Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

LUKE 3:10-18

TO ME THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING GOSPEL PASSAGES. BUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT IT IN CONTEXT. I THINK MOST OF US HAVE A PICTURE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. IN FACT, HE IS THE ONLY CHARACTER IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT HAS HIS CLOTHING DESCRIBED – HE WORE A GARMENT MADE OF CAMEL'S HAIR AND A LEATHER BELT. WE ALSO KNOW WHAT HE ATE. LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY. AND EVEN THOUGH HE WAS RELATED TO JESUS, IN THOSE DAYS THEY PROBABLY HAD ALMOST NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER – JESUS, AFTER ALL, GREW UP IN NAZARETH, AND JOHN IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF JUDEA. THAT'S A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 100 MILES, AND NOT EASY TO DO WHEN YOU HAD TO WALK. SCHOLARS THINK THAT JOHN MAY HAVE JOINED ONE OF THOSE SECTS THAT LIVED OUT IN THE DESERT – THEY WERE CALLED “ESSENES” – AND THEY BELIEVED THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END VERY SOON AND THAT THE BEST THING YOU COULD DO TO PREPARE WAS TO GO OUT IN THE DESERT AND CONCENTRATE ON LIVING A LIFE OF PRAYER, RIGOROUSLY KEEPING THE LAW OF MOSES, AND STAYING AWAY FROM CONTAMINATION BY THE GENERAL CULTURE. THEY RESEMBLED A MONASTIC ORDER.

SO JOHN CAME OUT OF THE DESERT, WE WERE TOLD LAST WEEK, BECAUSE THE WORD OF GOD CAME TO HIM. AND WHEN WE READ ABOUT JOHN, HE WAS NO SHRINKING VIOLET. HE TOLD THE PEOPLE THAT THEY WERE A BROOD OF VIPERS, AND THAT IF GOD WANTED TO HE COULD MAKE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM OUT OF ROCKS. WE KNOW THAT JOHN WASN'T AFRAID OF ANYONE. HE DARED TO TELL THE KING THAT HE WAS LIVING IN SIN, HAVING MARRIED HIS BROTHER'S WIFE. JOHN WAS A TROUBLE MAKER; HE WAS DRAWING CROWDS TO THE SHORE OF THE JORDAN RIVER AND BAPTIZING THE ONES WHO WANTED TO SIGNIFY THEIR REPENTANCE – AND JOHN HAD NO AUTHORITY – HE WASN'T A PRIEST OR A RABBI.

SO TODAY YOU HEAR A FEW BRAVE SOULS; THEY'VE BEEN LISTENING TO JOHN PREACHING. THEY SAY, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO?” PROBABLY EXPECTING JOHN WILL TELL THEM TO GIVE UP THEIR JOBS AND GO OUT INTO THE DESERT. JOHN'S ADVICE IS VERY MILD – IF YOU HAVE TWO COATS AND YOUR NEIGHBOR HAS NONE, GIVE HIM ONE OF YOURS. SURELY THE TAX COLLECTORS EXPECTED TO BE TOLD TO GIVE UP THEIR PROFESSION. A TAX COLLECTOR WAS ABOUT AS LOW AS YOU COULD GET. THE WAY IT WORKED WAS THAT THE ROMANS APPOINTED SOMEONE IN A VILLAGE WHOSE JOB IT WAS TO COLLECT TAXES. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HANDING OVER THE SUM THE ROMANS DECIDED WAS FAIR. HE WOULD THEN GO AROUND,. ACCOMPANIED BY A FEW SOLDIERS, AND TELL PEOPLE WHAT THEY OWED. HE WAS ENTITLED TO A COMMISSION. YOU CAN SEE THAT THEIR WAS A LITTLE ROOM FOR ABUSE HERE. BUT JOHN DOESN'T ORDER THEM TO STOP WORKING – HE TELLS THEM TO TAKE ONLY WHAT THEY ARE ENTITLED TO. THE SOLDIERS WERE ONLY SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE TAX COLLECTORS ON THE SOCIAL SCALE. THEY WOULD USE THEIR POSITIONS TO THREATEN PEOPLE – “THAT'S A NICE SHOP YOU HAVE THERE”, THEY WOULD SAY. “IT WOULD BE TOO BAD IF IT BURNED TO THE GROUND SOME NIGHT. FORTUNATELY, FOR A SLIGHT FEE WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.” AND JOHN TELLS THEM, “BE CONTENT WITH YOUR PAY.”

