Ok, we are at the second week of Advent, heading toward Christmas, and there is no sign of a manger or a baby. Just this wild-sounding John character, yelling at people in the wilderness. How does this lead to Christmas?
Advent is a time where we prepare for God to break into the world where God will transform and heal it (and us). John’s role in this remarkable story (where God becomes human and comes to us) is to point to the messiah and call folks to prepare by turning around and shaping their actions to align with God’s priorities (more on that when we revisit John again in next week’s gospel).
John is out in the wilderness, a place of trial and testing, a place in scripture where people consistently encounter God and/or God’s messengers. John is a wild and outspoken prophet, and the people come to him for baptism and new beginnings. When he sees the religious leaders among the crowd, he questions their motives. He challenges their presumption that God is pleased with them because of their lineage and insists they should live lives that “bear fruit worthy of repentance” or live in ways that demonstrate their focus on the things God wants for the world, rather than their privileged position in it. John insists that God can transform even stones into God’s beloved children.
John’s harsh language is directed at the religious leaders here, the folks who think they already have God’s favor and are simply going through the motions. He wants them to set aside the presumption that they don’t have any changes to make in their actions to help promote God’s intentions in the world. His words can leave us wondering about the “wrath to come” and images like axes at the root of trees, winnowing fork, a clear threshing floor, and unquenchable fire.
In the months ahead, we’ll be looking at the way Matthew tells the story of Jesus and unraveling some of the harsh and troubling passages that have caused trouble for Christians and the people we’ve used words like these from scripture against. But here in Advent today, we remember that John is not the messiah, the one come to heal and redeem, but one who points to Jesus. John is getting peoples’ attention so we are ready for Jesus when he arrives on the scene. Today, we resist the impulse to join John in criticizing others and we look at ourselves. How can I turn to God, the one who creates and redeems and empowers me? How can I live in ways that reflect my commitment to God’s priorities for the outcast and powerless? How can I be part of healing in the lives around me, and the wider world?
These are big questions for a busy season like Advent, pre-Christmas, and the last week of classes. So, let’s start with smaller questions like, where can I bring hope today? How can I be kind to someone in need? How can I use the power or gifts or advantages I have in service of others? These aren’t easy questions either. Maybe that is why John is so extreme – he’s riled up and calling the people to see that God wants so much more from us. Fortunately, we will spend our whole lives “bearing fruit” that reflects how we have turned toward God and God’s priorities. At Advent each year, we revisit the beginning of the story.
Peace to you, in this busy and overwhelming time. May John’s ranting remind you that following Jesus and joining in God’s transformation of the world will be what we do our whole lives, even as we begin today.
Peace,