EDITOR'S NOTE: On Oct. 23, 2021, I was ordained as a minister of word and sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and installed as pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. I also served the same church for four years from October 2017 to October 2021 a synodically authorized minister. The journey together these past four years has been an amazing one, full of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Dec. 4, 2022.
This week's gospel: Matthew 3:1-12
The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume 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. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
The message:
So, in today’s gospel, we hear again from our ol’ friend John the Baptist. … The eccentric prophet who is famous for his wild dress and strange dietary habits.
But more importantly, a prophet who is also known for not mincing words. … In today’s parlance, we’d say that he tells it like it is.
As believers, and followers of Christ … like John, we often like to think that we like to hear the truth too! … That we like straight talk.
The problem though … is that we often only want to hear the truth when it aligns with what we think we already know.
Such is the tension that exists in today’s gospel … where I find it in three major points.
The first lesson is that the setting of today’s gospel does not take place in the temple, the holy place where the people of Jewish faith worshiped. But, rather, today’s story takes place in the wilderness … out there!
The second lesson we learn from John that even as faithful people, confession of our sins is necessary … so that we can identify what needs to be fixed and do it. …. That way we can pave the way for Jesus’ return.
Because after all, in this text, John reminds us that he is only the beginning. … that “one more powerful” than John is coming.
And finally the third lesson is that our true faith is exhibited not in our lineage or the mere fact that we call ourselves holy. … In other words, just having descended from Abraham is not enough to claim righteousness. … Rather, our faith is exhibited in how we live our lives … how we walk the walk and talk the talk, so to speak.
Truths … some very hard truths from John the Baptist -- the eccentric prophet -- today. … But remember, it isn’t a prophet’s job to tell us what we want to hear. … A prophet’s job is to tell us what we NEED to hear.
So, let’s explore each of these truths just a little more: 1.) Living out faith doesn’t always happen in the temple. 2.) Confession and repentance is required to pave the way for Christ’s coming. 3.) And just being Abraham’s descendent isn’t enough for us to be considered righteous.
I think for those of us who love our houses of worship, it’s very easy to forget that very little of the entire gospel story ever takes place in a temple. Sure, the ancient Jewish people talk a lot about temples, and a few key scenes of Jesus’ life even take place in a temple.
But the vast majority of the gospel story actually takes place out there … be it in our homes, our workplaces, our schools, our communities. … Today’s gospel story takes place in the wilderness, of all places!
John, a prophet who was accustomed to not being welcomed by the religious leaders of the day, set up shop way out there, far from civilization because he knew to be heard by the everyday people, he had to get away from the temples.
Just listen to his verbal exchange with the religious leaders midway through the text today: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance!”
Some pretty strong words there, right!
So take notice that it wasn’t John who traveled to the synagogues to have this conversation with the Pharisees and Sadducees.
It was they who traveled out to the wilderness to see this eccentric prophet … when they learned of all the regular folks traveling to see the one dressed in camel’s hair, eating honey and locusts and crying out in the wilderness.
“Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”
As faithful people, we should take note that John was baptizing people into new life out there … not in the cozy confines of a beautiful church such as this.
Which is an excellent reminder that not all that is holy takes place in a place of worship. … And even more importantly, not all who attend a holy place are holy.
That is John’s message to the Pharisees and Sadducees in today’s gospel.
The second tension in today’s gospel involves John’s central point, which is that it is our job -- we the faithful -- it is our task to “prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
After all, we are in the midst of Advent are not? … And is not the central principle of advent that we prepare for Christ’s return?
John is trying to get us to understand that to prepare for Christ’s return, the one who will return to baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit, we must first confess our sins and be baptized.
But what exactly does that mean that we are to confess our sins? … As Lutherans we don’t have a long history that emphasizes confession and repentance, but it doesn’t mean that the two do not play a central role in our faith.
Because, after all, our faith is supposed to change us, to transform us into loving, caring, accepting people that Christ has tried to get us to be for the past 2,000 years.
We can know the Ten Commandments, and recite the Apostles Creed by heart, and take communion regularly, but unless we are living out our faith out there, in our everyday lives, then we aren’t doing much to pave the way for Christ’s arrival.
Jesus never was as concerned about what it is that we believe in here, as he was with what we do out there!
So, even as we are tempted to decide for ourselves who is the wheat and who is the chaff, John the Baptist -- a prophet … a truth teller -- is reminding us that the way we prepare for Christ’s return is to get our own houses in order … before we worry about everyone else’s houses.
Confession and repentance … As Lutherans, we tend to focus far more on God’s love and mercy than we do confession and repentance.
But we have to remember that we are called by God to both. … Because it’s very hard to find a path to righteousness until we’ve confessed our own transgressions and repented, thus changing our own ways.
And that is how we prepare for Christ’s coming.
The third tension in today’s gospel text reminds us that just being believers alone … doesn’t make us holy. … Being descended from Abraham … alone … doesn’t make us holy!
This is exactly the message that John has for the Pharisees and the Sadducees when they arrive in the wilderness to see what all the fuss is about. … To see why all these faithful Jewish people are flocking to the woods to check out this prophet!
They really had no choice. Those religious leaders were compelled to seek out John? … After all, their faithful were running away from them and out to see this crazy zealot who was dressed in animal skins and eating bugs.
It was John that the faithful were listening to, convincing them of the need for confession and then baptizing them … not the religious leaders! … Right out there in the woods along the Red River. … John was not here in this beautiful sanctuary.
No, he was in the wilderness? … WHAT??? … He’s baptizing people in the wilderness … in the Red River? … Not here at Faith Lutheran Church! … They were flocking to the river to see John!
So, you see, the Pharisees and Sadducees had to go see him! … To see what he was about.
And when they arrived, what John had waiting for them was a brazen lecture: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume 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. Even 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.”
Whoa! … John stops the religious leaders in their tracks by telling them that just being holy, just being the descendants of Abraham isn’t enough to ensure their righteousness. … Just being Jewish alone isn’t enough. … Just being a Christian isn’t enough.
John even comically tells them, “For crying out loud, if he wanted to, God could just make new righteous people out of these rocks lying all around us. … So, there’s nothing special about you being Jewish, about claiming to be believers. … God could make new believers out of those rocks with a snap of his fingers.”
So what does John tell them is important? … “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” … In other words, it’s not being holy that matters. … It’s that being a believer transforms us into loving, caring, accepting people willing to do the work of Christ while we await his return.
John tells the Pharisees and Sadducees that being in power isn’t what is important, but rather those who are in power need to offer the peace of Christ, and live their lives accordingly. … Now, you see, that is what is important!
Isn’t it symbolic that … the very religious leaders expected to lead a holy people have to go out into the wilderness to realize that they too indeed have to confess their sins, repent and change their ways. … Maybe that should make us all take notice.
Faith Family … John -- a prophet so outspoken some would deem him crazy -- reminds us that while some faithful people think that the entire meaning of Christianity is to usurp God’s role of deciding who is the wheat and who is chaff … but rather John’s reminding us that our actual role is get ourselves right with God first, allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us into the people of God we were meant to be. … And he didn’t need to be standing in a church to do so.
And that is the Good News on this Second Sunday in Advent spoken to us from John the Baptist out there in the woods by the Red River … on this Dec. 4, 2022. … Amen.
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