The
revised common lectionary is a wonderful tool.
Its three year rotation provides weekly biblical texts to guide you and
me through the rhythm of the church year.
In addition to serving as our roadmap on our faith journey, it connects
the various Christian communities and denominations by creating a space for
collective, simultaneous dialogue. More
practically (and perhaps more selfishly!), I tend to preach the lectionary
texts because there is a plethora of liturgical resources based off of the
lectionary readings that help me organize weekly worship services. But perhaps what makes the lectionary most helpful is precisely the reason
that, this week at least, I really didn’t care for it too much: it forces me, and other preachers, to preach
on a passage like this.
This
Sunday, like every Sunday in the lectionary, there are four passages. To give us a feel for the tone of today’s passages,
let us look at the first verse of each of the four.
Zephaniah
– “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O
daughter Jerusalem!” Isaiah – “Surely
God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is
my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.” Philippians – “Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, Rejoice!” And then, in
Luke’s gospel, our wild and untamed friend John the Baptist says, “you brood of
vipers! Who warned you to flee from the
wrath to come?”
Well…this
is awkward.
Kathy
Beach-Verhey, put it well as she said these words about this passage: “No one wants to be chastised by John the
Baptist this close to Christmas. No
preacher wants to read this text when preparing for his third Advent
sermon. No parishioner wants to be
challenged by John’s words as she sits in the pew enveloped in thoughts of
final Christmas preparations and purchases.”
However, she goes on to say that, because of the lectionary, “there is
no getting to Bethlehem and the sweet baby in the manger without first hearing
the rough prophet in the wilderness call us to repentance.”
Alright, lectionary, have it your
way. Here we go!
John said
to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of
repentance. 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. Even now the axe 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.’
And the
crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them,
‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has
food must do likewise.’ 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.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘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.’
As the
people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts
concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of
them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I
is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His 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.’
So, with
many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
The Good News of
John the Baptist in this passage begins with the words “You brood of vipers”
and ends with the words “unquenchable fire.”
It is clear that there is something that John the Baptist is taking very
seriously indeed. You see, standing in
the wilderness by the chaotic rivers, John the Baptist is preparing us for something,
something that calls for change.
Apparently, the folks present at that moment did not think that they
needed to respond to this up-and-coming new thing! They, after all, had Abraham, that great
father of the faith, as their ancestor.
They had nothing to fear for they thought that they could rely solely upon
the good name of their great-great-great-great grandfather Abraham.
But not so! says John the
Baptist. No one can hide under the good
graces of their predecessors! No, we are
all in this together for what is to come is to turn the world upside down. The first will be last and the last
first. We must prepare for this is not
what we have been used to. Those who
choose to ignore this good news are nothing less than brood of vipers who do
not heed this world-shattering news!
John the Baptist’s tone would be
abrasive enough if received by itself.
However, the severity of his rhetoric stands in particular contrast to
the voices of this season singing “Silent Night” and “Jingle Bells” and “Deck
the Halls.” How dare he ruin the
merriment of this season? How dare he
interrupt our caroling and our shopping and our decorating? His severe tone grates upon our ears as
fingernails on a chalkboard.
But as I was watching the President
address a nation mourning the senseless and violent deaths of six adults, twenty
innocent children, and one very broken child of God in a Connecticut elementary
school, the severity of John the Baptist’s tone seemed more and more
appropriate. For John reminds us that
there is something wrong, very wrong indeed.
Something is very wrong when one of
God’s children has two coats and another has none. Something is very wrong when one of God’s
children has to fight for a morsel of food when another simply has to drive up
to a McDonalds drive-thru. Something is
very wrong when one of God’s children is impoverished at the hands of an unjust
economic system. Something is very wrong
when one of God’s children is threatened by another. Something is very wrong when twenty-seven of
God’s children are killed by what can only be described as evil of the worst
kind.
As
the crowds in today’s passage, we are a people filled with expectation and with
questions in our hearts. In the midst of
preparation, in the midst of waiting for this long-expected Jesus, we join with
John the Baptist by crying out in the wilderness. For in this wilderness, we are witnesses to
the unspeakable but we are also witnesses to the spoken Word of God. The Word of God to which John the Baptist
preached and the Word of God which is spoken by the prophet Zephaniah.
In
our text today from this prophet, Zephaniah gives voice to the harsh realities
of the people. This song speaks of
enemies, disaster, and fear and, perhaps most curiously, God being in the midst
of all of it. Let us listen again to
Zephaniah, this prophetic predecessor of John the Baptist.
Sing
aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice
and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
The
Lord has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies.
The
king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; You shall fear disaster no more.
On
that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do
not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.
The
Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory;
he
will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love;
he
will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.
Twice Zephaniah exclaims “God is in your midst.” How can he proclaim those words after Friday’s massacre? How can we stand in this very room and proclaim God’s presence amidst the disasters and horrors of this world? Why would we ever listen to this John the Baptist fellow who is telling us that God is about to do a “new thing?”
I will tell you why we proclaim that God is in our midst even in this hour. We proclaim that God is in our midst because we worship a God who is no stranger to suffering. We worship a crucified God who was punished without reason. We worship a God who knows what it is like to bury a child. We worship a God whose own son was crucified, dead, and was buried in a cold, lonely tomb.
But friends, if you hear nothing else in this sermon, hear and believe this: We worship a resurrected God. We worship a God who, though crucified, dead, and was buried, is risen forevermore! We worship a God who Zephaniah proclaims will remove disaster from us, who will deal with all our oppressors, who will save the lame and gather the outcast, who will change our shame into praise, who will bring us home and gather us, and who will restore us.
That is why you and I should listen to the cry of John the Baptist in the wilderness. Because you and I are waiting for the God who will give and renew, save and gather, change and restore.
Having faith that this truth will be done, perhaps then we can receive the prophetic cry of John the Baptist not as a threat to be avoided but rather as a promise to be welcomed.
For if we did not have the hope of the resurrection, then we would have reason to fear the unquenchable fire of which John speaks. If we did not have the hope of the resurrection, then we should flee in terror as John describes God’s separating the wheat from the chaff and throwing the chaff into the flame.
But since you and I live as children of the resurrected God, we receive this promise with the singing, exultation, and praise that Zephaniah offers. We welcome the coming of the Christ-child for his birth represents nothing less than the salvation that we have been waiting for. For as he will burn the chaff with the unquenchable fire so too will he defeat death with unstoppable life.
Friends, one who is more powerful than us is coming, one from whom all life comes and to whom all life returns. At this time, as we look for answers in this season of Advent, we must not point to ourselves for then we would only sink further into despair and sorrow. Rather, like John the Baptist, you and I must point to Christ, who has broken and is breaking and shall forever break the fourth wall to be in his children’s presence if all of their joy and all of their sorrow. As we continue to light the Advent candles, we will renew our commitment to cherish the light while maintaining our trust in Christ, who alone will perish the darkness.
Come, Lord Jesus!
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
