The Reading
Luke 3:7-18
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."
The Sermon
You
brood of vipers
What
a way to start a sermon. John must have had a special talent. I
can't imagine people hanging around to listen to me if I start out by
insulting them. So I won't.
Having
said that, I have to say John makes some very good points. He is
telling his followers that pedigree makes no difference when it comes
to your relationship to God. He says, “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. “
It
does not matter that my family has lived here since the 1800's. My
ancestors, by all accounts, were good people but it is who I am that
counts. It is what is in my heart that counts. It is what I think
and do that counts. God knows.
When
John was asked by people how they should change their lives, John was
very specific. He told people to share their abundance. If they
have two coats, give one away. If they have extra food, share it.
He told tax collectors to collect no more than the required amount
because tax collectors were notorious for collecting more than
required and pocketing the difference. He told soldiers to not
extort money from people in order to line their own pockets.
John
was speaking to his time. We know the issues in our own lives. We
know in our hearts what we can do to cleanse ourselves from wrong
doing. Advent is a time when we look forward to the arrival of Jesus
and it is a time of reflection on what we can do to make ourselves
better persons.
John
made it clear to his followers that he was not the messiah but the
messiah was coming. He said, I baptize you with water but the
messiah will baptize you with the holy spirit.
In
his fire and brimstone way John also used the metaphor of the wheat
harvest. He said, “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.” I am very sure all of
us would like to be grains of wheat safely stored in a grain bin and
not the refuse that goes up in flames.
The
last part of this gospel reading says, “So with many other
exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.” I think
this might be a stretch to believe that many people walked away from
John thinking, “Wow, that was a lot of good news”.
We
know that Jesus came with the same message of repentance and he also
gave us a message of love and forgiveness. That to me is the good
news! When our hearts change and our actions follow with signs of
our love for each other, God's holy spirit enters us and we can truly
rejoice.
Many Blessings To You All,
Fr. Fred
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