Have you
ever wanted to play John the Baptist? Have you ever wanted to point
your finger and just let someone have it? Don't tell me you haven't,
because I know you have! Isn't there someone or some ones who frustrate
you, who try your patience, who just make you want to scream, "Get
a life!" And chances are, these some ones are people you love,
otherwise you wouldn't particularly care.
Some of
you know that I did get a chance to play John the Baptist once when
the Players Guild of my former parish put on a production of Godspell.
The stage was constructed right over the altar rail and extended back
into the chancel. Godspell opens with John the Baptist blowing the shofar
and then singing, "Prepare the Way of the Lord." It's a great
opening song and a perfect setup because everyone in the audience-who
were largely members of the church-start clapping and swaying as if
this is going to be a real feel-good show, only to have me, at the end
of the song, turn and point to them and say, with all the nastiness
I could muster, "You viper's brood!" I wonder if that's not
every preacher's secret desire, to get away with it. But I did love
them just as John the Baptist loved those he pointed to, so our mutual
"get a life" came because we cared.
This little
fire and brimstone proclamation of John the Baptist was a warning. There
was incredible urgency in his message. And so despite the dire consequences,
our reading from Luke concludes that this was good news. John was saying,
"We have an opportunity, so don't miss it. Repent, for the kingdom
of God is about to break in." It is as if John the Baptist were
anticipating Paul's letter to the Philippians when Paul says, "Rejoice
in the Lord always [because] the Lord is near." Parenthetically,
this third Sunday in Advent is called Gaudete from the Latin "rejoice"
based on this morning's Epistle. That's why we wear rose-colored vestments
in contrast to John the Baptist's hair shirt, because his message is
ultimately good news. It's good news.
John's
warning, however, is that repentance which will not bear fruit is no
repentance at all, and John menacingly adds that every tree that does
not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And he's very explicit
that the way to prepare for the Lord-and for us this means preparing
for the coming of Christ in celebration of his birth-that the way to
prepare for the Lord is in stark contrast to our culture's values and
the commercialism and consumerism that our celebration of the birth
of Christ has become.
John the
Baptist is specific about what it means to bear good fruit. He says
you are to share your clothing and food with those in need, he says
you are to be honest in your business dealings, and you are to be content
with your wages. No doubt we would label John the Baptist as a kind
of "Bah Humbug" killjoy, and perhaps this sermon is a kind
of "Bah Humbug" just as the Dow reaches 10,000 and we don't
have to feel guilty about the consumer spending that got us there. But
let me be as specific as John the Baptist.
The good
fruit that we bear in anticipation of the coming of the Christ child
is every Christmas basket prepared for those who have none. It is honesty
and fairness in business. And it is being content with what God has
given us, which then frees us to share and to begin that cycle of bearing
fruit all over again. Life could not have been more different for those
who came to John the Baptist asking him his advice, and yet in many
ways life could not have been more the same in the desire God puts into
our hearts to be ready for Christ when he comes-because once again he
is very near.
Amen.
