2nd Advent
December 5, 2010
the Rev. Ken Kroohs
(Isaiah 11:1-10; Ps.
72:1-7&18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12)
St. Christopher’s Episcopal
Church, High Point, NC
MAY THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF
ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR
REDEEMER AMEN
I am not sure why the John the Baptist
accounts have always intrigued me so much.
I know that kids especially like the image of this wild man eating
insects and wearing strange clothing but that is not what grabs me.
Let’s take a look at the situation. The ‘baptism’ John practices is not the same
as our baptism. In fact, it is closer to
our confession. Scripture says they were
‘confessing their sins’. Some
translations say: “for forgiveness of sins”.
Although John was doing it in a dramatic
style, the Jews had large containers of water outside the temple for people to
ritualistically wash themselves of their sins.
The practice could be repeated many times.
Similarly, notice how our confession is
placed in the service prior to us coming forward, into the sanctuary. The parallels are many. In fact the practices of modern Baptists is
even closer to the Jewish practices. I
always point out that the people who believe only in adult or believer’s
baptism, and those of us who believe in infant baptism, are not very far apart
in understanding. One major difference
is that the Baptists will baptize a person many times. In fact in some Baptist church you must be
baptized in that church to be a member even if you were baptized in another
church last year.
We do not re-baptize. Although there are deep theological reasons
for that, I find the basic reason is fairly simple. At any baptism there are 3 entities involved:
the candidate, the community, and God.
Every baptized person has been a candidate and has made the baptismal
vows. BUT, every baptized person has
failed to live up to those vows. I
certainly know I have failed. I have
sinned. Maybe there was one day,
sometime, when I behaved perfectly. But
I doubt it.
If anyone claims they have never sinned then
I fully expect to see the name “Jesus Christ” in the guest book! .... We all
sin. That is why at every baptism we are
asked to vow again, to re-commit ourselves to our baptismal vows.
And the community sins. At each baptism the community ... those
present, and those present speaking for those who are absent vows to “do all in
our power to support these persons in their life in Christ”. Most often that is used to remind us of the
need to support youth Christian Education and similar actions.
At one sermon I/we were reminded that this
is a vow to do all in our power – not all this is comfortable, convenient, or
even enjoyable but whatever we can do.
We vow, in the words of Isaiah, to help the person “prepare the way of
the Lord, make his path’s straight” To do all in our power.
I will embarrass someone but not by name .... A few weeks ago when I visited
David and Betty Oden. She mentioned that she would love to have
some Bible study. I knew they could not
go out so I called a person who knows them and asked if he would be willing to
go to their house each week and hold a small Bible study class. He said ‘yes’ practically before I finished and then did it. That is doing all in our power.
A second example ... one of the primary
responsibilities of a community, especially a church community, is to be a
community. So when a person is missing
we should be willing to take our time to visit with people. Nothing makes the paths more crooked, rather
than straight, than someone thinking those “Christians” have abandoned me.
The community also sins. We sin as individuals and we sin as a
community so it is important at each baptism the community admits its
faults and vows to do better.
SO, we need to be reminded of, and repeat
our vows as individuals and as a community.
BUT the third entity, God, does not need to do so. To repeat the full baptism might be
understood as claiming God did not live up to the promises made ... not good
theology in our opinion. Therefore, we
do not re-baptize.
It may be that John the Baptist’s dramatic
language causes us to miss part of his teaching. John says to the Pharisees and Sadducees “you
brood of vipers” ... creatures who strike out of hiding to destroy the lives of
people ... you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Most likely the Pharisees and Sadducees were
there out of curiosity or even asking: “who is this clown stepping on our
authority?” And as church leaders, which
I submit we all are, as church leaders the Pharisees and Sadducees were
in a position to do more damage than the average person and under more of an
obligation to do good.
BUT, I suspect John did not mean to limit his question to them. I suspect that although he elevated the
Pharisees and Sadducees status, John also meant “you sinners” — which includes
all of us.
We of course have an answer to John’s
question about who warned us. ...... Unfortunately that puts us in a more
difficult situation. The Pharisees and
Sadducees might claim ignorance – a lack of knowledge. We cannot.
All that background leads up to the phrase
which I think is central to John’s teachings: “Bear fruit worthy of
repentance”. “Repentance’ of course
means to turn around ... to go in a new direction. The confession is our statement we are moving
in the wrong direction and repentance is when we move in another
direction. NOT when we promise to change
direction. A promise is not
repentance. Repentance is when we DO it.
The image of “fruit” is of positive
actions. Do something worthy of the new
direction in your life. I think it is
obvious this includes, in the words of our confession, things done and left
undone. The person who steps on the
homeless man is a sinner. But so is the
person who fails to help the homeless man.
Gossiping about the person who did not attend church is a sin. But so is failing to reach out to that
person.
John stresses that it is not church
membership or attendance that matters most, but Christian action. “Do not presume you are safe because you can
say you have Abraham as your ancestor”.
Do not presume that all we have to do is be ritualistically baptized. Hence the need to be
frequently reminded of what we do need to be doing.
We then get to the ‘scare them into doing’
part of John’s teachings. Unfortunately
again, the images of the‘winnowing fork’ — a really
sharp sword and ‘unquenchable fire’ can easily cause us to miss the “He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”.
I like the understanding that the ‘fire’
part of that is the sense metal is refined and shaped by fire. The Holy Spirit part tells us we are not
alone. God will provide what we need,
including guidance, so we can live up to those vows.
That said, I still think the key teaching is
to ‘bear fruit worthy of repentance’. To bear fruit that prepares the way for
God.
I can imagine what is happening in
Winston-Salem today as they prepare for the arrival tomorrow of President
Obama. All the streets are being
cleaned. Any pot holes filled. Bushes trimmed – everything done to make a
good impression on the leader.
So what do we need to do in our lives to
make a good impression on God? What do
we need to do to straighten the path between us and God?
I mentioned that what John was doing is
similar to our confession. But there is
one major weakness in our service in this aspect. The Gospel suggests the people acknowledged
their sins, or they would not have come to John. They confessed their sins. We hopefully acknowledge our’s and confess our’s. BUT John is asking for actions worthy of
repentance. Actions
worthy of having our sins absolved.
Or at the very least, a plan in mind to bear fruit
worthy of repentance.
In our service we acknowledge and confess
our sins, then immediately are absolved. We are not even given the time,
much less asked to commit to any chance.
Although I very much appreciate the “peace”
as the completion of our confession, I think the speed is a weakness.
Today therefore, I will pause for a moment
after the confession before I pronounce the absolution. I offer you that time to decide how you best
can bear fruit worthy of repentance.
AMEN
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CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)