Matthew 3:1-12
1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea,
proclaiming, 2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." 3 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.' " 4 Now John wore clothing of
camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and
wild honey. 5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and
all the region along the Jordan, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their
sins. 7 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? 8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9 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. 10 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. 11 "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. 12 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."
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.
·
I have in my collection of video
disks a real rarity: “The Cotton-patch Gospel.”
I had a copy a number of years ago when I lived in Texas – which I lost
somehow – and I found a new copy later. In that musical theatre piece, John the Baptizer is characterized as a charismatic and frantic “hellfire and brimstone”
preacher in the stereotypical style of the American South, who hammers everyone
with the knowledge of their sins. For example, the first words out of his mouth
as he begins to preach are “You sons of
snakes!”
·
John the Baptizer really is an odd
figure to have such a prominent place in our celebration of Advent. He’s not
the proverbial nice dinner guest and he surely doesn’t reflect much of the Baby
Jesus we’ve tied into Advent and Christmas. There’s no “Jesus, meek and humble
of heart, make my heart like unto thine” sort of thing in John. He has a
message few people wanted to hear, namely "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
has come near."
·
As we do things now, John’s presence
and message show us the preparation for the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in
Jesus’ day. Note that it is not preparation for the birth of Jesus but the
preparation for his ministry. This is also a signal to us that we cannot
separate Jesus’ birth and life from his ministry, something we might be tempted
to do by the cuteness of how we picture the birth of Jesus.
·
The constant drum-beat of John’s
message - "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." –
might be hard to keep hearing and the people of John’s time found it hard as
well. Nobody likes to have their sins held up before them all the time.
·
It is, however, what we need to hear.
In the midst of what has become a season of sales, buying, and – let’s face it
– materialism, the voice of John the Baptizer cuts through all the noise and
pretty lights to tell us to prepare for the one who is to come. John’s words
are as much to us as they were to those he dunked in the Jordan.
·
He saw through the self-righteousness
of those who took his baptism because it would look good on their report card
rather than because it began repentance. He told the poor that salvation was
coming to them as they confessed their sins. What went before counted for
little. 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.
·
Instead of a spiritual or religious
pedigree, the message come “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”
·
For John, the Kingdom of heaven had
come near and it remains something in the future, something awaiting
fulfillment. In contrast, Matthew’s presentation of the life and message of
Jesus shows that the Kingdom of Heaven has come and although it is not complete
in its scope, it will continue to grow until it reaches every place and every
time and every being that our Creator has created.
·
Although we stand before the emerging
kingdom of heaven, the message of John is every bit as real and as relevant to
us as it was to the people he baptized in the Jordan.
·
There is a difference: the people who
heard John were to confess, repent, and be baptized to prepare and become
worthy for the unveiling of the kingdom. We confess and repent and return to
our baptism as a result of and a response to the presence of the emerging kingdom
of heaven in our lives. There, grace is freely given to the undeserving, the
unready, and possibly even the unsuspecting.
·
So we continue in Advent, hearing the
ancient words of the prophets, telling of what the Messiah would be. Isaiah’s
words today tell us of the universal draw of this Anointed one, saying On
that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations
shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. We also
hear the words of Paul, telling us what the life of the Church was intended to
be (and in that, what the Church might not have lived up to.) Matthew writes of
the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven in ways we still need to hear.
·
This might just be the reason we hear
these readings year after year. Maybe we need to hear them, to keep preparing
our hearts in God’s grace for what is to come by remember what has happened. In
this way, we do not lose heart despite what might happen in the mean time.
·
We remember the one who has come and
we await his return, even as we know him to be present to us - in word and
sacrament and in community and congregation. We are drawn to him as the prophet
says the whole world will be and whether we know it or not, it is his desire to
be with us.
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
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