7 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? 8Bear 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. 9Even 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." 10And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" 11In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." 14Soldiers 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." 15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 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. 17His 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." 18So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
As we get closer to Christmas we tend to get more calls at the church from the needy asking for help. The welfare checks just do not seem to include enough money for the Christmas presents for the kids in the household. Luke's message clearly was one that has emphasis on including the poor and the marginalized. John the Baptist addresses groups of people (ie. crowds, soldiers, tax collectors, people, etc.) who ask, "What shall we do ?" He says, specific to their positions of influence & power, "bear good fruit !" Repentance means a new attitude and actions. So, is this passage only good news for the needy - - poor ? Can some of us pat ourselves on the back for being a bit more generous this time of year ? Episcopalian priest & writer, Tom Ehrich (On a Journey) writes: "John was proof that our call isn't to tell people what they want to hear, but to draw them closer to what God wants them to see."
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Thanks to you, Vicar for this opening salvo.
One thought. John tells them what they should do. Why these things? These are not short term "decorate the house" type instructions. They seem like long term "lifestyle" sorts of things, in particular what is said to the tax collectors and soldiers. Neither are they expecially religious in nature. They seem instead to have to do with how we live and work with one another. Therefore, we might assume that they represent the way of living that will come with the Messiah, and that is why they are instructed in this manner. This is how it will be, this is what HE will bring. Start doing it now.
Thought two. (Not necessarily related to thought one.) John is upset and disgusted, so it seems. (the whole brood of vipers thing). He is advocating personal responsibility, personal accountability, and like many preachers before and since he does so out of an expectation that his own disgust is shared by God and God will be angry, destroy things, chop and burn, and we, for our part, should be afraid. Be very afraid. But, is that in fact the Jesus we end up getting? Is that, in fact, how Jesus operates? I just don't see it. It seems to me that we get a different Jesus than the one John expects. I suppose there is some hell-fire and brimstone in the preaching of Jesus, but not very much. Not as its primary message. What is the point of this angry John and his fear mongering when Jesus himself brings a message of love and forgiveness?
Thought three. In this calling people to be afraid, and in his giving of advice - telling people what they should do - the people think that John is the messiah. The law speaks with a certain authority. "you should" talk has about it an air of knowing. Advice, whether harsh or friendly, has a certian appeal. Don't we always think the giver of advice and the maker of directives sounds like a savior? (yes!)
Yet John isn't even close. He can't even untie his shoes. Hmmmm
Does that mean Jesus is going to kick ass even better and harder than John? Or does it mean that Gospel is that much more central to God's agenda than the law?
Dr. Vice, Dr. Toll,
You both help my Rambling with this Word of "good news." v. 18
While John is often used as an example - that we should be like him in one way or another - “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
I wonder if J the B is much of a model for us.
In the face of the way that Jesus lived as Messiah, John had to ask if Jesus was the one. John must have been looking for one who would knock heads even better than John (or anyone else) had.
John, it seems to me, is about as disappointed in Jesus as everyone else, (myself included, sometimes) and so, I would suspect that the homiletical task is to find fruit in looking to differences, to those very things that might well have disappointed - or at least confused J the B- and the rest of us...
• John spoke of the axe being laid to the root, and Jesus spoke of the one lost sheep, the one over which the shepherd rejoices when it has been found.
• John spoke of an unquenchable fire, Jesus spoke of the prodigal father who accepted the wayward child.
• John spoke of one coming with judgment and fire.
In Jesus, the power of the Messiah is exercised in a very different way. On the cross Jesus took on the fire himself.
On the cross, Jesus endured the suffering of our own judgment, and has called us to live in grace, not by threat of the fire, but by having consumed the fire in God’s own self.
We may struggle with John (as a crazy, as a preacher of the law, as one who proclaims a judgement-filled angry God, as confused); but Luke's story doesn't indicate this struggle. In Luke 7 John, who is imprisoned, sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he's the real deal. Jesus enters into a very affirming bit of teaching regarding John. Luke 7:28-- I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
I don't think Luke or Jesus think John is confused or off-base.
In trying to hold together the integrity of the Luke story, how can we view John's ministry and preaching in harmony with Jesus'?
Last week Pay No Toll wrote about the collision of Powers that takes place in John. Maybe there is some help there. Luke 3 begins by listing all of these big whigs (political and religious leaders) and then Luke says, But "the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness." Later John is arrested and killed for bad-mouthing the governor. Does John function in Luke to display a decidely political aspect of the gospel? And if so, how does this prepare the way of the Lord? Further, what does that phrase mean for Lutherans: Prepare the way of the Lord. . .
