MATTHEW 3:1-12
WE HEARD ABOUT THE LION
LAYING DOWN WITH THE LAMB. THERE'S A STORY ABOUT A TOURIST WHO WAS
VISITING A ZOO IN ANOTHER COUNTRY. THERE HE SAW A LION LAYING DOWN
WITH A LAMB. “THAT'S AMAZING!” HE SAID TO THE ZOOKEEPER. “WHAT
A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF COEXISTENCE. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?” THE
ZOOKEEPER REPLIED, “IT'S EASY. JUST GIVE HIM A FRESH LAMB EVERY
DAY.”
ISAIAH PAINTS A WONDERFUL
PICTURE ABOUT THE FUTURE, WHEN THE MESSIAH COMES. JOHN IS ANNOUNCING
THE MESSIAH AS WELL, AND THE PICTURE DOESN'T SOUND SO WONDERFUL.
UNLESS YOU REPENT. JOHN BEGINS BY HURLING AN INSULT AT THE PHARISEES
AND SADDUCEES – HE CALLS THEM A BROOD OF VIPERS. VIPERS DONT LAY
EGGS; THEY GIVE BIRTH TO LIVE BABIES WHO WANDER OFF TO FEND FOR
THEMSELVES. ANCIENT OBSERVERS INSISTED THAT THE BABIES WERE BORN BY
BURSTING OPEN THEIR MOTHERS. TO CALL SOMEONE A VIPER WAS TO NAME
THEM AS EXTREMELY UNGRATEFUL, AND JOHN IS ACCUSING THESE PHARISEES
AND SADUCCEES AS BETRAYING THE GOD THEY PRETENDED TO WORSHIP. JOHN
CRITICIZES THREE ERRORS PEOPLE MAKE WHEN THEY TRY TO BE RELIGIOUS.
PHARISEES BELIEVED THAT IF YOU OBEYED ALL THE RULES EXACTLY AS THEY
WERE WRITTEN DOWN, YOU WOULD BE FULFILLING GOD'S LAW. NOT ONLY DID
YOU OBEY THE RULES, YOU MADE UP RULES ABOUT HOW TO OBEY THE RULES.
SOME OF OUR JEWISH FRIENDS STILL KEEP TWO SETS OF DISHES, ONE FOR
EATING MEALS WITH MEAT AND THE OTHER FOR EATING MEALS WITH DAIRY.
THE SCRIPTURE ON WHICH THIS IS BASED SAYS THAT YOU CAN'T BOIL A BABY
GOAT IN MILK FROM THE MOTHER. IF YOU INTERPRET THIS TO MEAN YOU
CAN'T EAT MEAT AND MILK AT THE SAME MEAL, THAT'S ONE THING. BUT TO
MAKE THAT POSSIBILITY SO REMOTE THAT IT CAN'T HAPPEN, YOU NEED TWO
SETS OF DISHES.
SADDUCEES WERE THE
PRIESTLY CLASS. IT ISN'T SURPRISING THEN, THAT THEY BELIEVED GOD WAS
BEST WORSHIPED BY OFFERING SACRIFICES IN THE TEMPLE. THEY LOOKED AT
THE STORIES OF THEIR ANCESTORS AND SAW THAT WHENEVER ONE OF THEM
SINNED, BURNING AN ANIMAL SEEMED TO GET RID OF THE SIN; WHEN SOMEONE
WANTED VICTORY OVER AN ENEMY SLAUGHTERING A FEW ANIMALS SEEMED TO
IMPROVE THE ODDS. SADUCCEES DID NOT AS A RULE BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER
DEATH; THEIR APPROACH TO RELIGION WAS TO TRY TO INFLUENCE THE HERE
AND NOW BY OFFERING A SACRIFICE TO GOD.
JOHN THEN TURNS HIS
ATTENTION TO THE CROWD, RECOGNIZING THAT THE REASON PEOPLE CAME TO BE
BAPTIZED RIGHT THERE AT THAT SPOT ON THE SHORES OF THE JORDAN RIVER
WHERE JOSHUA HAD LED THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL INTO THE PROMISED LAND WAS
BECAUSE FOR A LONG TIME THAT HAD BEEN AWAY OF RE-AFFIRMING YOUR
IDENTITY AS A JEW. YOUR ANCESTORS HAD CROSSED THE RIVER THERE, AND
WHEN YOU WENT INTO THE RIVER YOU WERE AFFIRMING YOUR SOLIDARITY WITH
THEM. AND JOHN SAYS, BEING A DESCENDENT OF ABRAHAM DOESN'T GET YOU
ANY CLOSER TO GOD EITHER.
I THINK ALL OF US CAN SEE
OURSELVES IN THESE THREE GROUPS. IF WE FOLLOW THE RULES, GOD OWES
US; IF WE GIVE MONEY OR TIME TO THE CHURCH, GOD CERTAINLY SHOULD PAY
US BACK. AND IF WE ARE CATHOLICS, WE HAVE A SNEAKING SUSPICION THAT
WE ARE A LEG UP ON PEOPLE WHO AREN'T CATHOLIC. AND JOHN SAYS, NONE
OF THE ABOVE.
