A Sermon preached by The Rev. Tom Pumphrey
at St. Mark’s Church, Honey Brook, PA, December 17, 2006
The Third Sunday of Advent (year C): Luke 3:7-18
Luke 3:7-18 (NRSV) John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin 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.” And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
This morning’s Gospel reading presents us with the wild figure of John the Baptist, preaching repentance in the wilderness. His fiery style shakes us, grabs our attention, and challenges us to a profound change in our lives. With all this vivid rhetoric, I am particularly surprised by the very last verse in this reading. John begins his speech calling the crowds “brood of vipers!” and ends by declaring the coming of the Messiah—“he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire! His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor, the wheat he will gather into his barns, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire!” Then comes the last verse: “So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.”
Now, after being called a brood of vipers and after hearing prophecies of a baptism of fire, it sounds surprising to my 21st century ears to hear this called good news. John calls for repentance—But why is God’s call to repentance good news? And how might we hear the good news in a call to repentance this Advent?
Repentance was not an unfamiliar theme for the people of Israel. The Prophets of ages past preached repentance for a change of heart to draw God’s people back into relationship. Repentance involves confession: coming to grips with whatever divides us from God and from others and whatever leaves us broken inside. This is, perhaps the sober part of repentance.
John the Baptist calls our attention to shivering shoulders, and hungry stomachs, to ways in which our jobs offer us the opportunity for injustice, for coldness of heart, for self-service instead of relationship. None of us is a stranger to isolation and disconnection. None of us are strangers to broken relationships where we feel the freeze of winter not only in our bodies, but in our souls. We are challenged to respond to others with warmth. Faced with the pain of old family conflict, we fall back into defensiveness, perpetuating the chill of division. This is the dead wood that John wants cast into the fire.
But repentance is more than confession, indeed, more than feeling sorry. John proclaims “Bear fruits worthy of repentance!” We should not only seek justice, but act justly. ‘Do you have two coats? Give to one who has none. Do you have food? Do likewise.’ We should not only seek reconciliation, but reconcile with those from whom we are divided. We should not only intend to pray, but make time and form the discipline to pray indeed.
Repentance involves turning away from this division and brokenness, away from the darkness of our own isolation and toward the warmth and the light of God. Repentance involves a renewal of attention to God’s grace in our lives, ways in which God surprises us with his presence, ways in which God is active and involved. Repentance involves turning away from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind and toward seeking and finding the joy that God has set before us, renewing our lives and our relationships.
I suppose that God’s call to repentance is sort of like a Doctor’s words to a patient, telling her that she has a heart problem, but that her disease can change if she pays attention to diet and exercise, by renewing the basic way she lives. Such a message is sobering, but potentially life giving. Repentance is good news because repentance is an invitation to healing.
When I first moved to Honey Brook, I took a trip far South of here. On the way home there is a bend in Rt. 10, and the road comes to an intersection. To continue North on Rt. 10, one must turn right. However, if the light is green, and if the driver is “green” to the area, one easily continues straight on through the light and on to Rt. 340 West-bound, as I did. I thought the drive was a lovely view of Amish Country, but I was quite surprised to find a hotel and signs for the town of “Intercourse,” which I knew to be well West of Rt. 10. So I first had to come to the difficult admission that I missed the turn and was far from home.
However, I would have been quite silly had I admitted my error but continued driving on toward Lancaster. No, I needed to turn around completely, and take the long time necessary to retrace my steps to the place where my choices went wrong, and make the choice right again. This was the way for me to get home. Repentance is like that. Repentance is more than confession; repentance is turning around into a new direction—turning toward God, and heading home.
Repentance is good news because repentance turns us toward healing. Repentance turns us toward home.
In the wintry days of Advent, we hear the call to turn toward the light and warmth of God’s forgiveness and love. Yes, the call to repentance is good news—good news because the fruit of repentance means warmth to the cold, food for the hungry, reconciliation in relationship with others, reconciliation with God and peace and life within ourselves.
But there is something more to John’s call for repentance. Prophets had come and gone calling for repentance. But John points beyond himself to the one whose sandal he is unworthy to untie. John points to Jesus, the messiah, who, by the Holy Spirit, makes our repentance possible and empowers us to prepare for a new experience of the living God.
In Advent, in this season of preparation, we prepare to encounter God in Jesus Christ in a new and powerful way—finding God’s love and peace and joy in our drab and busy holiday lives. In Advent, we turn our hearts and lives toward Jesus who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire—burning away the chaff of our brokenness, warming our cold hearts, giving us the grace to repent when we lack the strength to repent by ourselves. The story of Christmas is the story of how God breaks into our distracted lives to light a fire of love and reconciliation that spreads into the lives of those around us.
God’s call to repentance is good news indeed—Good news because we repent to prepare a way for God’s nearer and surprising presence in our lives. So we are left hearing these questions: How are you preparing this Advent? How are you turning your attention to the surprising presence of God? In what way will this repentance bear fruit in your life? In what way will our Lord break into your life this Christmas and warm your heart with the fire of the Holy Spirit?