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The crowd is equally amazing. After this phenomenal insult,
they must know that it is downhill from here, but they stay.
"Vipers...the wrath to come...repentance...trees cut down and
burned...winnowing fork...unquenchable fire." What was John
trying to do? Scare the hell out of the people...literally? And
then there is the gospel writer's remarkable conclusion to this
drama: "So, with many other exhortations, [John] proclaimed the
good news to the people." GOOD NEWS? Right!!!
What do you think? Was John's preaching "good news?" I
wonder. Actually, I do not wonder. I think it WAS and IS good
news, because John, in his unique way, was saying there is hope
for us, that despite all the evidence to the contrary, we are not
stuck with our worst selves. We can change. We can be
different. We can be better...better, perhaps, than we ever
thought possible. That is good news indeed.
Spend a few minutes with me looking carefully at John's
message. The heart of it is repentance, that good $2.00
"churchy" word that means, not only being sorry for your sins,
but being sorry enough to QUIT! The Greek behind the word
repentance reflects a changing of the mind, a 180-degree shift.
The world outside the church says very little about repentance
because the world outside the church is not convinced that such a
thing is really possible: "A leopard cannot change its spots,"
"Can't teach an old dog new tricks," and all that. At this time
of year, we hear a great deal about Scrooge...always a metaphor
for someone who is mean-spirited, miserly, and miserable. But
the Scrooge of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" repented, and by the
end of the story becomes a generous warm-hearted benefactor. Why
do we remember only the rotten in him? Is it because the world
remains unconvinced of the possibility of change? Or perhaps it
is that misery loves company. If no one else can change, neither
should I be expected to change. John says WRONG!!!
In that context, we begin to get a better understanding of
his talk about "vipers" and fleeing "the wrath to come." You
see, standing on the edge of the wilderness, John is using
wilderness talk.(1) The picture he envisions is of those desert
grass fires that are nature's way of removing old dead growth to
allow new grass to grow. When those flames sweep across the
desert floor, indigenous creatures - including snakes - run for
escape. Thus, it would not be unusual to come across a brood of
creepy-crawlies where you might not expect them - like right
beside the river where they would hope to be safe! John is not
simply in the name-calling business here, but he IS calling a
spade a spade. He knows that the people have traveled out to him
and are ready for his baptism because they see it as a sort of
fire insurance. They are escaping from God's refining fire, just
as snakes escape the desert's fire, and John says that ought not
happen. As desert fires clear out old growth to make room for
the new, John wants the people ready to have the dross and dead
wood removed from their lives. The word he uses for the process
is repentance.
But John is not content with someone saying, "Sorry." Don't
just talk the talk, walk the walk. John says, "bear fruits
worthy of repentance." The word "worthy" [Gr. axios] has as its
root the image of a balance scale. One side needs to weigh the
same as the other side. It has the idea of being "worth the same
as" or "equivalent to" or "measuring up to."(2) In other words,
your talk might declare that you have cleaned up your act -
repented - but your walk will SHOW it.
John's next comments are as apt for today and tomorrow as
they were for the people who stood there listening to him: "Do
not begin 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." In other words, don't you dare say,
"This does not apply to me; I am a church member...have been all
my life; I'm OK, John." Don't dare say, "I'm saved; I was born
again on July 18, 1985 at a city-wide crusade; I'm 'washed in the
blood of the Lamb,' so John's words don't worry me." Don't dare
say, "I read my Bible and pray everyday; I'm at church every time
the doors are open - John is not talking to me." Maybe. Maybe
not. The truth is that more folks than we care to admit sow
their wild oats for six days a week then on the seventh day come
in to church to pray for a crop failure. John's message is that
your religion MUST make a difference in the way you live in the
world and the way you treat people; if it does not, your religion
is not worth the dead grass that is burned up in a prairie fire.
God is interested in your FRUITS, not your ROOTS!
OK. We buy that, John. Now what? To the preacher's
credit, he does not hesitate: "Whoever has two coats must share
with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."
In other words, in the jargon of the trade, John has now "stopped
preachin' and gone to meddlin'." It is one thing to stand in the
pulpit and rail against sin, injustice, oppression - everyone
shouts AMEN...HALLELUJAH...PREACH, BROTHER! - but it is quite
another to tell folks to start giving their stuff away. That is
"meddlin'."
Perhaps you have heard the story of two farmers whose lands
shared a common border. They were talking about how much they
cared for each other. Jack said, "Joe, if you had two tractors,
you'd give me one?"
Joe said,"Right!"
Jack said, "And if you had two bulls, you'd give me one?"
Joe replied, "Right!"
Jack: "And if you had two calves, you'd give me one?"
Joe answered, "Now, Jack, you KNOW I've got two calves!"(3)
John says, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who
has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." That does fly
in the face of the way we celebrate Christmas, doesn't it? How
many new coats will be under the tree this year? How much
feasting will go on? Someone has suggested that when we share
the extra coat, we might discover that we suddenly have more
closet space at home without the cost of more fancy racks or
building on another room. When we who have plenty of food share
it with someone who is hungry, we might discover a way to drop
those ten extra pounds we picked up over Thanksgiving. That may
all be true, but I would not imagine John buying that as
appropriate motivation. We share because it is RIGHT to share.
PERIOD! If you want do right, then DO IT! Jesse Jackson has
said, "It is easier to walk your way into a new way of thinking
than to think your way into a new way of walking." Did you hear
that? Listen again: "It is easier to walk your way into a new
way of thinking, than to think your way into a new way of
walking." John would say Amen!
"Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked
him, 'Teacher, what should we do?' He said to them, 'Collect no
more than the amount prescribed for you.'" This was new. Tax
collectors were a hated bunch for two reasons: 1) they were seen
as traitors, having gone to work for the enemy - Rome, and 2)
because they made their money by extorting as much as they could
get away with from their neighbors; they paid Rome a certain
amount each year for the right to go out and collect even more -
whatever they brought in over and above Rome's requirement, they
could keep for themselves. John says take only what is
reasonable and no more. This would be a big change.
No problem with that today, right? TIME magazine has some
interesting numbers in the current issue. Disney's chairman,
Michael Eisner exercised some stock options last week...$500-million worth. What does one person do with $500-million? TIME
noted that Eisner's profit in one fell swoop would pay the
admission to Disney World of every American child, ages five
through eight. I do not mean to pick on Mr. Eisner - he may be a
fine fellow, but he is just one instance of a society gone
economically bonkers. The same column noted that this year,
approximately 1,000 people employed on Wall Street will receive
bonuses of $1-million or more.(4) The sports pages have been full
of the story of the suspension of the NBA's Latrell Sprewell
following his attack on his coach. The Golden State Warriors
fired him and canceled the balance of his $35-million contract.
$35-million...for playing basketball (and there are dozens of
others with equally-outlandish contracts), while average fans
have to fork out more than they can afford just to go to see a
game. Reasonable? What do you think John would say?
"Soldiers also asked [John], 'And we, what should we do?'
He said to them, 'Do not extort money from anyone by threats or
false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.'" We
probably have less struggle with avoiding extortion than being
satisfied with our wages, especially when that TIME column notes
that the pay increase for the average top executive last year was
54% while the average US worker got a raise of 3%,(5) if we got an
increase at all! Fairness. We struggle with the idea that what
we make is a reflection of our worth in society, and we are
offended. We ought not to be, but we are. John says be careful.
Good advice. Solid. Reasonable. For those who were
serious about leading lives that would please God, what John had
to say offered hope. His suggestions were not beyond the reach
of anyone. Perhaps that is why he made such a profound
impression on the crowds. Could John be the Messiah, the
Anointed One? The one who would lead the Chosen People back to
the greatness of King David's day? No. John says, "One who is
more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the
thong of his sandals."
He is coming. Are you ready? "You'd better watch out/You'd
better not cry/You'd better not pout/I'm tellin' you why... No,
not Santa. One whose "winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear
his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but
the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." At first blush,
this does not sound like someone I would look forward to. But in
the context of what John has just told us, that change IS
possible, that you and I CAN be better than we are, and that
reasonable measures taken can MAKE us better, then the coming...
the Advent...of this newcomer is good news indeed. He is coming.
Are you ready?
To be honest, probably not. We would rather be the snakes
in the desert who are content to run to the river for safe haven
from the flames. Are there things in our lives that ought not to
be? Are there people who have been neglected who need our love
and attention? Has life become too hectic, too wrapped up in the
pursuit of passing fancies? Probably. And that is precisely why
we need the season of Advent...not simply to let us know that
there is a diminishing number of shopping days till Christmas,
but for the expected use of this time for reflection, for
introspection, for taking spiritual inventory, and, yes, even for
change. He is coming. Are you ready?
For those who are, I have good news indeed. Because those
changes in our lives bring with them something wonderful. No
wonder the Apostle Paul could write the Philippians and tell them
to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice...The
Lord is near." He's coming. Are you ready? And the Lord's
nearness results in what Paul calls "the peace that surpasses
understanding." Be on the alert for the signs and symptoms:(6)
"The peace that surpasses understanding." He is coming.
Are you ready?
1. Kerry Nelson, via Ecunet, "Sermonshop Sermons," #207, 12/13/97 2. Brian Stoffregen, via Ecunet, "Gospel Notes for Next Sunday," #964, 12/8/97 3. John Lohr, via PresbyNet, "Sermonshop 1997 12 14," #17, 12/9/97 4. TIME, 12/15/97, p. 41 5. ibid. 6. Bruce Green, via Ecunet, "Sermonshop 1997 12 14," #47, 12/10/97
Amen!
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