REPENTANCE, JOHN TELLS
US, IS OUR ONLY HOPE. THAT WORD OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT
AS WELL AS THE NEW. THE PROPHETS PREACH IT, JESUS USES IT, AND THE
APOSTLES WRITE ABOUT IT. SO WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN? WHEN WE USE
THE WORD TODAY, WE THINK IT MEANS TO BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS. BUT IT
MEANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT WHEN IT FIRST CAME INTO THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE, SOMETHING CLOSER TO THE GREEK WORD USED IN THE NEW
TESTAMENT WHICH IS “METANOAIA”. THAT WORD LITERALLY MEANS “A
CHANGE OF MIND”. THE HEBREW WORD IS TESCHIVA, WHICH MEANS TO
REMEMBER AND RETURN. AND JOHN AMPLIFIES THIS WHEN HE SAYS “BEAR
FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE.” IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOU HAVE
REALLY PUT ON A NEW MIND, IF YOU'VE REALLY DECIDED TO PUT YOUR SINS
BEHIND YOU AND RETURN TO GOD, THEN OF NECESSITY YOUR LIFE HAS TO
CHANGE, OTHERWISE, YOU WEREN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN A SNAKE THAT
DESTROYS IT'S MOTHER IN BEING BORN.
ADVENT IS A TIME WHEN WE
ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND ASK, HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED
SINCE LAST YEAR? HAS THERE BEEN PROGRESS IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE? IF
NOT, WHY NOT? AFTER ALL, THERE ISN'T ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN
THAT.
REPENTANCE IS NEVER
SOMETHING THAT WE DO ONCE. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO REPENT CONTINUOUSLY.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE GO AROUND FEELING SORRY FOR EVERY LITTLE AND
BIG THING WE'VE DONE. IN FACT, IF OUR PAST MISTAKES MAKE US FEEL
SORRY, IT MEANS WE HAVEN'T ACCEPTED GOD'S FORGIVENESS. BUT
REPENTANCE DOES MEAN THAT WE'VE TAKEN SERIOUSLY THE IDEA THAT WE HAVE
TO STRIVE TO DRAW CLOSER TO GOD; WE HAVE TO STRUGGLE TO BECOME MORE
LIKE CHRIST. SAINT PAUL TELLS US TO “PUT ON CHRIST” AND FOR
CHRISTIANS THAT'S A GREAT DEFINITION OF REPENTANCE. IT SEEMS TO BE
AN OVERWHELMING TASK, BUT GOD STANDS READY TO GIVE US THE GRACE WE
NEED; JESUS HAS ALREADY SHOWN US HOW TO DO THIS; AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
LIVES WITHIN US, CONCEIVING CHRIST AS HE DID IN MARY. ALL YOU AND I
HAVE TO DO IS LET THE TRINITY WORK IN US.
THERE ARE ONLY TWO THINGS
THAT STAND IN THE WAY; ONE IS ME, MYSELF. AS LONG AS I AM THE CENTER
OF THE UNIVERSE FOR MYSELF, GOD CAN'T BE. AND TO LET GO OF THAT
CONCEPTION IS VERY HARD; BUT IT CAN BE ONE, A LITTLE AT A TIME, BY
GIVING OURSELVES AWAY. THE MORE WE GIVE OURSELVES TO OTHERS, THE
MORE WE GIVE OURSELVES TO GOD, THE MORE WE EMPTY OURSELVES TO MAKE
ROOM FOR GOD. THAT, BY THE WAY, IS THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION OF
MARRIAGE – A STATE OF LIFE IN WHICH EACH PARTNER GIVES HIMSELF OR
HERSELF TO THE OTHER, AND AS TIME GOES ON, TO CHILDREN. OUR FAMILIES
ARE SUPPOSED TO KICK-START THE PROCESS OF EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT TO
MAKE ROOM FOR GOD.
THE OTHER BARRIER IS
BASICALLY, “STUFF”. OUR LIVES ARE CLUTTERED WITH STUFF –
MATERIAL GOODS, YES, BUT MANY OTHER THINGS AS WELL. WE ARE ALWAYS IN
DANGER OF PLACING OUR JOB, OUR HOBBIES, ALL THE MULTITUDE OF THINGS
THAT EAT AWAY AT OUR TIME AHEAD OF WHAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN LIFE.
AND JUST AS WE HAVE TO EMPTY OURSELVES TO GET RID OF THE ME, WE HAVE
TO DEAL WITH OUR STUFF BY FREQUENTLY EXAMINING WHETHER THINGS ARE
PROPERLY BALANCED. GOD ISN'T SAYING WE NEED TO GO OUT INTO THE
DESERT AND EAT LOCUSTS AND HONEY; BUT HE DOES EXPECT US TO USE EVERY
GIFT THE WAY IT SHOULD BE USED, AND NOT LET HIS GIFTS TO US CROWD HIM
OUT OF OUR LIVES.
IN ADVENT REFLECT ON YOUR
SPIRITUAL PROGRESS SINCE LAST YEAR THIS TIME. IF YOU CAN'T REALLY
SAY YOU'VE MADE ANY, THEN LISTEN TO JOHN; THE AXE IS EVEN NOW AT THE
ROOT OF THE TREE.
