Old First Presbyterian Church, San Francisco

December 17, 2006
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
“Expectation“

Rev Jeffrey Cheifetz

Zephaniah 3:14-20

3:14 Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! 3:15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more. 3:16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak. 3:17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 3:18 as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it. 3:19 I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. 3:20 At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.

Philippians 4:4-7

4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 4:5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 4:6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Luke 3:7-18

3:7 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? 3:8 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. 3:9 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." 3:10 And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" 3:11 In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." 3:12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" 3:13 He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." 3:14 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." 3:15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 3:16 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. 3:17 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." 3:18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

We gather today on the third of the four Sundays of Advent, the liturgical season that serves as the opening movement in the great drama of the Christian story. Today we are drawn back to the truths of this season that are so central to the journey. Though the celebration of Christ’s birth is indeed very important, we have been trained to be very busy and distracted prior to the day of Christmas itself. The major focus of Jesus’ followers is that of growing into generous, open-hearted, and God-centered people in a world that is too often stingy and closed in and self-concerned. That becoming comes as we are willing to repent, that is, to turn around so that we are headed in the direction that God wants us to take. We look within ourselves and toward others for the signs that God’s Son has indeed come to us: greater courage to do what is good and right and just and true, deeper faith in God‘s ability to bring light into the world, less attachment to our own agendas and to our possessions.

Our Gospel text for today does not take us yet to the manger - next Sunday we‘ll get there, I promise. Today we meet instead the one who announced the beginning of Jesus‘ ministry, that is, John the Baptizer. He came and preached good news in the wilderness, and the city folk went out to see him there. Some good news! “…brood of vipers!…. The ax is lying at the root of the trees…”; the winnowing fork, the chaff set afire (Luke 3:7, 9,17). Words of warning and judgment and challenge rather than of comfort didn’t sound much like good news!

And the crowds were taken aback and deeply moved, and asked, “what then should we do?” How do you want us to live, now that we have repented and been forgiven? In answer, John didn’t use fancy words from the libraries of theology or ethics, or of political or economic theory. His words were simple: to the common folk gathered there, share your resources with those who have less than you. To the tax collectors and soldiers, rightly use the power and authority granted to you by the empire. That is, if you have faith in God, show that that faith is real when it comes to the everyday needs for clothing and food, to the everyday hustle of seeking an advantage over others, to the temptation to use force to line one’s own pockets. Show that that your faith has changed you, that what you believe about God makes a difference on the ground, where people really live, in the midst of the complexities and needs of humanity.

John told the people that they could not justify themselves by appealing to their history or religious tradition or blood lineage or inheritance, or even to their fears of not having enough. Douglas Hare (Matthew, Interpretation Commentary) suggests that: "The Christian equivalent of 'We have Abraham as our father' is 'We have Christ as our Savior.' While trust in Christ's salvation is a first requirement, it is not the last." [p. 20] And we might add that a modern equivalent to "We have Abraham as our father," might be "I've been a member of this church for 30 years". It's not primarily about what was, but what is. …We know that the temptation to self-justification is universal. (adapted from http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke3x7.htm)

Baptism in the Jordan River for the forgiveness of sins was not fire insurance. Mere attendance at a religious rite or ritual has never been enough in itself. Belief in the God of Abraham, who created and guided and saved a people who were meant to worship God with the whole heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love the neighbor as oneself - that belief was not to remain a history of what used to be, or an intellectual set of propositions and theological statements, or a way of conforming to the social expectations of a culture. If it were to remain only as such, it would have no power to change the believer or the world, and it certainly would not honor its source, the God of all creation who gives life and who cherishes every human being.

Notice that “not once did John tell these people to do something that we might call religious“ - in our time, that might mean, "Go to church every week" or "Read your Bibles every day" or "Pray to God three times each day" or "Go to seminary and become a pastor" or "Join a convent." (http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke3x7.htm)

John also did not tell the crowds to start an organized program that would benefit the poor, or addicts, or the homeless, or the hungry. He did not tell them to become leaders in their local faith community, or attend theological schools. Why not? We have to remember that he was not talking to people who lived in a democracy; he was talking to people who were either under the thumb of a very powerful empire, or employed by that empire to maintain its power and control. If the new movie “The Nativity” does anything, it gives us a sobering glimpse of how that empire affected both those subjugated by it and those who were allied with it.

