Sermon 12-14-03
While We Wait - Luke 3:7-18
(view lectionary notes for this text)
The season is upon us. Election season that is! Ok, maybe it's not in full swing exactly, but like during Advent we prepare for Christmas, this is also a time of preparations for political, specifically presidential candidates. Just this past week, Al Gore announced that he would endorse Howard Dean for the presidency, a move that certainly caused a small commotion. What would this endorsement mean, political analysts speculated? Cnn.com posted a poll question: "Will Gore's endorsement help or hurt Howard Dean's campaign?" The results were quite mixed. On the one hand, people suggest that since Gore couldn't win his race in 2000, how would his endorsement help now? On the other hand, people speculate, many people still respect Al Gore and look to him for leadership of the democratic party. Perhaps his endorsement will boost Howard Dean's lead over the other candidates.
Even if you are staying on tops of politics and campaigns like I am, perhaps by now you are wondering what any of this has to do with church or Advent or worship services. Well, I was struck, struck by reading our passage from Luke's gospel, by the unique and enigmatic character of John the Baptist. We don't know quite where to put him. Certainly, he's important - we must admit that. A cousin to Jesus, the one who would baptize Jesus at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. One who would be said to be the messenger, preparing Christ's way. But, he's not as simple to categorize as one of the 12 disciples, like Peter, James, Judas, or the other John. He didn't really follow Jesus or come to listen to his teachings. In fact, John has his own disciples, who functioned much like the 12 did for Christ.
And yet, here he is, a voice crying in the wilderness, the prophet of the Most High, calling on people to get ready, to prepare, to do everything they needed in order to get ready for Jesus. So I got to think - it's a bit like John the Baptist is yelling out that he will endorse Jesus Christ as the one who they've all been waiting for. John says Christ is the candidate to put all your money, all your energy, all your time behind to support. The trouble is, the crowds aren't quite sure - is this endorsement from John going to help Jesus or hurt him? If a man as strange as John says Jesus is the way to go, shouldn't that be a warning sign that Jesus will be something a bit strange and unusual as well? This is the predicament we find ourselves looking in on in today's text. John is preaching to the crowds, just before Jesus would come to him to be baptized, just before Jesus would begin his three years of active, public ministry, John is out there calling for repentance, speaking about the wrath to come, comparing the people to a brood of vipers, and generally stirring everybody up with a little bit of anger and a little bit of hope and excitement. "Bear fruits worthy of repentance," he proclaims, "even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down. . . whoever has two coats must share . . . whoever has food must do likewise." And the people, we read, were filled with expectation.
Filled with expectation. Those are indeed good words for Advent. We're expecting. But what is it, exactly, that we're expecting? What are we waiting for? Yes, for the Christ child, of course, for Christmas, for Jesus to be born again, anew into our lives. That's what we're waiting for, that's what we're expecting to happen, what we know will happen. But is that the end of the story? Is that all we're hoping to get out of all this expecting we've been doing? After Christmas, what happens next? Is that it, until Lent and Easter role around? Why are we so careful to count down to this baby's birth? In all honesty, do we expect something to be different this time? Do we expect this Christmas to change our lives? Do we expect a miracle to happen?
In our passage, we hear about different groups that are part of the throng listening to John's words. The people from the area, the tax collectors, the soldiers - to each he gives some instructions after he tells them the current state of things. The situation is that this ax is at the root of the trees, and John is made it clear that they are the trees that are in danger of being cut. They must have some good fruit to show. So they ask, in turn, "what then should we do?" John gives them instructions for how to live justly - shares possessions, give food to those who are hungry. Don't be greedy and take too much from others, don't treat others with threats and intimidation. But these instructions John gives aren't the final answer - they are the final state of things - they're what the people must do while they wait, while the wait for the one to come whom John has been describing.
If we expect nothing to change, nothing to be different, nothing new to happen after Christ is born on Christmas, then we're all set - we don't have to worry about what's going on while we're waiting for the celebration to arrive. Jesus will come anyway, despite our lack of preparation - that part we can't stop by our own neglect. But if we're hoping for something more, if we're hoping for something a little bit more special, longer-lasting, then we've got some work to do while we wait. I read recently in a break-down of how we spend the time of our lives that 5 years of our life is spent just waiting in line. (1) Waiting, waiting, waiting. It's not a question then of if we'll wait, or how long we'll wait, but of what we'll do while we're waiting. It's only in our getting-ready time now that we can enable something spectacular to happen when the big day comes, something that will fill us up much more than if we just let December 25th come and go until next year rolls around. I think of it a bit like our New Year's resolutions that we're probably thinking about already. It's all good and well to let January 1st arrive and have our resolutions worked out that we swear we will follow this year. But I imagine that part of the reason our resolutions are so unsuccessful is because we haven't done anything to get ready while we were waiting for the calendar to change years. We haven't made any changes in our lives that will make it easier for us to stick to our resolutions. We're filled with expectation, but we're ultimately let down, because we didn't do our part.
So, what is it we're supposed to do? We, like John's audience, want to know what, then, we should do? John tells us, bear fruit worthy of repentance! Last week we talked about repentance, about how it's a changing of the mind, a moment where we get our sense of direction, and head on a new, corrected path. We need evidence of that in our lives before much will change for us.
John gives suggestions to his hearers that all show examples of turning our attention away from ourselves and to our neighbors. Our fruits can be seen when we help other, when we build them up. When we give to the food pantry or to the Neighborhood Center, good fruit is evident. When we make a pledge to support St. Paul's, when we check up on those who are sick or shut-in, good fruit is evident. When we make community with those who have disabilities or challenges to face, when invite others into our sanctuary and seek to show them how much we want them here with us, our good fruit is evident. If repentance is like asking for directions, the wrong path we've been on is like a spiral that leads only inward, that spirals in on ourselves, so that we are the focus. Heading the opposite direction begins with us, as individuals, but it's direction is always moving farther and farther away from us at the center, toward those we can reach the more we're willing to open ourselves to God's work.
What do you want for Christmas this year? Will you be satisfied with the same old thing, the same fleeting feeling of happiness, but the longer-lasting feeling of emptiness to follow? Or are you hoping for something more? What you'll get for Christmas this year is in your hands - the decision is yours. Now is the time to act. Now is the time for repentance. Now is the time to show your good fruit. What are you waiting for?
(1) See this article for stats: http://www.businesstown.com/time/time-limits.asp
Benediction: As we go from this place, we go to wait. We wait for the child to come. We wait for a miracle. But we wait in faith, knowing that God's promises bear good fruit in our lives. Go in peace, and wait for the promised one to come. Amen.