EXPECTING SOMETHING?
a sermon based on
Luke 3:7-18
by Rev. Rick Thompson
And so John the Baptist "proclaimed the good news to the people."
"Brood of snakes!"
Eugene Peterson translates part of John's message. "What do you think
you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little
water on your snakeskin is going to deflect God's judgment? It's your
life
that must change, not your skin!"
Good news?
It doesn't matter what we've done in the past-how long we've been a church
member, how much we gave last year, what we did to serve God yesterday.
Because, after all, God can raise up children of Abraham from stones in the
desert. What God is interested in is how we are living out our
relationship with God right now!
Good news?
"Change your lives!" John thunders. Share what you have. Stop
cheating and taking advantage of others. Be fair and just in all your
dealings-even if "everyone else is doing it" the old way.[i]
Good news?
A powerful one coming. Coming with fire. Bringing God's judgment.
With his axe already poised to chop down the tree of your life.
Good news?
It sounds more like old-fashioned fire and brimstone preaching than good
news. Get your life in order-or else!-John seems to be saying.
Where's the good news?
Yet Luke tells us there were crowds of people coming out to hear John
preach in the wilderness. And Luke tells us that the people were excited.
They were "full of expectation". Something new seemed to be happening!
Like children counting down the days to Christmas, and getting more excited as
the day draws near, people sensed there was something in the air! God
seemed to be doing SOMETHING! What WAS it?
Was John some kind of prophet? He
sounded like one of the prophets of old, with his call to repentance and his
warning of coming judgment. How long had it been-how many centuries-since
they'd heard a prophetic voice? Something was going on here!
They even began to wonder: Could John BE the one they were waiting for?
Could JOHN be God's Messiah, the one who would deliver them from all their
enemies and bring them the elusive kingdom of justice and peace?
COULD THE LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH-THE
ONE THEY'D BEEN EXPECTING FOR CENTURIES NOW-COULD THE MESSIAH FINALLY BE
HERE?
John speaks again.
"It's not about me!" he wants them to know. (He's already been described
as "a voice in the wilderness"-not the Messiah himself!) John is
just a messenger, and makes it clear that his role is secondary. "I
baptize you with water," he declares, "but One is coming who will baptized you
with fire, with the Holy Spirit! He is bringing God's judgment. His
axe is already ready. He's like a lumberjack, poised and ready to chop.
And, unless you repent, he will do just that! He's like a farmer,
separating wheat from chaff, ready to burn the chaff, burn what's useless.
And, unless you repent, he will do just that to you! "
Good news?
What is John
expecting? Clearly, something is in the air-something big!-and the
people are full of expectation for good reason! Surely, God is up to
something!
"Yes, God
is up to something!" John announces. "Messiah is coming! I'm
not Messiah, but Messiah is coming! And, when he does, God is going
to make things right. So wake up, and get ready!"
John wants people to know that Messiah is coming. John wants people to
know that, when Messiah comes, there will be change-dramatic, overwhelming
change. John wants people to know that Jesus is going to shake things up;
but it will be good, because it's a shaking –up that comes from God!
In C. S. Lewis'
Chronicles of Narnia books-now also being produced as movies-the central
character is a powerful and mysterious lion named Aslan. Clearly Aslan is
intended to be a Christ figure.
Four human siblings are magically transported from earth to the kingdom of
Narnia, where Aslan rules. One by one, the four children are invited and
challenged to follow Aslan. Early on, two of them become Aslan's
followers. The others aren't so sure about it all, and one of them asks a
sibling, "Why should we follow Asan? Is he safe?"
And the reply
comes, "No, Aslan's not safe-but he's good!"
Doesn't the preaching of John the Baptist tell us the same thing about
Jesus-he's not safe-but he is good!"
Is that what you're expecting this Advent? Are you expecting Jesus?
Are you just expecting Jesus to wave a magic wand and make everything right?
Or are you expecting Jesus to shake things up-to change the world, maybe even
change you?
John makes it clear that Jesus is going to make some changes-and those changes
will begin with us. Because, like Aslan, Jesus is good-but he's
not
safe! Especially for those who are complacent, those who rest on our
laurels, those do not take seriously the call to repentance-Jesus is NOT
safe!
"What should we do?" the people plead with John, after he announces it's time to
repent.
And here's where it gets dangerous: "You might have to change your lives!"
John responds. Share with others. Treat others fairly. Don't
exploit them. Don't take advantage of them. Be content with what you
have.
Not safe-but good.
Good, because it's
a change that will make goodness possible in us. God is doing
something new, and it will be good-but the old has got to go!
In the old movie The High and the Mighty, a plane is over the ocean when
the pilot announces, "There is a problem. We cannot correct it. We
are not going to make it. I want you to know, so you can prepare for the
inevitable."
An elegantly dressed woman begins to remove the diamond broach from her neck,
and a large, expensive right from her finger. She peels off her false
eyelashes, and takes off her make-up-revealing an old scar on her forehead,
previously hidden by the make-up. She is preparing herself for the end,
and will go there as she really is.
Unexpectedly-but, of course, this is a movie-the flight is saved, and
lands at the airport. But the woman has changed. She had an
opportunity to be honest about herself, and she took it.
[ii]
That's how it is with repentance. That's how it is when we expect Jesus to
come. We're invited to be honest about ourselves. We're warned that
he comes in judgment. But we're also told that his ultimate purpose is to
forgive our sins, to save us, and to heal the creation.
No, he's not safe. But, yes, Jesus is good!
That's why preacher and Bible scholar Fred Craddock says of John's preaching,
"When repentance and forgiveness are available, judgment is good news.
The primary aim is to save the wheat, not to burn the chaff."
Not safe, but good.
And that's why preacher and author Walt Wangerin tells the story of a dream he
once had.
"In my dream, a friend was coming to see me, and I was excited! I didn't
know who the friend was…but the anticipation and certainty of my friend's coming
occupied me.
"As the time of arrival drew nearer and nearer, my excitement increased. I
felt more and more like a child….Laughter fell from me like rain. I wanted
to stand on the porch and bellow to the neighborhood, 'My friend is coming!'
Joy became a sort of swelling in my chest, and all my flesh began to tingle.
"A wild kind of music attended my waiting. And the closer my friend came,
the more exquisite grew the music-high violins rising higher by the sweetest,
tightest, most piercing dissonance, reaching for, weeping for, the final resolve
of his appearing.
"And when the music had ascended to nearly impossible chords of wailing little
noises…and when excitement had squeezed the breath from my lungs, I started to
cry.
"And my friend came….then I put my hands to my cheeks and cried and laughed at
once.
"He was looking directly at me, with affection-and I grew so strong within his
gaze. And I knew at once who it was.
"It was Jesus."[iii]
Is that what you're expecting this Christmas-Jesus? Jesus, not safe, but
good? Jesus, the one who comes in judgment? Jesus, the one whose
ultimate purpose is to save the world and forgive sins?
There's some sort of excitement in the air. People seem full of
expectation.
And what are we expecting? What are we waiting for? Are we waiting
for Jesus?
AMEN.
[iii]
Wangerin, Walter in Eifrig, ed.,
"Waiting for a Friend to Arrive,"
Measuring the Days: Daily Reflections with Walter
Wanterin, Jr., pp. 326-7.