I notice that in Luke Jesus does not begin his ministry with "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the Good News." Mark and Matthew have this in some variation. So, in Luke Jesus does not echo John's call to repentence. There is the report of John being sent to prison, the baptism of Jesus (without John being mentioned), the genealogy, the temptation, then Jesus returns to Galilee (4.14) and we have the story of the synagogue in Nazareth (4.16f). When John's disciples come to Jesus (7.18f) they ask on John's behalf "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" That seems to me to indicate some question on John's part (although the history of interpretation on this text, as I understand it, doesn't usually go in that direction. John is just asking for the benefit of his disciples or some such.) When Jesus praises John, he also indicates that, at great as he is among those born of women, he is still least in the kingdom of God? Why? Why would he be least if he is so great? Is it because greatness in a human sense (born of woman) is not the same as greatness in the kingdom? Does it have to do with the difference between active (civil) righteousness and passive (received) righteousness? Does it have to do with law and Gospel? Or, more simply, perhaps Jesus is just affirming that in the kingdom there are no heros. Everybody is on the same footing.
Not that any of this will do much for a sermon. Which Basement duly notes. Maybe John shakes things up and helps us get rid of unessentials, and so forth in preparation for the coming one. Maybe this is a good text for the idea of repentence as clearing up the clutter, or the story about rocks in a jar (get the rocks in first). Maybe, since the text ends with the words, "good news" we could look at things that seem bad but are really good. Two repentance texts in a row is tough. Yet I really think, for myself at this point, I am seeing John as a kind of foil for our fondness for the law and our surprise at the Gospel. John tells everyone what to do, but does that really work? What makes us do what we should?
Speaking of what we should do, I should probably get some work done.
Yes, we should all get some work done, yet your reflection here helps me with my work.
I like the idea that John is "a kind of foil for our fondness for the law and our surprise at the Gospel."
In surprise, may I repent. Return to the Lord my God.
And maybe get some work done.
p.s. I get to participate in a baptism in a few minutes. Busy undermining.
From Martin Luther, sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent, 1544
The world takes offense and is provoked by the Gospel of Christ because it will not trust the grace of God and because he is so utterly poor and wretched. Thus is our dear Lord Christ everywhere in the world an annoying preacher.
May you all be annoying preachers!
So John is coming to seem like a crabby, but necessary, brake in our mad rush to Christmas (and all of life's mad rushes). He, the wet blanket, reminds us of who we are, for our own sake perhaps. (Like when the missus tells us we've 'ad too much to drink.) He reminds us about sharing, about justice, about abuse of power, and so forth. But, he can't do more than tell us what we should do. It is the one John points to, bearer of wind and fire, who has the power to actually turn our hearts to the neighbor.
One more thing:
God loves you just as you are. But God loves you too much to leave you there.
I read that somewhere. Now I can't find it. Maybe it was a Willimon.
I smell a Forde:
"An Evangelical Theologian won't take "but" for an answer. . ." G. O. Forde
We could have a contest!
Finish this sentence: "God loves you just as you are, but . . . "
Perhaps the winning entry could be submitted to despair.com, and they could make a poster for us.
he'd love you even more if you weren't such a pecker.
I honestly can't see why.
OK here's a funy one:
"God loves you just as you are, but God won't keep loving you unless you change." Oh, wait, that's not funny. That's a bad doctrine of sanctification. One not made right just because it is widely believed and wildly popular.
And, I am so curious. On what basis do entries get deleted. Cuss words? Adult content? Idiocy rethought? Maybe I should cancel this.
I think they get deleted when the author
a. hit the login and publish button, THEN read for typos
or
b. entered his/her post, and found it wasn't nearly as funny in black and white, as it was in one's head.
I've only deleted something for reason a. but I've entered something, and not published because of b.
God loves you just as you are. . . therein lies the problem.
God loves you just as you are, but the rest of us wish you would get your #@$*ing sh#t together.
God loves you just as you are, which is just one more thing that makes me suspicious of the whole religion thing
God loves you just as you are, but that doesn't mean God thinks you're sexy.
God loves you just the way you are but I stop just short of asking if I can get a who haw....or is it a tee hee ???
God loves you just the way you are, but if you would straighten up it would be easier for him to love you and he'd probably give you some kick-backs.
God loves you just the way you are.
Of course, God is way up there in heaven, and doesn't fully realize what an ***hole you are.
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