Guess Who is Coming to Town

            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!