Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | December 15, 2024

Luke 3:7-18

Lately people have been asking, “Are you ready for Christmas?” During this time of year it takes the place of, “Are you alright?” which is another way of asking, “How are you?” Mostly people are making polite conversation. One offers a polite response along the lines of, “Oh I’m getting there, how about you?”

For many years I’ve worked on Christmas. Since 1980 when I conducted Christmas Eve services at Round Lake Presbyterian Church in Northern Minnesota, Christmas has always involved work. Granted, it’s what I signed on for so I’m not complaining.  

Through all the Advents and Christmases since 1980, and all the other Sundays of the years, I’ve conducted hundreds of worship services on the theme of God becoming one of us. That has given me a grand opportunity to ponder the subject.

I used to think I had to come up with something new. But then I began to think that the subject of God becoming one of us is not about saying something new. It’s more like returning to a favorite piece of music, artwork, movie, book, or even holiday setting; we return not because of what’s new, but because we appreciate the reminder of the familiar themes.

One Christmas when my children were young, I convinced the family that we would try to explore the “real” meaning of Christmas. Their first response was, “Will we still get presents?” I assured them we would still get presents. That made for a bigger challenge; somehow we would try to get past the presents to the “real meaning.”  

Instead of a Christmas tree we made the central focus of the decorations a manger scene. That would hopefully remind us of what the season was all about. But I also learned that if the baby Jesus comes between young children and their Christmas presents, then heaven help him. At the end of the season, it was them against me and my approach had been deemed rather Scrooge like.

I wasn’t trying to be “Bah-Humbug!” about Christmas. I was just trying to resist the idea that it always seems a bit too commercial. We feel this struggle between the spiritual and the material aspects of Christmas. It’s easy to give in to the material part of it because, oh well ‘Christmas only comes once a year,’ or it’s ‘for the children,’ or even, if it weren’t for holiday shopping the merchants wouldn’t survive, so we need to get out there and do our patriotic duty for the good of the economy.

Over the last 45 years through many worship services related to the theme of God becoming one of us, a practice has emerged, an observance of sorts, that fits with my understanding of holy season. And that it simply to ponder the meaning of God becoming one of us. It’s such a big idea that it will last beyond the season.

John the Baptist tried to get people ready for when God would come onto the scene. We spend a lot of time around Advent talking about John. It would be easier to focus on the baby Jesus. In that guise he is warm and cuddly; needy even. We’re naturally drawn to the details of that part of the story. It’s familiar and comforting.

John the Baptist though is just a bit thorny for our liking. Why does he have to be such a big part of the story? Imagine what it might have been like in those days. The Jewish religion when John and Jesus came on the scene had been pretty much the same for hundreds of years. They were living off the glory of the past, back when prophets were heard in the land. Great names like Elijah or Jeremiah. Even the Minor Prophets like Amos or Hosea. They said what God said – the ‘Word of the Lord.’

But since those days it seemed as if God had gone silent. No word from on high in quite a long time. Religion can get rather stale after a while. The life and practice of the heart and soul needs new inspiration from time to time; or revival we might call it. And then in the worn soil of ancient tradition little shoots expectation began to sprout here and there. Questions began to be whispered. Hopes began to grow.

That can happen when people are oppressed, put down or disenfranchised. You can only push people down so far and unless you wipe them out entirely, there is something about the human spirit that begins to break forth under the weight of oppression. So when John started crying out in the wilderness people were of a mind to listen. That doesn’t mean they liked what they heard. It’s often the way with prophets that they are more concerned with telling the truth than with being popular.

People knew he was a prophet. The Pharisees sent a committee to examine him. They had a list of questions for him and if he passed the test, then they would allow his work to continue. He might want to join their council and pay the enrollment fees – But only if he passed the test.

Their first question was along the lines of, “Tell us where you went to school and what degrees you hold.” His answer was, “You snakes. Do you think just because Abraham is your ancestor that you speak for God? If God wanted more children of Abraham, then he could make them out of the dust if he wanted to.”

He got through to some of them. They threw their list of questions away and asked, “What should we do?” John said simply, “You need to be as clean on the inside as you are on the outside. God is not to be found in the rules and regulations you follow. God is found in your heart and soul.” Some of them said, “No way – forget it.” But by the end of the day some of them were wading into the water to be baptized. As John poured the water on them, he would say, “Let this be to you a sign that as the water washes the surface, the Spirit of God has washed your soul.”

The way he talked inspired people to want to do something about it. But what? That’s what everyone began asking him, “What should we do?” Even tax collectors went to see him. Outcasts and pariahs of the people; collaborators with the Romans who if souls were lost, theirs were far gone. “What should we do?” they asked. John told them, “Don’t collect more than is legal.”

“That’s it? Just do our jobs?”

“That’s it,” said the prophet. “Just do your jobs. Don’t take more from people than what they owe. Don’t become part of the system that gouges a pound of flesh out of the poor. Don’t buy into the myth that more money is going to make you happy. Don’t be a part of something that keeps people down. Be a part of something that sets people free. Just do your job.”

There were even soldiers in the crowd and some of them asked, “Do you think there’s a chance for us?” they asked John. “What are we supposed to do?” John said to them, “Just be honest in what you do. Don’t take money from people. Don’t go along with injustice. A soldier’s life is a hard life but live within your means.”

“That’s it?” they said. “That’s it,” said the prophet.

People began to wonder about John. Maybe John was the one, the long-awaited messenger; dare they even say it, the Messiah? The crowds of people began to wonder and some of them dared to call out, “Are you the Messiah?”

“No,” he said, “I am not the Messiah. But I will tell you this: The Messiah is coming. His realm is so close you can almost reach out your hand and touch it. Everything I have said to you is to prepare you for his appearance. Turn away from your sins and be baptized is so that when the Messiah comes, you will be ready to receive him.”

“I am just God’s messenger,” John said. “The Messiah is God’s message. I don’t consider myself worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals. All I’ve done is baptize you with water. It’s a sign of what God will do in your heart and soul. When the Messiah comes, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Just because he told them what to do and what he told them was simple truth, doesn’t mean it was easy. For all of them it would involve in some way taking a stand against the status quo. It would involve standing up to oppression, naming injustice, and practicing a radical way of life. A way that could very easily be called rebellion if not insurrection.

Because of that truth John was sent to prison where he was executed. He proclaimed the good news to the people and it cost him his life. Perhaps that was a sure sign that God was silent no more.

If people today were to come face to face with the real possibility of God in the flesh and cry out, “What should we do?” I wonder what a John the Baptist might say –

To the people who run our institutions;

To the politicians;

To the religious leaders;

To the everyday people just trying to go about their lives?

What would he say to us?

Amen.