Matthew 3:1-12
3:1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
3:3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'”
3:4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
3:5 Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan,
3:6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
3:8 Bear fruit worthy of repentance.
3:9 Do not presume 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.
3:10 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.
3:11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
This morning we our in our second week of the lectionary Advent worship series that I’m calling ‘Expectant: In the Wilderness.’ During these weeks leading up to the celebration of Christmas, it is a time to prepare our hearts, minds, homes, and relationships for God coming into our midst, in the most precious form, the Christ child. As we prepare, we look for the reign of God breaking into the community, establishing justice and demonstrating compassion wherever it goes. As we prepare for God coming toward us in Jesus, we take stock of our life: the areas that need healing, the dark corners that need attention, the relationships that need some TLC, the inner life with God that needs to move into the next stage of the relationship. We look into the daily rhythm of life, the high points and the lows joined together.
We ask of ourselves: how are we doing harm to our neighbors and even strangers in the community? How are we demonstrating goodness and compassion to those closest to us and those who are the most vulnerable in this community? Are we bearing fruit in our life that shows others what the love of God in Jesus Christ is like? What do I do to stay and grow in love of God? Without making this searching inventory it is hard to assess the condition of our lives with one another and our life with God.
This morning’s gospel story sits at the corner of the prophets of old and the arrival of Jesus Christ into the world beginning a ministry to restore relationships, heal the sick, and proclaim that saints and sinners alike are God’s beloved.
For the second week in a row, the gospel proclamation is not an infancy narrative about baby Jesus-it’s closer to fire and brimstone preaching from a wilderness prophet with his feet firmly planted in the personality and tradition of Elijah. John the Baptist, the voice crying out in the wilderness, declares prepare the way of the Lord.
Before we get to John’s wilderness proclamation I want to draw your attention to the prophetic reading from Isaiah. Isaiah sees the nature of a kingdom when Jesse’s offspring will rule the throne of Israel. It points to the day when the relationships of the created order will be different than we know them now. The calf and the lion will bed down beside one another-that’s a radical reversal from normal and only to be expected with the Messiah’s final reign has come to heaven and on earth.
Isaiah is directing eyes toward the coming of Israel’s Messiah. He draws up this beautiful image of a shoot of a tree emerging out of a stump. New life finding a way to spring up where there doesn’t seem to be a way at all. He says that this shoot will come forth from Jesse’s family. Jesse was a father and he had eight sons. And there was a prophet named Samuel who was sent to Bethlehem to find a king for Israel. While Samuel was in Bethlehem, he went to Jesse’s home and blessed the family and asked that Jesse bring in his sons into the house one by one so that he might inquire as to whether any of them were fit to be Israel’s king. Samuel looked at seven of the eight brothers and none were fit to be king. Finally, the eighth son, the youngest one, who was tending the flock was presented. His name was David and God instructed Samuel to anoint David to be the future king of Israel.
The mention of Jesse draws our attention to the anointing of David, the shepherd boy, to be the future king of Israel. Jesse’s lineage becomes royal and Isaiah connects the coming reign of the Messiah, known to us as Jesus the Christ, with the kingdom of David and Solomon. And when this new king arrives, the spirit of the Lord will be upon him granting wisdom, knowledge, righteousness, and a sense of equity. And in the reign of Christ on heaven and earth, all relationships will be filled and led by the spirit of Almighty God making all things new.
What I’m about to tell you is gospel true. There was a man by the name of Jim Lavender that grew up in the rural Mississippi, the son of a candymaker and the nephew of a man that owned the local county fairgrounds. As Jim grew up an opportunity presented itself and he began performing on stage as Lil Abner, a character from a musical that I believe was first performed in 1955. After some time performing as Lil Abner, Jim became a circus master for Barnum and Bailey and announced for the main event whenever folks came out to see the shows and animals. And then the grace of God helped him understand he had a call to ordained ministry and it was time to leave the circus behind.
When Jim left Barnum and Bailey and begin his ordination work in the United Methodist Church, he always had a passion for using his love of animals to tell the story of the gospel. The church he served, Discovery UMC, in the West End of Richmond, Virginia, was known for having one of the best live nativities anywhere in the metropolitan area. Every animal you could imagine was out there to bring color and texture to the story we tell of God coming to us in Jesus Christ.
