12.08.2013

Sunday Sermie


Today's sermon is about JTB (John the Baptist). He's quite a guy. 

Gospel Text: Matthew 3:1-12
Sermon Title: A Brood of Vipers and A Time of Preparation
  • It is a very powerful experience to be confronted with reality.
    • I’m not talking about reality tv, which we all know is about as far from real life as you can get. 
    • Instead, I’m talking about any experience that lifts up truth.
      • An interesting documentary
      • A great newspaper or magazine article
      • Compelling photography 
      • History books or first-hand conversations with people talking about life 
      • Family scrapbooks
  • When we come face-to-face with reality – it has the power to transform us
  • John the Baptist helped people confront reality; that’s what he was doing out there in the wilderness
    • He spoke real truths about sin and forgiveness as a way to wake people up
  • John did this while wearing camel, leather, and munching on honey and bugs
    • Of all the details that could have been preserved about this unique man, we get these. Fascinating.
    • These details are clues. They let us know a few things....like the fact that John didn’t really care a lot about what people thought about him. He didn’t worry about fitting in. Instead, he was a man with mission and purpose. He was unapologetic and authentic.
  • He was VERY Intense in his public speaking
    • BOLD
    • The first word he speaks is: “Repent” – When John first used this word – it meant to “change ones mind” or “turn around”
    • John was certainly a public speaker – a preacher – but his approach was unconventional
  •  Everyone was coming out in the wilderness to hear him; everyone
  •  Eventually, some Pharisees and Sadducees show up. Another way to think of these folks is as the overtly religious. People who were well known for their religious rituals and their long and special family lineage. In many ways - they could talk the talk, but they didn't necessarily walk the walk. They were sometimes so wrapped up in the "right way" to be religious that they missed opportunities to share the heart of God's message of grace, love, and forgiveness. 
  • So how does John welcome them?
    • He says: "You BROOD OF VIPERS" – which means a giant pack of venomous snakes
    • I did a little checking to see if maybe there was some other (perhaps less offensive) way to interpret “brood of vipers” 
    • A clever nickname? An obscure term of endearment?
    • But no – nope. It’s not meant to be kind. It’s meant to be honest. Brood of vipers = pack of venomous snakes. Just because they were religious, that didn’t stop John from sounding an alarm to wake people up! He wasn't afraid to call a spade a spade. He wasn't afraid to name sin when he saw it. 
  • Do any of you use your cell phone as an alarm clock? If so, you know there are a variety of ringtones to choose from for the alarm – if you want to wake up peacefully, maybe you'd choose a chime, a bell, a quiet song, or some classical music. But - if you REALLY need to wake up, you may choose one of the loud, bold ringtones. The ones that scream: WAKE UP IMMEDIATELY!!!!
    • If John the Baptist were a ringtone, he would be the second kind. The loud alarm. The "get everyone up" – WAKE UP CALL.
  • And the more he spoke, the more people wanted to hear!
  • People were not scared off. They were drawn in. John spoke truthfully. And people couldn’t get enough of it. He was a truth-teller. He described the reality of the human condition – that we broken. We’re sinful. We’re sometimes a big ol’ brood of snakes.
  • But John didn’t leave people there in that hopeless state. Instead, he prepared the way for Jesus. He said, “Something big is about to happen.” So repent. Turn around. Wake up.
    • John helped people confront reality. Most of the time, people tend to avoid the truth. It’s tempting to always sugarcoat. To be nice. To avoid thinking about large-scale systemic sin.
    • When John speaks about repentance and forgiveness, he isn’t talking necessarily focusing on individual acts of sin which is normally what we think about...saying something rude. Or telling a lie. What John is talking about is bigger. It’s systems of power and injustice. Hunger and poverty. Greed and selfishness. Sin that we all participate in. But sin that we’d most of the time, prefer not to think about.
  • Yet John is unafraid to speak up. John says: Repent. Turn around. Look! And people do. 
  • His approach frees us to do the same. To face reality. Reality about ourselves, our congregation, our faith, and our world.
    • It’s freeing. He reminds us to see sin as something more than an individual issue. To see it as something we’re all wrapped up in. We’re all in it together. The playing field has been leveled.
    • And we’re all alike in our need for guidance and help and love and acceptance.
    • And that’s where Jesus enters in.
  • We’re now in the second week of Advent; we’re preparing our hearts for the birth of Jesus
  • His life becomes extra meaningful and exciting when we’re first pondered and confronted the reality of brokenness and separation and suffering – when we pause and repent and turn around
  • When we do, we realize just how big of a deal it is that God came in human form to live this human experience WITH US - to provide us with an alternative model for living and loving in the world
  • Jesus is not just an adorable baby in a manger; he’s God, he’s forgiveness, he’s hope
  • What John said is true – as human beings – we really are a big ol’ brood of vipers sometimes
  • But you know what?
    • Jesus loves us anyway. Not in an abstract way. In a specific, concrete way.
    • And he lived and died and rose again so that our eternal identity wouldn’t be that of a venomous snake – and instead, our eternal identity would be CHILD OF GOD
    • As human beings, we’re both: sinner and saint
      • Vipers and children of God
      • And even though we mess it up plenty of the time, Jesus believes in our ability to bring in the kingdom of heaven here on earth
      • He really thinks we can do it – and we can
      • It’s our mission – to love and to serve; to let people know that there is more than brokenness and sin
      • To bring hope
    • When we look at Jesus in the manger, we see hope
    • And amazingly, Jesus looks at us and sees the same thing. Hope. He has hope in our ability to spread his kingdom love all over.
  • Thanks be to God for truth tellers like John the Baptist
    • They give us courage to see reality as it is
    • Willingness to repent and turn around
    • And strength to be the hands and feet of Jesus 
  • Amen.

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