JOHN HAS BEEN CALLING THE PEOPLE TO REPENTANCE. THAT WORD IS A TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK WORD METANOIA, WHICH DOESN'T QUITE MEAN WHAT REPENTANCE MEANS. METANOIA MEANS “OUT OF THE MIND” OR PERHAPS, “CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK”. EACH OF THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION, “WHAT SHOULD WE DO” ARE BASICALLY THE SAME ANSWER – WHEN YOU ARE DEALING WITH ANOTHER PERSON, LOOK TO HIS OR HER WELFARE FIRST, BEFORE YOUR OWN. SEE OTHER PEOPLE AS PERSONS, NOT AS OBJECTS TO BE EXPLOITED.

SO ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT THIS GOSPEL IS THAT THE ADVICE COMING FROM JOHN JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO GO ALONG WITH WHAT A WILD MAN FROM THE DESERT SHOULD BE TELLING PEOPLE. AND INDEED, IN THE NEXT BREATH JOHN IS BACK TO HIS OLD SELF, TELLING THE CROWDS THAT IF YOU THINK HE, JOHN, IS BAD NEWS, WAIT TILL THE ONE JOHN IS PREPARING FOR COMES. JOHN IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THAT ONE, WHO WILL SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF, AND BURN THE CHAFF IN FIRE THAT NEVER GOES OUT.

DURING ADVENT WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIST. JESUS CALLS HIM THE GREATEST BORN OF WOMAN UP TO THAT POINT IN HISTORY, AND JOHN IS TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR INCARNATION. NOW JESUS IS ALREADY AROUND – HE IS ALREADY GOD INCARNATE, GOD IN THE FLESH. BUT GOD IS NOT THROUGH BREAKING INTO OUR WORLD; HE CONTINUES TO DO SO EVEN TODAY. GOD IS CONSTANTLY PUTTING ON OUR FLESH AND BONES, AND A CONSEQUENCE OF INCARNATION IS TO DRAW US TOGETHER, TO OVERCOME THE BARRIERS THAT WE CREATE BETWEEN OURSELVES. WHEN THOSE BARRIERS ARE DOWN, GOD DWELLS IN US. AND THOSE BARRIERS COME DOWN WHEN WE FOLLOW JOHN'S COMMANDS AND SEE EACH OTHER AS PERSONS, WORTH EVERY BIT AS MUCH AS WE ARE, DESERVING OF EVERYTHING WE DESERVE, BEING RESPECTED AS MUCH AS WE DESIRE RESPECT. WHEN WE TREAT EACH OTHER AS PERSONS, GOD IS THERE, WEARING MY FLESH, WEARING YOURS.

RIGHT AFTER JOHN THREATENS THE PEOPLE WITH UNQUENCHABLE FIRE IF THEY DON'T GET WITH THE PROGRAM, THE GOSPEL PASSAGE ENDS WITH THE CURIOUS STATEMENT, “IN THIS AND MANY OTHER WAYS JOHN PREACHED THE GOOD NEWS TO THE PEOPLE.” GOOD NEWS? UNQUENCHABLE FIRE? HMM.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO OUT INTO THE DESERT, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GIVE UP YOUR JOB OR WEAR CLOTHES MADE OUT OF CAMEL'S HAIR OR EAT LOCUSTS AND HONEY. OUR CHRISTIAN HISTORY IS FILLED WITH THE STORIES OF SPIRITUAL ATHLETES WHO SHAME US ALL WITH THEIR FASTING, THEIR GOOD WORKS, THEIR EXEMPLARY LIVES, AND THAT IS A GOOD THING, BECAUSE THEY REMIND US THAT WE COULD ALWAYS DO BETTER, WE COULD ALWAYS DO MORE. BUT THE ESSENTIALS ARE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE – YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A A SPIRITUAL ATHLETE OR A ROCKET SCIENTIST. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO TO BE PART OF THE MYSTERY OF INCARNATION, TO BE PART OF GOD BREAKING INTO THE WORLD, IS TO LIVE THE FACT THAT GOD IS ALREADY IN YOU AND AND IN YOUR NEIGHBOR. WHEN YOU DO THIS, THAT'S THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THAT IS WHAT JOHN FORETOLD, WHAT JESUS CAME TO BUILD, AND THAT IS ALREADY IN OUR MIDST.