The moment you have been waiting for all year: John the Baptist, the cranky prophet, here to tell us it’s the end of the world as we know it. Cheers.
I don’t often think about the end of the world. Hardly ever by choice. But when I do think about it, I start to think about what I would miss. Do you ever think about those things?
I would miss a good seafood dinner and a nice wine to go with it. I would miss the taste of good chocolate. There are so many good tastes I would miss.
I would miss the sound of music. Not necessarily the Julie Andrews movie, although that’s nice, but just hearing music, making music. Playing quiet instrumental music on the speakers while I work, listening to Norah Jones sing while I cook dinner, singing hymns on Sunday. I would miss evenings with family, sharing our favorite music with one another. Life is always better with music. I would miss it.
I would miss the swimming pool in the summer; jumping into the water and cooling off, then getting out and feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin – that is such a good feeling.
I would miss good books so much – a good book by the fire in the winter, a good book beside the pool in the summer. A good book in my bag at all times just in case I get a few moments to read.
I would miss these things and so much more. Laughter, hugs. There are so many ways life is beautiful in this world. It’s sad to think about losing so much beauty. But you heard it. John said it. The ax is at the root of the trees, ready to cut them down and throw them into the fire. The end is near.
There is a cartoon where the long-bearded prophet is standing on a city street holding his sign that says, The End Is Near. A man approaches him and asks, “Can you be more specific?”
That is essentially what people always want to know: what exactly does this mean? This is pretty much what the people around John the Baptist wanted to know. They all came forward and asked John, “What then should we do?” The tax collectors asked, “What should we do?” The soldiers asked, “What about us? what should we do?” How then shall we live?
How should we live when the ax is at the root of the tree, ready to cut it down? When the fire is ready to consume the husks from the threshing room floor? How are we to understand the words of the prophet and how should we respond? What should we do? How shall we live?
The one is coming who will seek out the trees not bearing fruit, who will sift the wheat from the weeds. The end of the world as we know it.
Maybe you have seen some of those apocalyptic movies. In which there has been a nuclear holocaust, or the earth has been ravaged by pollution, or drought, or global climate change – some epic disaster has occurred. And all that is left is grey. There is no color in the world anymore, no music. There is no warm sunshine and green meadows and bubbling springs of clear water. There is only violence. There is hunger and sickness and people do not trust one another. Sometimes there are zombies. In the movies, we see this: a world where evil has won. This is the world we could have, they say, if …
In a sense, John the Baptist is warning us about this very thing. He is saying, “If you keep on doing what you are doing, if you keep going in the direction you seem to be going, then this is what will happen.
But in another sense, John is saying, “Listen: This is your chance. Look and see who is coming.”
The one who is coming, who is more powerful than any of us. The one who will lift up the good and burn away the bad. He is coming, and bringing the end of the world as we know it –
Where justice is neglected; where if you know how to work the system you win – this world is ending.
Where billionaires live side by side with starving children – this world is ending.
Where people just don’t care about others who are suffering, where we don’t know who our neighbors are – this world is ending.
Imagine a world that is like a village, where everyone matters. Would we let people go hungry in our little village if we have more than enough in our pantry? Would we let the people of our village abuse one another? Would we let people suffer alone with no one to care for them or love them in our little village?
To imagine this world is to share John’s vision: a world in which everyone is content, everyone is cared for, everyone has enough. If we can imagine this, then we know the good news.
A world where there is color, where the Lord has prepared a feast for all people, as the prophet Isaiah says – a feast of rich foods, of choice wines well aged. Where there will be no tears, no disgrace. A world where music shall ring out from all of creation. With the end of the world as we know it there is good news – a world full of beauty.
May it be so.
May we share the vision.
And so may we live.
________________________________________________
Photo: (Here is the world. Isn’t it beautiful?) https://www.pexels.com/@pixabay
