So, here we are, another passage in the Gospel, guest starring John the Baptist. And of course, if you are me, a big fan of old movies, your thoughts might drift to that great actor, Charlton Heston, with a wild wig and sackcloth, standing in the river, yelling, “You brood of vipers!”
In the movie, The Greatest Story Ever Told, our introduction to John is dramatic. Beginning at the Temple in Jerusalem with the slaughtering of a bull, the camera pans away, changing to a high-up scene of people streaming out of the city in ones and twos, forming this trailing line of folks wandering out to that voice “crying in the wilderness.”
As they gather on the bank, there is this single figure, barely made out against the vast expanse of the river. But soon enough you can tell it's John. His Charlton Heston voice is booming, and he's carrying on, yelling about repentance and salvation.
And you kind of wonder, “Why the heck are people traipsing out into the desert to hear this guy yell at them? Here he is, going on about chopping down trees that don't bear fruit and burning them, and the people know darn good and well he's talking about them.
And yet, they keep coming. As the camera pans out further the crowds are tremendous.
But for some reason, this time, I keep thinking about the river. The Jordan.
The river where the movie got filmed was actually the Colorado river, and it's wide. But, like I've told ya'll before, when we were in Israel, Brooks and I went to the location where, for two millennia, Christians have said all these baptisms, including Jesus', took place.
I may be gullible, but I tend to believe this. And I believe it because the Jordan River is not wide, swiftly moving current. It's not mythical or legendary because of its power. It's gentle, and narrow, and meanders along. Kinda like the Chenango River. More creek than anything else.
It is slow moving, filled with reeds, and not remarkable at all. But here's the thing. That river gives life. And it always has. And people have lived near its banks and thrived because of that life.
So, here is John, standing in the middle of this creek, and maybe not even yelling, because he really doesn't need to. But it probably feels that way because the message he is putting out there is the sort of thing you mom might yell at you when you misbehave. “What are you doing? Stop that. Act like somebody.”
And it is so that John does a lot of this. There's a lot about wrath and winnowing, separating the wheat from the chaff. Chopping at the roots of established trees. A whole lot about change and what sort of change the change will bring. And what sort of change we will bring. Because there in the middle of all this harangue, John gives us some choices:
“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.'
I usually gloss over this and move on to the fire and the threshing room floor. But not this time. Something made me stay here. And maybe I know what it is.
Advent. It's this quiet season where we find ourselves sort of sitting and waiting. Waiting for the arrival of that young child, that point of light, that middle candle in the advent wreath. But there's more to it, right?
I used to be an advent Grinch. No tree up until the 25th. No carols either. Lean into the waiting. Lean into the longing. But as time has gone by, I've loosened up. No, I'm not giving in to society's urging to begin celebrating Christmas in October, but I am beginning to view the slow decoration of our homes and churches as symbolic of our preparation. Preparing the way of the Lord. And I'm ok with that.
But this year, I'm ok with that because I think, in a way, that's what John is telling us to do. Prepare our lives. Repentance isn't just “Stop that!” Repentance isn't putting out our lower lip in a pout and saying, “I'm sorry.” And repentance isn't just changing our outlook and life and stopping it there. Repentance is also preparation. Repentance insists that we not just turn away from sins but prepare to engage in right actions.
And I think this year, this coming year, now, we especially need to listen to John. For like John, in the face of all that the world is telling us, in the midst of all the corruption and injustice and cold-heartedness that we see today and will see tomorrow and the next day, and the next, we have choices.
And those choices and our responses to them will tell us a lot about ourselves as people who claim to follow Jesus.
Clothing those who are cold and alone, regardless of the choices they made to get them to that place. Feeding those who are hungry BECAUSE they are hungry...period...not because they have proven themselves worthy and passed some screening test. Not taking more from the poor while rewarding grift and corruption and lies of the powerful. Protecting the vulnerable from the awful power of the abuse of that power. This is what John is driving at.
Because we have choices as Christians, as followers of Christ who follow that crowd down to the river. And I think, at the bottom of all this, that's what John is driving at. The choice when we claim in our baptismal vows to respect the dignity of EVERY human being. When we vow to love our neighbors as ourselves. When we vow to strive for justice and peace.
We have choices to make in our communities when we see people cowering in the dark. We have choices in our nation when we see what is so obviously good and what is so obviously bad. We have choices in the world when we see nations acting in ways that should break our hearts. This was true in John's day, and it's true in ours. I can still hear him yelling today, “You brood of vipers!”
John continues to lay out our choices. And he stand there in the river, waiting for us to respond.
Y'all, we have choices to make, and now is the time to make them and prepare for what's coming next. So let's go down to the river, that life-giving river, and prepare ye the way of the Lord...now...before it's too late. Amen.