Isaiah 12:2-6
Luke 3:7-18
The three books of Isaiah are beautifully bound together
into one book that tells the story of God’s presence and the lives of the
people of Zion or Israel. It
wasn’t an easy time in their mutual covenantal life together so they really did
need a prophet, someone who could be the ‘go between’ if you will.
Isaiah, among others, was their prophet! Old Testament
Palestine, as it was called then, was a divided kingdom, Israel to the north
and Judah to the south. This is
around 742 BCE. They were churning
through king after king, not at all organized. Things were beginning to crumble and eventually it would.
Now Isaiah was politically astute at domestic politics and he
also knew the international scene around them. The Babylonians had been
conquered by Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria and the Assyrians advance into
the region to become the leading power in the Middle East. As it is today, that
part of the world was in terrible conflict. Soon an alliance between then Syria and Israel, who were
once enemies, would form to combat an international conspiracy.
But Isaiah’s charge was to take care of Israel. In the first book he warned them of
God’s impending judgment, then in the second book he spoke words of comfort to
God’s people while they were in exile in Babylon. The third book addresses the dire situation that they found
when they finally returned home to a devastated land.
So what we heard earlier, this little chapter of
thanksgiving and praise, was a welcomed breath of fresh air amidst oracle after
oracle after oracle of doom and gloom, failure in keeping covenant, straying
after idols and abandoning God.
They had it rough, God had it rough. (Now don’t go off thinking that
this ‘Old Testament’ God was vengeful, that would be a mistake. It was how ancient people understood
God and the other gods at that time) But God, being ineffable and caring promises to be present with them no
matter what happens, no matter what they do, no matter how far they stray.
From good news to joy, it doesn’t get any better than that! God
was angry but then it ceased and they were comforted. They rejoice that God is their strength and salvation. And
of course Zion cannot help but ‘greatly rejoice’ in all of this. God is back in their midst, this Holy
one of Zion.
And this is the promise of this scripture on this third week
of Advent, this week of pink candles and joy. We are heard and God is present even in adversity, even in
darkness, even when the winds threaten to blow away our very existence, in this
we can find joy. And all of that
is good news and something for us to remember too.
Many years later another prophet comes along. Out of the wilderness, clothed in course
camel hair, eating locusts and wild honey comes John, called by some John the
Baptist, son of Elizabeth, and cousin of Jesus. Hear now today’s reading from
the Gospel of Luke the third chapter.
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? Bear 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. 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.”
And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply
he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none;
and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be
baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them,
“Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers 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.”
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning
in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 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. His 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.”
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good
news to the people.
John was a powerful prophet. In fact, many of the people thought he was Elijah, the
prophet for whom they had been waiting to return. It had been a long time since they had heard from any
prophets. And, like in Isaiah’s
time, like Jeremiah’s time, like in Malachi’s time, like Elijah’s time and all
the rest, they needed a prophet.
If you haven’t caught on by now, prophets tell the truth and they were
not afraid to share that truth and so we have these very challenging words from
the wilderness man.
In pulling apart this passage we see that really what he is
demanding is fairness and justice.
His advice to the crowds, the tax collectors and soldiers is
practical. To the crowds who ask
“What should we do?” he answers, share.
To the tax collectors who also ask “What should we do?” he replies, be
fair, take no more than what you need. And to the soldiers who ask again, “What should we
do?” he states don’t extort, don’t torture, no violence, treat others
fairly. John is summoning them to
ethical living, a way of being. In
very simplistic terms be a decent human being and help others.
I find it interesting that three times, the author of Luke
asks the question, “What should we do?”
They did that you know, repeat words or phrases as if they are
personally inviting us into the story.
But thinking about this question, “What should we do?” to me sounds
helpless as if none of us has control and are waiting for someone to tell us
what to do. Or we have no thoughts
of our own. You don’t really have
to think too deeply to answer that question because someone else can answer it
for you. When you ask the
question, “What should I do?” and you are given an answer you have the choice
of doing it or not.
So I want to offer you another question that might help you
during this Advent season to better reflect what you ‘should do’. You could ask yourself, “What can I
do?” “What can I do?” moves you
into action, the action that John the Baptizer is calling us to. You are taking responsibility for your
life and I think ultimately the question that I think God wants us to ask. “What can I do?” “What can I do to change myself, change
a situation?” “What can I change
for the better?”
When you ask these questions you can be sure that you are
tuned in to the gospel message of John and of Jesus Christ because they want us
to take action, to take part in a transformative experience that just might
bring about the kingdom of God here on earth.
A story is told by Pastor Edward Markquart, former pastor at
Grace Lutheran Church in Washington State, “I was at the men’s breakfast at
church and we were talking about Christmas that is upon us. The men started pontificating like men
will often do. They muttered,
‘Christmas costs too much,” “All the bills show up in January,” “We’re too
materialistic,” or “Why can’t we have this Christmas generosity all year
long?” To all of this muttering
and blubbering, one man suggested, “A trip of a thousand miles begins with the
first step.”
Miraculously, the conversation shifted dramatically and the men
began talking about taking the first step in their path. One man told a story about caring for
his elderly grandma. Another
talked about working with the young men at the juvenile court. Still another told of caring for a
handicapped person for years.
Finally, someone looked at Floyd, good old Floyd, mid-eighties, wearing
a red bow tie, using a walker…. One knowing man asked, “Tell us your story,
Floyd” Floyd, in his high pitched voice quietly said, “My wife and I were
married for thirty years. We
couldn’t have any children so we raised seventy-two foster children.” Silence. Stone silence.
And then the miracle happened.
All the men began clapping…It was just for a moment…and God
walked into the hearts of us men and we were moved to ask the question, “What
can I do?” “What can I do to be
more like Floyd?”[i]
What can YOU do?
John the Baptizer is specific because God is specific, make no mistake
about that. When you see a child
in distress, what can you do? When
you see a box at the grocery store asking for canned food donations, what can
you do? When you hear a racial or
ethnic slur, what can you do? When
you hear hatred spewing from someone’s mouth, what can you do? When you hear that an elderly member is
in a home and rarely gets visitors, what can you do? When you have too much of anything, what can you do? When you know someone is going for
chemo treatments, what can you do?
It is a simple question but one whose answer will have far
reaching effects on so many people, maybe even yourself. And I think that’s what God wants, a
world and a people that has been lovingly curated by its inhabitants.
So now enter into this needy world from this safe little
sanctuary asking the question, “What can I do?”
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment