Second Sunday in Advent, 12/09/2007

Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12, by John H. Loving

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. "I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

JOHN THE BAPTIST

In contrast to the sentimentality and pagan abandon that seem to characterize these weeks before Christmas, it is John the Baptist who best personifies the sterner side of Advent.

With the coming of the Baptist the voice of prophecy rang out again after a silence of some four hundred years. Like Elijah of old, John lived on the edge of the desert and clothed himself in camel's hair and a leather belt. He fed on locusts and wild honey. Vast throngs came out into the wilderness to hear his words and to submit to his baptism of repentance. In his teaching the prophecy of II Isaiah found its fulfillment: "Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God".

As had been said of less gifted preachers in more recent days, there was something in John's message to offend everyone. In today's lesson he strikes out at the Pharisees and Sadducees-the religious establishment. John berates their ethnic pride and lack of good works. Then he told the tax collectors to stop fleecing the people even though this was their normal means of livelihood. He told the soldiers-probably the Zealot bands-to do violence to no one, to accuse no one falsely, and to be content with their rations or wages. The rich were told to share with the poor. "He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none."

His preaching reminds us that during this season we should be not only dashing to parties and hastily wrapping gifts, but also preparing to celebrate Christ's nativity by sharing with others and by self-examination and repentance. Only as we anticipate God's judgement, are we enabled to receive the new life that God offers us in the gift of the son.

In her book Gospel Medicine, preacher and author Barbara Brown Taylor says that to submit to God's judgement is to be known all the way down. In her words, "It is about being seen through, seen into, and known for who we really are. It is about the total failure of our defenses and the abject poverty of our pretensions. It is about stepping into the light, or having the light turned upon us, so that every nook and cranny of our being is illuminated for examination. It is about standing before God without our armor, our masks, our possessions, our excuses--with nothing but our beating hearts and the slim volume of our life histories to commend us, waiting to hear God's true word about ourselves."

And what mixed feelings we have about this moment of revelation. There is probably nothing we want more than to be known just as we are-to be ourselves and not have to dissemble or twist or rationalize. At the same time there is probably nothing we fear more. What if they really knew me and the disposition of my heart? Would they still accept me as a friend (or a pastor)? Of course God already knows us better than we know ourselves, but there is that moment when we must face our true selves in the light of God's presence.

Still, it is vitally important to remember that our salvation depends, finally, not on our own goodness, but on the goodness of the judge. This judge is not some stranger behind a glass wall, but a Savior who has pledged us his presence, his help, and his love. John the Baptist did not really know that part yet. And when their paths did cross, John had some serious reservations because this Messiah turned out to be so much gentler than he had expected, so much more willing to forgive.

Jesus is the judge, and his judgements come from his heart of compassion. This is the same Lord who offers us peace, pardon, and transformation every day of our lives. We can refuse him, of course. We can fail to believe him, we can fear him, we can ignore him, we can run away from him. Or we can say, "Yes, here I am. See me the way I really am. Tell me the whole truth about myself. Refine me, transform me. Baptize me with the Holy Spirit and with fire."

* * *

That fire stuff is serious business! It consumes the sacrifices offered over the centuries. The Lord descends upon Mt Sinai in a burst of flame surrounded by thunder and lighting. At the word of Elijah fire came down from heaven and destroyed the armies of King Ahaziah, who preferred the God of Ekron to Yahweh the God of Israel.

But there is another side to this fire as well. The fire of God as disclosed to Moses at the burning bush is a fire that never consumes or destroys. It is a refining fire, a cleansing fire. It is the fire of a potter who wants to make useful vessels out of damp clay. It is the fire of a jeweler who wants to refine pure gold from rough ore.

George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis's mentor, said that the further we move away from the fire of God's love, the more it burns. The closer we come, the more it soothes and sustains us. The fire of God can be the light of transformation, a fire that both illumines the world around us and changes us, melting us down and re-forming us more nearly to the image of God. It is the fire with which Jesus himself baptizes, inviting us into a life-changing relationship with himself.

* * *

We give thanks on this day for the life and ministry of John the Baptist. He calls us out of our usual pre-Christmas hassle to a deeper level of self-awareness and penitence. He calls us to share our worldly goods with those less fortunate within our community and throughout the world. Above all, he summons us to transcend the ordinary level of existence, so that we may be consumed by the fire of Love that is the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Rev. John H. Loving
Assisting Priest
Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd
Austin, Texas
E-Mail: jloving3@austin.rr.com

(top)