Matthew 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 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.’”
Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
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? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 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. 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.
“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. 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.”
John the Baptist, crying out there in the wilderness, shows up a lot in these Advent days every year. He’s the one God uses to get our attention – not just because he dresses funny, eats strange things and lives on the margins – but because he was calling people to repent of their sins and to prepare the way for Jesus; to get ready, to get baptized, to get right with themselves and to get right with God so they could receive and experience and participate most fully in what God was about to do through Jesus.
And I don’t want to dismiss the importance of what most preachers will preach about this morning when John the Baptist shows up, again, on the Second Sunday of Advent – all of that hard, holy stuff about preparing the way, making the paths straight for Jesus, and repenting and turning to God, searching for God, and all the rest, matters. It’s why we’re so deliberate about making our confession in worship these days and receiving our forgiveness, too.
But, because we’re into this Marks of Discipleship series – and because we’re called to consider what it means to “GIVE of our time and abilities for the sake of God’s kingdom,” I want to talk about the notion that John the Baptist – letting his freak flag fly out there in the wilderness – really was, apparently, an odd duck in a long line of strange birds and unlikely souls God has used over time to bear the Kingdom and it’s Good News for the sake of the world.
And like John, each and every one of us is called to make a way for this King and for this Kingdom that’s coming. The high and the holy and the lost and the lowly, just the same – each of us is called to the proverbial river and invited to walk around in the waters of our baptism with a gift and a knack and a talent and a purpose and a passion – I hope – for however we can use God’s blessing in and God’s calling on our life to make a way for grace and love and mercy and peace to live and move and breathe among us, for the sake of the world. Each of us has a little John the Baptist in us, somewhere.
But if there’s anything I’ve learned from people over the years about what keeps us from following Jesus or doing God’s will or serving the world by way of our gifts and abilities, two things seem to be true and almost universal. First of all, none of us feel completely qualified or compelled to do “too much.” If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard some version of the phrase, “I’ll be glad to help – with this project or with that task – but I don’t want to lead,” I would have a lot of dollars. (You know who you are. And I’ve said it myself, so I’m not just throwing stones, here.) And the other thing that’s true for most – if not all – of us is that there’s never enough time, or we’re never sure it’s the right time, to say “yes” to what God may be calling us to do with ourselves, for the sake of the kingdom.
So, sadly, too much of the time, we so “no.” Or we don’t say anything. We decline the offer, we don’t accept the invitation, we put off the opportunity, we leave our freak flags packed away in the closet, and we pretend we aren’t qualified or that someone else is more qualified or has more time or more talent or more, whatever.
And when John the Baptist lets the Pharisees and the Sadducees have it, down by the river in this morning’s Gospel… when he calls them a “brood of vipers and says, “God is able, from these stones, to raise up children to Abraham,” I think he’s saying something to the effect of, “God is going to do, what God is going to do, people. God is going to bring this Kingdom to pass. God is on the way, in Jesus, and you are welcome to get on board and let it change you; and be part of the action; get in on the fun; do something for the good of the cause – or not.”
God is going to God, if you will. And God is going to find people to prepare the way… to bear good fruit… to do God’s bidding… “God is able – even from a pile of stones – to fulfill God’s plan of redemption for all creation.”
And God has done it before… raised up children, I mean, to accomplish God’s will in and for the sake of the world.
And since we’re talking about Advent and getting ready for Christmas… and hopefully pondering and praying, now, about how we, ourselves, might help to prepare a way…. Just look at who and what God raised up in preparation for Jesus to show up that first time around. In those long, last days before Jesus’ birth, God was busy raising up stones and lifting up people and gifting all sorts of souls to work for the good of the cause.
God raised up a stone in Mary, who had every reason to say “no,” young, unmarried, peasant-girl that she was. But what looked like strikes against her were actually qualifications in the eyes of our God: poor, humble, meek, and weak (in the eyes of the world, anyway), Mary was just exactly the right stone to grow, carry, nurse and nurture the One who would learn from her about how to live, to thrive as, and to care for the poor, humble, meek, and weak in the world around him.
And God raised up another stone, too, in Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin and John the Baptist’s mother. Elizabeth was a companion and mentor for Mary in the early days of her pregnancy – an encourager, a confidante, a sister from another mister, someone too old to be having children, but pregnant by the grace of God, and someone with whom Mary could share this journey toward motherhood; a listening ear and faithful friend; a believer who believed what Mary told her and who confirmed what God was up to in their lives.
And God raised up another stone in Joseph, of course, who had to be suspicious about all of this, but who became more than just a step-dad, but a dad who stepped up, as the saying goes; who owned his role as Mary’s betrothed and as Jesus’ father when he could just as easily – and with righteous indignation and all the support of his people – walked away from it all and started over without the hassle.
And God raised up other stones, too: that innkeeper who had space and the gift of hospitality to share it; the shepherds who heard the Good News, had the faith, and went out of their way to confirm it; the wisemen, too, who had wisdom and used it and who had financial resources and shared them.
You get the point, right? Maybe you have the gift of companionship and encouragement, like Elizabeth did. Maybe you have the capacity for hospitality like the innkeeper or the ability to listen like the shepherds or financial resources, like the wisemen. Maybe you’re a stone of another kind altogether.
Each of us has a gift to give… each of us has more time and more ability than we need once we let the grace of God have its way with us… each of us is a stone God will raise up for the good of the cause – much to our surprise a lot of the time – for the blessing of the world and for the sake of the kingdom that was, that is and that is on the way.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
