Luke 3:7 - 18
This is Guadete Sunday. Guadete is a Latin word that means Rejoice. That’s why we have rose colored vestments. Rose doesn’t really mean “rejoice” -- that would be white, I think. But rose means lightening up from purple. Notice that the first two readings and the psalm are all about rejoicing. Now if you are like me, being told to rejoice is probably not going to make me rejoice. The writings tell us to rejoice because of what God has done for us, but even there, rejoice is a strong word for being grateful. I guess some people are more emotional than others.
But when we come to the gospel it’s a different story. Just before this passage, John was calling people a brood of vipers, a whitewashed tomb, and probably other comments that didn’t get into the bible. He tells them that they had no business depending on the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. God could make rocks into descendants of Abraham. He tells them that they better repent, and more importantly produce good fruit out of their repentance, because there isn’t time to waste; the ax is already starting to chop down the tree.
Now you can picture John -- wearing skins, eating bugs, long hair, wild eyes, probably a little dirty -- and yet crowds had come out to hear him, and after he said all those things, they didn’t throw up their hands and go home -- they asked, “What shall we do?”
John, do you have a message for us, do you have some answers for our spirits? Because we know something is wrong, we just don’t know what it is. We follow the laws, we sacrifice in the temple, some of us pray -- but life doesn’t seem to be getting any better. We are still pushed around by Romans and we still barely make enough to put food on the table; life is hard, what are your answers?
And John, this wild prophet, gives them answers, surprising answers. He tells the crowd to share their clothing and food with those who have less. He tells the tax collectors to collect only what they are owed. He tells the soldiers to be satisfied with their wages. He doesn't tell anyone to join him in the desert, or take up some kind of spiritual practice. In a sense he tells them, “Go back to your homes, go back to your lives, and pay attention to how you live them. That’s where the kingdom is -- it’s in a life where you live intentionally, where you become holy by doing your duties as well as you can. And in doing so, you make the world holier. And that’s John’s message to you and I as well.
The kingdom of heaven isn’t something far off, something awaiting us in the next life. The kingdom of heaven is among us, Jesus told us that. It’s there ready to be realized in the everyday lives we lead.
And John goes on to tell us that the one who is coming will bring the Holy Spirit and fire. And he will separate the wheat from the chaff and burn the chaff and gather the wheat. Maybe you think this means that he will gather the good people and send the bad people to hell, but I think another way to see this is to note that fire is something that purifies, and the Holy Spirit brings new life, and when we lead intentional lives where we strive to make our daily living holy, Jesus will assist us in that enterprise. He’ll burn away what shouldn’t be there and build up what is good in us. If we set out to make our daily lives holy, we’ll get plenty of help from our Lord, the one who is to come.
And that message is probably what got John into trouble, and might get us into trouble as well. Because John is saying -- you don’t need to overthrow the Romans and run your one country in order to be holy. You don’t need to sacrifice things in the temple to be holy. Everything you need to be holy and please God is right there in your ordinary day, and God is willing to help you achieve holiness here and now, because the kingdom of God is among you already. And that’s why Luke tells us that what John preached to the people is good news.
As we approach the feast of Christmas, it’s a good time to take stock of ourselves. How are we making our ordinary lives holy? What can I change about my ordinary life that I can bring to the cradle of Christ, the newborn king? How can I show my family and friends that the kingdom of God is among us?
