You better watch out, you better not pout, you
better not cry, I’m telling you why. You know who is coming to town! That’s right, John the Baptist, that’s who! Oh, you thought the other guy was coming—the one
in the red suit. No, it’s not time for
him yet. But in many of our churches,
old John the Baptist is the one who will barge into our Christmas celebration
this Sunday like the cold and the flu.
We don’t like it, we don’t want it, but there is nothing we can do but
read the text (Mark 1: 1-8) and allow grisly old John to have his say.
John
the Baptist shows up every year on the Second Sunday of Advent like a bull in a
china shop, embarrassing us with his crudeness, exasperating us with his directness,
and shocking us with his bluntness. We
often treat him like a street preacher at the BBQ Festival, wishing he would
shut up and go away. And while he may
look a lot like a street preacher and he does disturb the peace and throws cold
water, quite literally, on our celebration, the difference is, while we are
repulsed by the loud preachers of the street, we keep coming back to the
booming voice of the wilderness that thunders, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”
There
is a word, a key word, that John the Baptist is fond of using, and street
preachers too; the word is “repent.”
Street preachers use the word to condemn everyone and everything they
don’t agree with. Their message is
focused on the past. Go back to the old
ways, to the way we used to do things, to the days before all of these modern
ways became the ruination of our world!
But
John the Baptist is not looking back, he is looking ahead. He sees a new day coming, a day where people
who have two coats will share with those who have none. He sees a day where those in authority will
not exploit their people. It is a day where righteousness and justice will
reign and people will be empowered with God’s spirit and grace.
The
word “repent” simply means to change, and John the Baptist is telling us that
this new day won’t happen like magic.
It’s more than just telling the fellow in the red suit what we want for
Christmas and hoping he will deliver. In
order for us to experience this new creation when the valleys will be lifted
up, the mountains brought low, the playing field leveled and all of God’s
children can live together in peace—we have to change before we can experience
the transformation.
We
need to repent, we need to change. We
need to change our attitudes toward those who are different and those who are less
fortunate. We are living in a
contentious society marked by deep divisions that are often defined by
prejudice and intolerance. We don’t know
how to disagree without being disagreeable.
We look down on the poor and blame them for their predicament. Religious differences, racial and class
distinctions and sexual lifestyles have become battlegrounds and we have no
mercy on those who are wounded in the conflict of hatred and condemnation. Every person, regardless of race, social
class, sexual orientation, religion, or culture is a child of God, created in
God’s image. While I may not agree with
a person’s lifestyle or personal standing, I need to see that person through
the eyes of Jesus and demonstrate the love, mercy, and grace of God.
We
also need to repent of our actions, or inactions. We live in one of the richest nations on
earth, the majority of the world’s resources are found in our country, but
while we have more and more, we are giving less and less. We have invested our lives in
consumerism. Money is becoming a
narcotic for us. And we are become
stingier, less generous, and much more selfish with what we have. Our churches, our non-profit agencies need
our help. All are struggling. All of these agencies make a profound
difference in the lives of others and impact our community.
Listen
to old John the Baptist. He is telling
us to level the playing field, to share the resources that we have, to reach
out and embrace the less fortunate, to repent, to change. And when we do we will experience the
transformation of God’s goodness and grace and we will really have a Merry
Christmas when the guy in the red suit comes to town!
