Sermon and Gospel: Bear Fruit and Repent!
Luke 3.2-18 From “The Message”
John, Zachariah’s son, out in the desert at the time, received a message from God. He went all through the country around the Jordan River preaching a baptism of life-change leading to forgiveness of sins, as described in the words of Isaiah the prophet:
Thunder in the desert!
“Prepare God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
Every ditch will be filled in,
Every bump smoothed out,
The detours straightened out,
All the ruts paved over.
Everyone will be there to see
The parade of God’s salvation.”
7-9 When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you are doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God’s judgment? It is your life that must change, not your skin. And do not think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as ‘father.’ Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there—children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it is deadwood, it goes on the fire.”
10 The crowd asked him, “Then what are we supposed to do?”
11 “If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.”
12 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He told them, “No more extortion—collect only what is required by law.”
14 Soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He told them, “No harassment, no blackmail—and be content with your rations.”
15 The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, “Could this John be the Messiah?”
16-17 But John intervened: “I’m baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I am a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He is going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
18-20 There was a lot more of this—words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them. Amen.
SERMON
“Bear fruit and repent.”
We get a little surprised every time John the Baptist shows up at Advent. Who invited him with His high-pitched loud vice, his thunderous call on truth and action, his persistent call for our repentance, - all this seriousness does not sit well with us at Advent time, when we are getting in the Christmas mood!
John the Baptist does not really fit with all our extensive shopping, all our songs about White Christmas and Jingle Bells. and our eagerly attempt to suppress any sadness, anger or disfunction.
We want a Merry happy perfect Christmas, with no trace of dysfunction, anger, failures, imperfections or mistakes.
This is one of the reasons why John the Baptist makes us uncomfortable, when he shows up uninvited and shouts at us even here in church on a holy Sunday in Advent. Because John the Baptist is the constant nagging honest voice reminding us, that we are indeed not perfect. That we need to repent. We need to change. We need to do better.
John the Baptist is in fact invited for Advent, as he is the one preparing the path for Christ to come into our world. God called him to be the voice in the wilderness. A voice we need to listen to even or especially ad Advent and Christmas Time.
So, welcome John the Baptist, voice of truth, you are welcome here!
As the Gospel tells so vividly and clear, especially in the translation of Eugene Peterson, we might be taken back by the words and the call to repent, - but we are also struck by that call.
We might and should on the Third Sunday of Advent 2021, ask like the ones in the Gospel: “
Then tell us, what are we supposed to do?
As John the Baptist back then got very practical, we also need to get practical and real to understand the urgency and important of repentance and change.
11 “If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.”
The call of repentance tells us to share and care. The homeless population and problem do not disappear at Christmas time: we all witness the massage problems of the cities, the cries from the agencies and shelters that try to help. Every morning when I walk with Saxo I see a homeless man, sheltering at the Mormon Church down the street, sleeping under a tree, cold, hungry and alone.
What are we supposed to do? Certainly not ignore him or the problem, but share and care… “If you have two coats, give one away, John said. Do the same with your food.”
12 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 He told them, “No more extortion—collect only what is required by law.”
Do not extort, do not cheat, do not misuse your power and influence. But use your power and influence to right some wrongs.
14 Soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He told them, “No harassment, no blackmail—and be content with your rations.”
Do not, harass or black mail other people. Be content with what you have. Do not hoard for yourself but give your share to the needy. Do not harass, those who are different than you, those who are strangers, those who has less than you. Be content with the blessings of your life and try to be a blessing in others. In everything treat others as you would like to be treated.
Repent! Make a change! John shouted and still shouts.
To repent our sins is distinctly Christian.
To repent our sins is a constant call to all of us.
But it we fail to acknowledge and remember the failures, the mistakes and the sins not only of ourselves but even more of our society and history, then we have a tough time truly repenting and changing.
Of course, repentance is more than just facing ourselves and saying:” I am sorry.” That is a start. And it might be a difficult start for many.
But John urges us to go even further. Producing fruit in keeping with repentance, as John compels us to do, means making amends. It means refusing to continue down destructive and toxic paths. In our personal lives and in our society and history.
Repentance brings us change and it also brings us healing.
In our personal lives and in our history as a nation and society, we need to take the first step in telling the truth about who we are and what we did to produce fruit and change.
Let us prepare ourselves for Christmas, as we listen to John the Baptist call to repent, to share and care, to treat others with dignity and respect.
The Advent Visit of John the Baptist might be our personal and private opportunity to repent and reconcile, to make amends and make a change and right some wrongs. Christmas time is a good time to do so.
And take the words of the Gospel to heart today when they asked as we do: “But what should we do, what can we do!”
In the light of the third Advent Candle and in Celebration of the passion and faith of Santa Lucia, we can prepare the way for repentance, change, forgiveness, beginnings, and truth. Repentance requires humility and honesty. It can be painful, but it will bear fruit. We should embrace the call of John the Baptist to daily bear fruits worthy of repentance.
Listening and acting to the call of John the Baptist.
We are reminded today by the words of John the Baptist: we have all wandered away from God. Not just the others. Not just the politicians. Not just the young generation. Not just our financial institutions. All of us.
John goes on to make it clear that unless we repent of this wandering, we are not going to be able to fully approach God—even when that God is a cooing baby in a manger.
We need Advent and John the Baptist to prepare us to welcome Jesus Christ into our lives and world.
So, welcome John the Baptist, voice of truth, you are welcome here!
Amen.