December 15, 2024 Sermon
Sermon title: “You Brood of Vipers!”
Scripture: Luke 3:7-18
(Other lectionary suggestions include Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 12:2-6, and Philippians 4:4-7.)
Luke 3:7-18
7John 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? 8Bear 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. 9Even 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.” 10And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14Soldiers 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.” 15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John 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. 17His 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.” 18So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
The Bible does not have any profanity in it -- as far as I know! But when John the Baptist calls a group of people “You Brood of Vipers!” he’s getting mighty close! Think about it: which is worse, being called a bunch of snakes or the male offspring of a female dog in heat? I’d say they are pretty close! And John wasn’t pulling any punches. For him, hypocrisy was the worst, and that’s why he laid into those he thought weren’t REALLY into repentance and change.
I heard of a cartoon in which a skeptic yells toward Heaven, “God, if you’re up there, tell us what we should do!” A voice answers back, “Feed the hungry, house the homeless, establish justice.” The skeptic, seemingly alarmed, answers back, “Just testing.” “Me too,” replies the voice. John the Baptist didn’t want a bunch of play-acting folks responding to his preaching. He wanted true remorse. You and I have come into existence a long time after John the Baptist walked the earth. But his message still applies to us today. According to the British scholar N. T. Wright, you and I “cannot presume that because we have shared in the great Christian mystery, the new Exodus, coming through the water of baptism with all that it means, God will automatically be happy with us even if we show no signs of serious repentance. Of course, Christian living is far more than simply repentance, but it is not less. All spiritual advance begins with a turning away from what is hindering our obedience.”
One of the things I like about John the Baptist is that he’s a fairly practical guy! No rarified theological arguments for him! If you have two coats and your neighbor has none, you need to give him one of yours! It’s that simple! If you have food and somebody else does not, you need to share some of it with the hungry person. What about tax collectors, who had a miserable job, anyway? They were notorious for taking a little more than they should, so John told them to take only what was fair. What about soldiers? These were probably the soldiers of the Jewish rulers, not Romans. I mean, John was speaking to his own people. The Romans would have had no concept of Judaism or Israel’s God. But they are told to be fair and not use brute force to take stuff from the people. How about being told to be satisfied with their wages? John the Baptist is no economist! He’s not against raises in pay! But he IS telling his listeners to be “satisfied” and not use the excuse that Herod doesn’t pay enough, so we HAVE to rob and pillage!
John believed that he was at the forefront of announcing the coming of the Messiah. But a Messiah doesn’t bring just sweetness and light. There is also judgment involved. “The Messiah would bring God’s justice to the world, and this would involve naming and dealing with evil. John speaks of him in terms of the fork and the fire: the farmer’s fork to separate the wheat from the chaff, and the fire that burns up the chaff once it’s been separated. It’s not exactly the picture of Jesus that many Western Christians want, but unless we are to step right outside the biblical witness it’s one aspect of the truth we have to take seriously.”
It’s strange, isn’t it, to talk of judgment at Christmastime. But the church in its wisdom has always insisted that you don’t get the sweet little baby Jesus without first getting a dose of his wild cousin, the guy who lived in the wilderness and ate locusts and wild honey and who yelled at some of his countrymen and called them a brood of vipers!
We need to keep in mind that Jesus “was just as committed as John to God’s justice working its way out into the world....” And Jesus “was solidly opposed to the house of Herod, and spent his public career quietly subverting it by establishing his own network of supporters and followers. His vision of God’s kingdom differed radically from Herod’s: for him, God’s justice would be displayed not through riches and royalty of worldly style, but through love and justice...”
One thing more....we are in Advent, which means the coming of something, and it may seem strange to have to be confronted with weird John the Baptist on our way to Bethlehem. It’s the church’s reminder that our religion can’t be all gooey and sentimental. We long to sing carols at the manger, but the person of John the Baptist reminds us to share our clothing and our food as we head to that lowly manger bed. As you search for that last gift, did you elbow your way to get it? Did you edge somebody else out of a parking place? John the Baptist wouldn’t be happy with you!
Most of us like Christmas better than Easter, and do you know why? Because the BABY Jesus is so unthreatening, while the grown-up Jesus who went to the cross confronts us and demands something from us, just like his cousin John the Baptist. Let each of us bear fruits worthy of repentance, as John said. Amen.
Pastor Skip
