The Third Sunday of Advent
Luke 3:7-18
I don’t understand it. He starts out the sermon by calling his audience a “brood of vipers.” And by the end they’re thinking that he must be the Messiah. Many of you have experience in public speaking. As a general rule, it’s not a particularly good idea to start your speech by calling your audience snake spawn. It tends to turn people off anytime you bring their parentage into question, and especially when you imply that one or both of their parents may have been something other than human.
But somehow, it seems to work for John the Baptist. The people just keep flocking to him. Huge crowds come out into the desert to hear him preach and to be baptized in the River Jordan. And don’t think that John gets any nicer or sweeter as he goes on. No, calling the people children of snakes is just the beginning. The crowds come out into the wilderness to receive a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and he gives it to them. But he also tells them that baptism is not enough. Even being born a child of Abraham, one of the chosen people, is not enough. No, John says, you must bear fruits worthy of repentance.
The Greek word for repentance is μετάνοια, and it literally means “to change one’s mind, to change one’s way of thinking, or to change the way one goes about living.” Repentance is not just about saying sorry and being forgiven. It is about changing the way we live, changing the way that we think. Repentance is about a transformed life, not about just having our sins washed away.
And not only that, but our repentance must have fruit. That is, there must be visible signs to show that we have in fact repented, that we have in fact changed our way of living. The seed of repentance that is planted at baptism must be nurtured and cared for and brought to full fruit in the form of a transformed life. And if a life does not produce fruit—well, then, John says, “The axe is lying at the root of the trees.” If any tree proves to be a waste of soil, then it will be cut down and burned in fire.
This is the John we have come to expect as we meet him each year at this time in Advent. Fire, brimstone, an unwavering demand for a transformed life that is backed up with eternal divine punishment. You know, “Joy.”
But Luke is the only gospel that includes the next words of John, the ones that give examples of what that transformed life might look like. First, the crowds ask John what they should do, and he replies simply, “If you have two coats, give one away to someone who doesn’t have one. If you have food to spare, give some to those who don’t have any.” Simple and plain words that tell a simple and plain ethical message: things are not for hoarding, they are for sharing. It’s one of the first lessons that we ever teach to children: share. And yet it is a message that seems to become harder and harder to accept the older we get. “If you have two coats, give one away to someone who doesn’t have one. If you have food to spare, give some to those who don’t have any.”
Next the tax collectors ask John, “What should we do?” And you can bet that the folks in the crowd knew what he was going to say: “Stop being a tax collector, you useless tool.” After all, tax collectors were among the most hated people in Jewish society. No one likes the IRS, but these folks were worse. You see, they bid with the Roman government for the right to collect tolls, fines, and taxes. Then, they would squeeze the people for as much money as they could get out of them, and keep the excess as their profit. The rich had the resources to get out of paying what they owed, and the poor were exploited all the more. It was a miserable, exploitative, and violent system. Surely John of all people would recognize that and tell these terrible scum where to get off.
But that is not what John does. Instead, he tells them simply, “Be fair. Don’t take any more than the assigned amount.”
The soldiers come too, asking what they should do. Now these were people who were collaborators with the Roman occupation. They were traitors to their people, sellouts who were willing to sacrifice the freedom of the Jewish nation in order to have marginal power as an agent of the empire. And they were corrupt, bullying and stealing from the people in order to put more money in their pockets.
But John doesn’t say, “Stop being a soldier.” He says, “Be fair. Don’t extort money from the people. The daily rations that you get are enough.”
It is a simple message that John has. It is a message of economic fairness, a message of social justice, and a message of basic ethics. It is a call for repentance, a call for a transformed life. And it is a call that recognizes greed as the largest barrier to achieving that transformed life. Do you notice that? No matter who asks the question, John’s answer is always economic. John recognized that greed, avarice, the failure to attend to the basic needs of others, is the most significant thing that keeps people from being able to accept God.
Now, we live in twenty-first century America. Despite the inflation, we’re still the most affluent society in the history of the planet. And this is one of the easiest times of year to see it, when we’re all out in a frenzy to buy-buy-buy for holiday gift giving. The unavoidable political ads from a few months ago are now replaced with the unavoidable ads for perfect gift for this holiday season.
My favorites are the Lexus commercials. Make it a December to Remember, they say. In fact, this is 25th anniversary of the Lexus December to Remember sales event. They always feature some devoted spouse surprising their loved one with a new luxury car, complete with a red bow for Christmas. Spending, luxury spending, deficit spending—they are all so common now that they’re just a part of ordinary life—a regular fixture in our culture.
It’s a long way away from that voice in the wilderness that says, “If you have two coats, give one away.” But it is also an opportunity. Being so affluent by the standards of the rest of the world, we have the most to give.
I find it very interesting that John does not call his followers to give up everything, to shun society and come out into the desert with him. That’s what I would expect from a fire and brimstone preacher like John. Instead, he tells them to stay in their own lives, but to live them in a new way. He doesn’t say to abandon everything that we know and start a new, austere life. He says, take the life you have now and turn it around. Do what you do now, but do it with an eye toward fairness and sharing. It is simple message, but a hard one to live, because it requires us to remain in the world, while at the same time living by values that the world does not understand.
John’s message is powerful. It has enough of an effect on people that some are convinced he must be the Messiah. But he knows, and we know, that John is preparing the way for something greater, something even more powerful.
Even now, the axe is at the root of the trees, says John. Bear fruit that is worthy of repentance. The one who has two garments must share with the one who does not have any. And the one who has food must do the same! That is the message that John gives to those who are awaiting the Messiah, to those who are filled with expectation for the coming of the Christ. Be content with simple things. Share with those who have nothing. Bear fruit worthy of repentance.