Luke 3:7-18
Year C
I had a pastoral colleague who had a distinctive and disarming way of responding when people asked her how she was: “How are you doing today, Sally?” “God is good,” she would reply. “Hey, Sally, how are you?” “The Lord is faithful,” she would say. When asked about herself, she always responded by saying something first about God. “God is gracious.” “God is kind.” “The Lord is good.” For her, it was a way of saying that her life had meaning in relationship to God. A good and gracious and faithful God was the larger context in which she set her own life. Before she talked about herself, she had to talk about God. You ask about her, but she points beyond herself. Don’t look at me. Look at the Lord!
In this way, Sally reminds me of John the Baptist.
I’ll admit that I find John one of the more challenging characters in Scripture. The biblical passages about John mostly come our way during Advent, during this time when Christmas is in sight and we’re trying to be happy and bright and joyful. We get out the special decorations, the trees and the poinsettias, the garland and the manger scenes, and all the rest. Maybe we make a special effort to come to church. Maybe we put on that Christmas sweater with a winsome snowman or a jubilant elf. We’re trying to feel the spirit of the season as we make our way to the pew. Then we open the Bible and who is waiting for us? Big, bad John with his Grinch-like greeting. You brood of vipers, you bunch of snakes. What are you doing here? You have to change your lives. You have to repent.
Happy holidays, everyone!
He is a hard man. And it’s a hard message. And it doesn’t sound much like holly-jolly Christmas. But two things really impress me about John the Baptist.
First, I am amazed by how people respond to his words. His is a sermon about sacrifice and commitment and looking after others and sharing your wealth and being fair and honest and righteous. Repent, turn around, live right. Give up your extra coat. Offer your abundance. Change your hearts. Change your lives. Great crowds show up to hear this hard message.
Great crowds gather to hear that the way they are living is wrong. Great crowds are interested and concerned and inspired — and, the text, says they are filled with expectation. John’s hard words get people thinking that something important is happening, something they could be a part of. The text says they are filled with expectation. That’s an accomplishment for any preacher. Indeed, filling people with expectation is a worthy goal for any sermon. I just find it hard to believe you can get there by calling them snakes. Yet John does it. As difficult as the message is to hear, his words, his tone, his vision are somehow compelling. And people come. I am impressed by that.
But I’m even more impressed by what John does with the crowd he has gathered and what he does with the expectation his words have created. He has got people believing that something important is happening, something they could be a part of. There is a lot of excitement, a lot of anticipation. The text even says that people are wondering in their hearts if John might be the Messiah, the long-awaited Savior who would initiate the reign of God. Maybe John is the one who will lead us, who will make us great, who will defeat our enemies? Maybe John is the one who will make it all better? See how people respond to him. Hear the power of his words. Is he the Messiah?
How easy it would have been for John to say yes. How tempting it must have been for John to accept their acclaim. How seductive it would have been for John to utilize that adulation for his own glory. You are right. I actually am the Messiah, and here’s where you can sign up to be a part of my organization. We have different membership levels depending on how much you can commit.
But instead, he points away from himself to Jesus. John deflects the attention of the crowd to Jesus. “Look there,” he says. “Look away from me. Look beyond me. Look for the one who is still to come. Where I have words, he has power. Where I have water, he has fire and the Holy Spirit. Whatever I have done, it is nothing compared to what he will do. Look over there. Don’t look at me. Look toward Jesus.”
John’s work is significant only in relation to Jesus. The words of John only have meaning insofar as they prepare the crowds to receive Jesus. The expectation John’s sermon creates is only fulfilled by Jesus. John makes it very clear. It’s not about me, John says, it’s about the one who is coming. Look there, look at Jesus.
How are you doing, Sally? “The Lord is good.”
The best we can do is point to Jesus. The best we can do is live our lives in reference to the Lord. There is the one who creates and redeems and sustains. There is the one who saves. Look there. Don’t look at me. Look at the Lord.
Questions for reflection
- How do you understand John’s role in the Advent story? How does his message prepare the way for Jesus?
- How does the ethical content of John’s message sound in the context of our holiday celebrations?
- The text says that John’s preaching fills the people with expectation. What are your expectations for this season?
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