Jim’s collection of animals grew over the years as he became known for his circus past and dynamic preaching. Wild and exotic pets were brought to him when no other home could be found. But perhaps the story I remember best about Reverend Jim Lavender was when he brought this morning’s reading from the prophet Isaiah to life. He would walk Bubba the lion down the aisle of the church and have him sit in the chancel area and he would drape a lamb across Bubba’s torso. Imagine that: lamb and lion bed down beside one another. The vicious predator and prey have a transformed relationship. The oppressor and the oppressed are no longer in an oppositional stance but a transformation and restoration has fundamentally changed the nature of their relationship.
A Messianic vision for transformed relationships doesn’t just bring justice to the one who has spent a lifetime victimized by poverty, violence, and despair. The Messiah’s vision for justice also transforms the heart and life of the oppressor, the one who delights and excels in exacting power over the vulnerable. This is often an unwelcome word for justice seekers that God’s umbrella of grace is wide enough to bring in both the oppressor and victim, the self righteous daughter and the can’t get it together son in out of the rain. I’ve heard it often, quite often, from justice seeking church folk that God’s grace is going to restore, heal, bless, and save those who are on the underside of power, and maybe only them: individuals discriminated against because of who they love, families persecuted for the color of their skin or their nation of origin, or young folks who’ve been bullied until their sense of self worth is non existent.
I absolutely believe that any person, gay or straight, black or white, American, Syrian, or Chinese, who knows the depth of despair, victimization and the pain of war, and feels the absence of relational love should be God’s priority. There’s no question in my mind that those most vulnerable, captured by the image of the lamb are a key element in this messianic vision. Jesus in the gospels demonstrates a preferential option for the ones who are isolated, hated, unloved, poor, and without hope.
But what about the lion? What about the powerful that pummel the life, whether economic, physical, or mental out of their neighbors? What does it mean for the powerful that God is coming toward us, moving into our community to take up residence? One prevailing idea of justice is that the powerful who have not cared well for their neighbors will get the fire and brimstone punishment they deserve in a special corner of hell. But I just don’t see that as part of Isaiah’s vision or the heart of John’s directives to the Pharisees and Sadducees even with the apocalyptic language he invokes.
John the Baptist was out in the wilderness surviving on a near starvation diet, dressed roughly, and conjuring up ideas that he was Elijah come down from heaven as he proclaimed the nearness of God’s reign. He called for repentance, a change of heart and life, a complete turning around toward a new direction. This change was an act of preparation for the arrival of God’s anointed one. He was cleansing people from all across Judea and from around Jerusalem of their sins in the Jordan River. As he was doing this, the religious and politically elite came to the river bank and John lays into them leveling the playing field, assuring them that their power and identity mean very little before the reign of God.
‘Repent, the kingdom of God is near.’ ‘Bear fruit, worthy of repentance.’
That’s the call for the oppressor and the oppressed, the powerful and the weak. That’s how the lion and the lamb bed down together. The invitation to everyone, not just those that we prefer be included under the umbrella of God’s grace, but everyone regardless of standing, background, and status is to take inventory, honestly look into the depths of your heart, let God’s grace help you change direction when it’s needed, and demonstrate compassion, mercy, and goodness because the everlasting kingdom of peace is at hand.
This is the gospel of grace that puts us all on level ground in need of changes in our hearts and life because we often act far below the beauty of the divine image in which we were made. We, especially those who prefer the name Christian, don’t get to limit God’s grace, justifying to ourselves and one another who should be let in and others kept out. None of us are made righteous, holy, angelic, good, or perfectly loving by our own volition-it takes the heavy lifting of God’s grace to lead us in a new direction and live peaceably, with humility and generosity, and lovingly with our neighbors.
This is the gospel of grace for the Pharisees, Sadducees, bystanders on the river banks, and us. It doesn’t matter who you are. Lineage and community identity don’t get you right with God. God’s grace gets you right with God and neighbor. And out of gratitude for God’s grace and as a reflection of a changed direction, the invitation is to bear fruit so that others mighty know that the kingdom of God is at hand and see the beauty, hope, and promise that the lion and the lamb will bed down together when Christ comes.
Bless you in the name of the Almighty God. Amen.