Zephaniah 3.14.20                                                                                                      Carol A. Solovitz

Isaiah 12.2-6                                                                                                                Advent 3C

Philippians 4.4-7                                                                                                          December 17 , 2006

Luke 3.7-18           

 

 

I’m Not the One

One of the questions that should be asked about someone who claims to speak for God is, “How can we be sure that this is a true prophet?”  Many of the prophets of the Old Testament had to prove that they truly were chosen by God to be God’s spokespersons.  In the New Testament, the apostles – especially Paul - had to defend their ministries, too. Jesus was asked to consider the question of discerning a true prophet, and he replied that a prophet’s credentials should be judged by the outcomes of their prophecies.  In other words, time would tell if they were true prophets.

John the Baptizer was a prophet in a time when people wanted every prophet to be the Messiah – the very special one sent from God to free Israel and restore God’s chosen people to power. They looked for someone similar to Elijah and Moses, but with more pizzazz and a fancy uniform. John lacked the pizzazz, but he did wear the uniform and talk the talk of a few prophets like Elijah and Ezekiel. Mark tells us that he wore a coat of camel’s hair and lived in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey. And there were his fiery words that we hear today:

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 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. 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."                                                       Luke 3.7-9

 

He certainly caught the attention of the people, and they asked him, “What then should we do?” They wanted to do everything just right so that the Messiah would finally arrive. He told them to share their coats and food with those who have none.  When the hated tax collectors asked what they should do, John didn’t tell them to stop collecting taxes but to quit cheating people. Soldiers came, too, and asked for direction. John told them to be satisfied with their wages and to stop extorting money with threats and false accusations. This “brood of vipers” was captivated by the Baptizer, and they wondered if he, John, might be the Messiah. He certainly sounded like one. But John denied it, 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.” In other words, “I am not the One!”

John the Baptizer certainly could have been the one for whom the Jews had waited for centuries. He has an amazing birth story that, in Luke’s Gospel, runs parallel with the birth of Jesus. They were born a few months apart. Indeed, he is actually a relative of Jesus, his mother Elizabeth being a kinswoman of Mary. When the pregnant Mary visited the pregnant Elizabeth, John’s mother said her child leapt in the womb as Mary entered the house. When John was born, his father Zechariah (who had been mute for nine months because he doubted the angel’s word that he and Elizabeth would have a son in their old age) sang a beautiful song about John. It is recorded at the end of Luke 1, a parallel to Mary’s Magnificat. Zechariah, too, magnified the Lord:

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

        for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.

 He has raised up a mighty savior for us

        in the house of his servant David,

 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,

        and has remembered his holy covenant,

  the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,

        to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,

    might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness

        before him all our days.

 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

        for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

 to give knowledge of salvation to his people

        by the forgiveness of their sins.

 By the tender mercy of our God,

        the dawn from on high will break upon us,

 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

        to guide our feet into the way of peace."

 

 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he

        appeared publicly to Israel.                                                                                                   Luke 1.67-80

 

          As Zechariah looked back and praised the mighty acts of God, he was given the wisdom to foresee for his son a future as a prophet and a preparer for the Lord. John was to preach salvation and forgiveness, mercy and light and peace to the people. He was to point the way to the coming Messiah, Jesus the Christ.

          I will never forget what was probably the most poorly executed sermon illustration for this role of John. It was at my first parish in Brooklyn Park, and one of my colleagues decided to bring in a friend’s bird dog to show how it would point to its prey, just as John had pointed to Jesus. He bought a pheasant in a big cage with a wooden bottom and top. Shortly before the first of four worship services, he decided to test the dog and pheasant - just to be sure the dog would point to the bird. The dog was right on cue, sniffing the bird, going up to the cage, and taking a pointing stance. Unfortunately, the dog’s swift action sent the pheasant into a panic. The bird leapt in the air, hit its head on the top of the cage, and died. There was no backup bird, and the brilliant illustration died with the pheasant. However, most of us understood and still remember what it was about, that John the Baptizer came to point to the Messiah.

          John the Baptizer was a good pointer. People really wanted him to be the Messiah. Instead, he denied the role. “I am not the One,” he said, and pointed them to his kinsman, Jesus of Nazareth. “He will baptize you with the Holy Sprit and fire,” he said. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Then Luke continues the report, “So with many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.”

WHAT?! This is supposed to be good news? Brood of vipers? The wrath to come? The axe at the root of the trees? Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire? This is Good News? Give away half of your possessions? Quit making a profit, a little extra on the side? A Messiah who baptizes with fire?  A Messiah with a winnowing fork that separates the wheat from the chaff?  The chaff – the stuff that protects the wheat while it grows but cannot be made into flour – is burned with unquenchable fire? This is Good News?! John who stands by the river and preaches of repentance and baptizes is not the One we’ve been expecting, and now we must wait for another?!  How can this be Good News?

Well, folks, in the end there is good news.  In another week, we will gather around this manger to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world. We know that the Savior’s name was not John – no, John was not the One.  The people waited, and we now wait and watch for the child born not of Elizabeth but of Mary. He was called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He was Immanuel – God with us. He was Jesus. Jesus is the One to whom John directed us. Jesus is the One whom God sent to heal and save us all.  

Let us pray:  Keep us alert, O Lord.  Keep our eyes pointed in the direction of Bethlehem.  Fill us with repentance and prepare our hearts to be mangers for the newborn Messiah. 

In Jesus’ holy name.  Amen