Notice that John did not tell the tax-collectors to leave their jobs because they were being used by the empire to drive their own people into destitution. He did not tell the soldiers to turn in their swords and spears and armor and do something else. They may have been local mercenaries who did the will of the governor and who protected the tax collectors. Both were hated by the local population, and once employed may not have been able to change what they were doing.

All he said was, “bear good fruit“. That is, lead your everyday lives in ways that show the reality of your repentance, that adds life and wholeness and fairness to the world. One undergarment is enough - share the other one with someone who has none. (Walter Pilgrim (Good News to the Poor: Wealth and Poverty in Luke-Acts) says: The coat mentioned was actually an undergarment worn next to the body. Normally a poor person owned only two such garments, one for everyday and one for the Sabbath. Yet even with so little, the one who has two is asked to share with one who has none. Likewise with the food. With the multitudes, then, it is really a matter of the poor helping the poor. [pp. 143-144]

http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke3x7.htm)

If you have a good job that allows you sufficient food and housing and clothing and security for the future, don’t get greedy. If you have power over people, don’t abuse it.

Now we have to admit that it is difficult to change how we are in the world. We are taught to look to our own advantage first of all. We are easily locked into our habitual ways. Imagination the reactions of John’s audience. “But I really need that other undergarment so I can properly observe the Sabbath”. “But I do not earn enough money”. “If I do not take advantage of my position in life, someone else will do so instead”. “Those people don’t deserve what they don’t work for”. “It’s just easier to keep living the way I am living now”.

To use the Baptizer’s language, it is difficult to take the winnowing fork to our own lives, so that the chaff might be separated from the nutritious grain. It is hard to do the same to the life of this faith  community, let alone to our life with family and friends. Bearing fruit worthy of repentance demands our energy and attention and our dependence upon God. It is also an invitation to a more centered, joyful life.  The Apostle Paul, as he served time for proclaiming the Way of Christ, wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice…Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God…will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Hundreds of years before Paul, the prophet Zephaniah wrote, “Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all you heart….The Lord your God is in your midst….he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love….”

Rejoicing comes after times of falling and failing, of finding oneself unable, and unknowing. It comes when we discover, once again, that in everything we are loved by the God of endings and beginnings, the God who knows the heights and the depths of our lives, the God who sent his Son.

What is it in our lives that is chaff, good only for fuel for a fire? A note about chaff - burning it creates warmth and energy. I have found that the chaff in my life, when burned in God’s fire, is converted to another form, that is, that which adds peace and joy to my life, and hopefully to others’ lives. So you can understand when I say that I wish for more burning chaff in all of our lives, and in the life of this congregation!

What is the grain that feeds others? What is the fruit that you and I can bear that will taste very good to those around us?

Is the grain, the fruit, found in asking for forgiveness for hurting someone? Is it in repaying a debt? Could it be in asking another what he or she thinks about something that is very important to both of you? Perhaps it is in sharing those possessions that you do not need, the excess, with those who have nothing but their need. Maybe it is in spending some time with someone who is lonely, or ill, or dying, or hungry.  

Brian Stoffregen writes, "A slogan that was practiced at the alcoholic hospital where I worked part-time was:  'Act yourself to a new way of thinking.' A similar saying is attributed to Jesse Jackson:  'It is easier to walk your way into a new way of thinking -- than to think your way into a new way of walking.'"

(CrossMarks Christian Resources)

On this third Sunday of Advent, this is the good news: “the only way to get to Bethlehem is to travel through the desert first. Well, that's not really true. You can get to Bethlehem without going through the desert. But if so, then once you get there, you won't find Jesus.” (Adapted from “Have You Ever Heard John Preach?” A Sermon by Fred Craddock, http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/thisWeek/index.php)

May this Advent be a time of burning chaff and bearing fruit, that we might rejoice at the manger that holds the infant Jesus!

Prayer: Living Lord, as we light the candles of Advent as signs of the coming light of Christ, light up our lives as well, for as your prophet Isaiah wrote: (Isaiah 35:1)

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,

and rejoice with joy and singing.

May we, O God, rejoice as well.

Amen.