Third Sunday of Advent

It was simply in the air that these people of Judea breathed… a sense that something big was about to happen. Luke described it in the simple phrase that’s nestled right there in the text day: “As the people were filled with expectation…”

What was it that they were expecting exactly? Even the writer of Luke seems to find it difficult to define this expectation precisely. He tells us that “all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,” so that gives us a hint as to what they were expecting. So, they were expecting someone or something –that would free them from a captivity under which they were sorely chafing. And John is, apparently, the flavor of the month. Since Rome was the force holding Israel captive, the people were hoping for and expecting a liberator of some sort, to lead the way out from Roman occupation. So that puts the who and the what of their expectations together for us.

They are such poignant words, though, these words about “a people who were filled with expectation”. Those words continue to ring true today, permeating the atmosphere that we breathe. Who doesn’t long for, or even expect, the time when this chaotic world might regain some political stability? Who doesn’t pray for a peace in which conflict ceases, a time when tensions and strains that keep the whole world on edge day after day might come to an end? We, also, are “a people filled with expectation.” Distant cousins, if you will, to the people who came out to the wilderness to see John. Today’s lesson is one that resonates with us, as we look for, hope for, dare we even expect in this Advent season, something or someone coming to us, who can do for us what we simply cannot do for ourselves.

So, the stage was set for this strange man, who appeared on the scene with words of hope. “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah” in the wilderness, we are told. He was able to capture the hopes and dreams of the nation. It was to him that the people ventured out into that wasteland to hear what he had to say. And they tied themselves to those hopes and dreams through a baptism he offered near the Jordan River. But it wasn’t all sweetness and light. That baptism of hope was not offered without a cautionary word. John’s words are so harsh, you would think it would have driven people away from him. But instead, it drew them in to him, to hear what he had to say about these hopes they harbored in their hearts. What he said was a mixture of admonition, hope, warning, and expectation, all of which are gathered together in this single text that makes up the Gospel for the day.

What would have stood out for you if you had been there before John the Baptizer as he spoke the words we hear from his lips today? He certainly didn’t sugar-coat anything: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” You may have thought that he was speaking to some of the religious authorities who had a reputation for failing to measure up to or carry out the responsibilities that came with their positions. But there is no sign in the text that there were any religious authorities in those crowds. Most of those that came out to be baptized by him may well have wondered (as would we, to be sure) whether they were truly “a brood of vipers” upon whom the wrath of God was about to be visited. The text is pretty clear that he was preaching to “the people.” That is how those before John are described in the text. Those who were called a “brood of vipers” were just ordinary everyday kinds of people!

So, what kind of “wrath to come” was in store for the average Joes and Marys then? They knew that neither they nor Israel as a whole had measured up very well to what God expected. Was this “wrath to come” a punishment for that which was so common among them all? Would that have created a fear great enough in those who heard it, that they could ward off this “wrath to come” by some unidentified change of living? Would John’s words have generated any more fear, than someone on the street corner today would raise in any of us? What would these words have meant for those who heard them “with expectation” for the very first time?

But John wasn’t quite through “mystifying” his hearers. Not only did he warn them against that “wrath to come”. He also urged them to “bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” You have to wonder just what kind of “fruits” John had in mind, because he made it clear that they could not simply fall back on the idea that they were already special by virtue of an inheritance of some sort. Their “inheritance from Abraham” was fine, but they could not “begin to say to themselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” Human heritage grants nobody a favored place before God. John wanted “fruits in keeping with repentance”. Without such “fruits” God was ready to cut down the tree of their heritage, casting it away into a fire of judgment in favor of a more respectful and dutiful people. So, if the “wrath to come” was to be avoided, John said, they must turn from sinful and separating ways in order to seek and pursue the way of the Lord – which was “the bearing of good fruit.” That seemed to be a reasonable instruction of some sort. But the crowds wanted more precise details about what those “fruits” might be – what they would look like. They wanted a clear statement of what those fruits might be.

The beauty of John’s exhortation to action is the simplicity of what he expects. He expects nothing extraordinary. He doesn’t ask them to lead the rebellion that many of those gathered before him expected. He doesn’t charge them with feats of bravery. He doesn’t expect them to rid themselves of all their earthly goods, or to adopt a totally ascetic life such as John led. That may have been what they expected to hear. Some of them may even have been ready to give themselves over to such extraordinarily extreme works designed to please God in some special way. John’s expectations of those who were “filled with expectation” are actually, well, rather mundane. Instead of challenging them to some kind of extreme measures, he urged them to faithfully carry out the role and work to which they were being called. And so, tax collectors were being called to honesty in their dealings. Soldiers were called to carry out their duties in a civil fashion. Those blessed with means beyond their needs, were called to be highly charitable toward people in need.

What a surprise! And let’s not be mistaken. By and large I’m sure that 1st Century Palestinian culture had its share of self-centeredness and I-Me-Mine attitude. In other words, a culture satisfied with giving only token assistance to those who, by birth or misfortune, were forced to rely upon others for sustenance and survival. You don’t have to look very far to see that John’s admonitions and exhortations are, sadly, just as necessary now as they were 2,000 years ago.

“As the people were filled with expectation . . . John answered them all” by defining his role in these expectations as nothing more than an advance messenger of him for whom they – and all the restless, agitated, edgy world of then and now – were waiting: “one who is more powerful than I is coming… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” He would come with fire burning away the misery of sin, ushering in the new baptismal life of the Holy Spirit. He who was coming would fulfill all the hopes and expectations of people. In all times and in all places a fresh new hope would supplant despair. Sadness would be overcome by joy. In an atmosphere permeated with bad news, He who was to come after John would refresh the air. He would stimulate and invigorate lives that were lamenting the musty decay of the world in which they were living. He would revitalize the lives of all who were feeling the closing in of sin and death in the atmosphere prevailing in Israel.

I’m afraid that, far too frequently, we feel the deadening effect of a noxious atmosphere in the world that tends to stifle our fondest hopes, deadening the bliss of the presence of a loving, saving and tender-hearted God. We cannot deny that we, like the people of John’s time, sense the overpowering odor of a world ruled by death, which threatens to close in all around us. It is, therefore, essential that we breathe in deeply the word of life, allow ourselves to be nourished by the body and blood of Jesus, and rejoice in the hope that has come with his arrival. John’s words of hope, anticipation and expectation roused the people around him to a new expectancy in such a way that their waiting was renewed with confidence.

May the one who followed John; whose life, suffering, death, and resurrection has become the hope of the world… In a world burdened with sin and death, may the birth of Jesus be our assurance that sin and death are not the last word. May we, like John’s audience, recognize the good news being proclaimed to us with many exhortations. May we, like those to whom John preached this good news, live with a constant sense of expectation. And may we rise to the challenge which John places before us to bear fruit worthy of repentance, embodying the way of Jesus, and walking humbly with our God.

AMEN