Does anyone know if the war on Christmas is still going on? I’m just wondering. I haven’t been paying much attention to it, so I’m not really up to speed on it. I would feel bad about that – except that I don’t.
I am tired of this particular war. I can’t work up any enthusiasm for it, frankly, because if you want to know the truth I am more concerned about the war on Advent. You don’t hear much about that one –probably because it has been so successful.
Seriously, when was the last time you had anyone wish you a Happy Advent? How often do you see Advent decorations or get visited by Advent carolers? Never?
It’s all “Christmas this” and “Christmas that” – Christmas trees, Christmas carols, Christmas movies. Even here in the church. The struggle is real, my friends. The war on Advent is winning.
But today our friend John the Baptist is in the fight, and he stands firmly on the side of Advent. Today, Christmas will have to wait because John has a few things to say.
Last week John’s words to us were a proclamation that he is coming, the Messiah, the one we have been waiting for. He is coming, so prepare his way. Make a way for him, and all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord! Truly inspiring words.
But in the very next verse, his tone changed dramatically, and he lashed out at the crowds: You brood of vipers! Who warned you?
Confusing, yes? Because wasn’t it John who just warned them that the Lord is coming and to prepare the way? Wasn’t John just going about proclaiming this baptism of repentance and now shaming those who have come forward to receive it? What is going on here?
He seems to know something we do not know. because he continues to berate them, saying, “Don’t just say we have Abraham as our ancestor.” Don’t assume you can use Father Abraham as your calling card or your get-out-of-jail-free card. Where and who you come from will not matter in this dawning age. It is what you do that will matter more than anything. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance,” he tells the crowds.
It really seems like he caught them at a vulnerable moment – a moment when they have no defense against him. They don’t take offense at his words. They don’t shout back at him, in an attempt to defend themselves against his charges. They don’t walk away in a huff, saying “that’s fine we’ll just go to the baptistry down the street, where they’re much nicer.” None of that happens.
They simply stand before John and take it. They are surprised, maybe hurt, probably dismayed. They were hoping for baptism and instead they get fire and brimstone. And I think that is why they say to John, “What then should we do?”
The crowds ask John, “What then should we do?” You say we should bear fruit worthy of repentance; you say that we should not look back to our ancestors to give us worth, but to bear good fruit. How do we do that? What should we do?
The tax collectors, those reprobates of Jewish society, also came to be baptized. These men who were already on the margins of acceptability, the ones we love to hate, came along with everyone else, looking for their salvation. And they say to John, “What should we do?”
Soldiers came, men who inspired fear and dread among their own people; they too wanted the baptism John offered. And they too say to John, “What should we do?”
Everyone is looking to John for direction. And John offers a response to each of them.
What should we do? Share what you have, if you have more than you need.
What should we do? Take no more than what you deserve; don’t steal from your people.
What should we do? Be content with what you have; don’t add to the woes of the oppressed.
Can you see a pattern here?
You can almost imagine them coming forward, approaching John one by one to receive the waters of baptism and John’s words of direction. What should we do? they ask and John tells them as explicitly as he is able. Because vague generalities won’t cut it. Grand sweeping statements won’t fit the need. Because right now, at this moment, there is a need for specificity.
The people need to know what they should do.
It’s a question you may find yourself asking as well. We all know that there is plenty that needs to be done.
We brace ourselves against the daily news. There are children in Yemen who are starving to death and I see their bodies in the papers and on my laptop screen. There are migrant children dying as they come to us seeking refuge. There is so much pain in the world, much more than we can alleviate. We avert our eyes because it is a degree of suffering that we feel powerless against.
And we earnestly wonder, what should we do?
There are a very few people who will somehow rise to a level of prominence in the world that they may become an influence on public policy – change the world. But for most of us, we operate on a small scale.
We simply make decisions every day about how we will use our time and our money. We make decisions to be kind or not, to strive for empathy or not.
And even though it is true that the world’s pain is enough to crush us, there is an answer to our question.
What should we do? We should bake pies and cook for the soup kitchen. We should donate groceries to Lazarus. We should help pack weekend backpacks for the at-risk children at Chipman.
What should we do? We should be kind to the men and women who congregate around our building on Mondays and Fridays when HOPE and the Seton Center Ministries opens their doors downstairs. We should remember the words Jesus said to his disciples, that whenever you do such kindnesses to one of the least of these my children, you do it for me.
What should we do? We should show up on Sunday afternoons to help the Haitians in our community learn to speak English. It’s a very hard thing, to learn a new language as an adult. But they desperately want to master the language so they can have a future here, and they need our help.
What should we do? We should visit the sick, welcome the stranger, share what we have with others, especially with those who need it. And this, John tells us, is the good news.
All of this – the caring and the sharing and the welcoming – this is the good news.
This is the gospel. It is precise and to the point. It is whatever kind of giving fits the need that is before us. It involves listening, paying attention, caring, and sharing. This is the good news of Jesus Christ.
It is nothing less than this. And I think of these words from John when I recall a conversation I had with a young college student years ago. He told me about a new church in town he was attending. They were worshiping in the local elementary school on Sunday evenings. I asked him to tell me what the church was like.
He said their whole focus is on getting out the good news. They were young and struggling to get their footing in the community, so they decided that it would be wise to just stick to the fundamentals for the time being – to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, he told me they don’t do anything else. They don’t do service, he told me, because it is important for them to keep their focus on the good news.
But, I ask you, if you take away service to others, what is left of the good news?
We need John during this time of the year, to help us keep our focus on the season of Advent – the season of preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ. It is the preparation we need, to ask what then should we do? How shall we serve the Lord? What can we do to prepare his way, make straight his path, lift every valley and make the rough way smooth?
John, in all his roughness, gives us some words of grace, telling us that it is in the small acts of kindness we are all able to do, that we are addressing the brokenness of the world and carrying bits of God’s love into the dark corners.
This is what we need Advent for, to prepare the way for Christ by preparing our own hearts. So today Christmas will have to wait a bit more. It is Advent, and we have some preparing to do.
Photo: John the Baptist surrounded by the crowds. By Pieter Brueghel the Younger – Art Renewal Center – description, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4817012
