talk about that, they say. Let's talk about the joys of Christmas instead, they say!
Except, you can't have the joys of Christmas without the hard word of John the Baptist: repent, give it up, get out of your sin. What's more important-preparing for the celebration of Christ's birthday, or preparing to see Christ? Getting all the lights up and the cookies baked, or holding on to Jesus with all your heart, strength, and mind as the only one who can forgive, the only one who saves? Is it the celebration of Christmas, or is the Christ of Christmas that really matters, that will really satisfy us?
We need Jesus. We need him to be our God. We need him to save us from ourselves, before we smother in religious sentimentality. We need him to kill us and raise us up again. We need him to come down with glory and burn up everything in us that is against him. And there is quite a lot in us that secretly wishes Christ weren't so demanding, that he didn't ask so much of us, that he was just somehow tamer and nicer and stayed the cute baby in the manger for a while. There's lot in us that wishes Jesus Christ weren't so inconvenient. Then we could go merrily on with our December preparations and not have to worry about the messiness of preparing the way of the Lord into our hearts.
And believe me, it is messy-it means you have to die. Die to those sins that feel oh-so-good, those old habits that shut your heart to God. Die to those old ways of thinking and acting and being. Christ is coming to put you to death, and to make you new. It's what Jesus was born to do: die, so that you can live. Rescue you from sin and death. Raise you up with him forever.
Why not spend the next two weeks in preparing the way for the Lord? As you clean house, ask God to clean your heart. As you light the trees and outdoor lights, light your Advent wreath and ponder the darkness of your sin and the light of Christ. Parents and grandparents, do not let your young people and little ones go through this season knowing more about Santa and presents than Jesus. Sometimes I feel like we spend more time with the Elf on a Shelf instead of talking to kids about real things--like Jesus. Don't be afraid to talk about Jesus Christ and why he was born in our flesh. It was to SAVE us from punishment for our sins, to get us out of eternal death and darkness, to lead us to heaven.
Don't be ashamed to let the kids see you pray or read your Bible. Don't be too busy to do those things, or open your Advent calendar window, or read a little devotion out of one of the books out there on the table in the narthex. There are lots to choose from. Make the midweek services a priority during December. Start a few new religious traditions: advent wreath, Advent calendar, sponsor a family through Share the Spirit, be St. Nicholas to someone lonely. Whatever. So it's awkward at first, so it seems contrived-it's better than not preparing your hearts and lives at all! Just DO it!
And while you are doing things this season, don't be too busy to ask God for forgiveness from your sins. Don't be too busy to go out in the road of your heart and pick up the rocks of spiritual laziness, and fill in the potholes of sin, temptation, spiritual blindness and accommodation to the world. Don't be too busy to ask God to smooth out the rough places in your heart's road and make your heart's path straight for his feet to enter.
John the Baptist warned us. All the prophets before him warned us. Jesus warns us. Preachers down through the ages have warned us. I am warning you today. Listen! Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Don't put your trust in your own virtues or your heritage-in your not being "that bad". Instead put your trust in God . Prepare the way of the Lord, who makes his paths to you straight. God is coming to do what he says, to bring what he promises. The Root of Jesse will come, bringing life from what seemed to be a bare stump, and fruit from a withered tree. He will come, bringing life in all of your dead places, and watering the desert of your heart. God is full of mercy, and ready to forgive. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.