"What Then Should We Do?" - Luke 3:7-18 (December 16, 2018)
/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 axe 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.
It’s only 9 days until Christmas. For many of us, autopilot has already taken over. One way or another, the cookies will be baked and the gifts purchased and wrapped. One way or another, the children will be driven from one event to another and, hopefully, sanity will be maintained along the way. One way or another, the rhythms of this season will carry on with or without our help. For many of us the rhythms have changed, after the divorce, after the death, after the children have moved out. But the rhythm will beat on relentlessly until we’ve welcomed the baby Jesus, yet again, next week.
But you and I must disengage autopilot this morning, if only for a few minutes, and plot a new course. This one takes us into the wilderness. A wild place. A place where a disheveled preacher is baptizing in the name of the coming Christ-child. His name is John and he’s been busy preparing us for the one who will fill valleys and level mountains, the one who will make a previously un-followable zig-zag a perfectly straight path, a direct line to the very Source of our Being.
His message is blunt. It doesn’t beat around the bush or cherry coat the situation. It simply tells us that a baby is coming and preparation is necessary in order to receive him. Even the most ordinary of babies requires a lot of preparation. Even babies who aren’t the savior of the world require a lot of things before they come: prenatal care visits, baby clothes, healthy diets for the parents, saving up money, etc. But this is no ordinary baby. This baby is coming to bring forth salvation and, as such, requires a special kind of preparation called Advent.
But, apparently not all of John’s listeners thought that there were in need of salvation. Some thought they were doing just fine on their own. Some thought that they alone could solve the problem of their brokenness. Apparently, some thought they were just fine because of their DNA. After all, they were the descendants of Abraham; what could they possibly have to worry about with that sort of ancestry? And why would they think otherwise? After all, they lived in a society where there was practically no upward mobility within classes. If you were wealthy, there was a 99.9% chance that it was because your dad was wealthy, and his dad before him, and so on and so forth. If it worked that way in the economic realm, why not in the religious one?
But as soon as they’re ready to rest on their laurels, John the Baptist says, “not so fast, folks. Do not presume, since Abraham is your great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather that you are not in need of salvation. You’re in need of salvation just as much as I am and that’s why we are preparing the way for the person who is coming that will secure it for you and me. And, furthermore, for the record, God couldn’t care less what your ancestry.com results are. What makes a person a child of God’s promise is not your DNA but whether or not you treat other people like they are worthy of the love that you’ve already received through no merit of your own.”
Puzzled, perhaps by his bluntness, the people ask him, “what then should we do?”
John was prepared for this question. After all, whenever you tell someone not to do something, it’s only natural that they then ask exactly what it is you do want them to do.
To the crowd, he says the following: “do you have more coats than you need? Then share them. The same applies for food.”
To the tax collectors, he says: “don’t squeeze every dime you can get out of the people. Take only what you’re supposed to take.”
And to the soldiers, he says: “don’t extort money from those over whom you have power. Live off your wages and nothing else.”
Then, John says to everyone, “Unless I lost any of you, allow me, please, to summarize: Don’t be jerks! Take care of one another!”
Because of his prophetic speech, the people begin to wonder whether John himself is the coming messiah of which he speaks, but John is quick to set the record straight. “Nope. It’s not me,” he says. “He is coming and he will separate what needs to be separated and sort everything out in good time.”
And so, on this Sunday in which we light the pink candle for joy, we are left scratching our heads, wondering whether this stop along our Advent journey was really necessary. Can’t we just skip to the fun parts; you know, where angels are singing and the barnyard animals are perfectly posed in the most photogenic of postures around the pristine newborn baby with perfectly combed blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes?
Well…no. We mustn’t skip over this part. It is a vital stop on our journey. It is a vital stop because it reminds us that we are called to bear good fruit in a world hungry for authentic and unconditional compassion.
And so, on this Sunday in which we light the pink candle for joy, perhaps now is the time in our journey to ponder whose joy we’re talking about when we set it aflame. Our joy? Perhaps. But I also think lighting the candle represents God’s joy as well. Therefore, let us not think only about what brings us joy in this Advent season, but let us meditate on what brings God joy. And today’s passage suggests the following:
It brings God joy when those with more than one coat share with the person who has none.
It brings God joy when food is shared.
It brings God joy when we dismantle economic systems that favor the rich at the expense of the poor.
It brings God joy when those on top of mountains step down to lift up those who are in the valleys.
It brings God joy when we bear fruits that sprout in the places of the world that were thought to be barren.
These things, my friends, bring God joy. And you know what? They will bring us joy as well.
In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.