Advent 3: Joy to the World...

“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”

Wow! Happy Advent to you, John the Baptist!  When I was younger and heard this reading, or a similar one from the other Gospels depending on what lectionary year we were in, I always heard it as so harsh. And punitive. And there is some harshness here, but it is truth spoken in Love.

The ritual John was performing at the river Jordan was a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. John has a warning for those who are coming to do this ritual simply as “fire insurance” in order to get on God’s good side and get into heaven, and John’s warning is also for those who are participating in the ritual only so that others will perceive them as a “good” and “godly” person, but they actually do not want to change their way of living. John is warning them that this ritual is not at all effective without their participation. 

And by calling them vipers, John is calling out the toxicity of their inauthentic and hypocritical behavior and naming that their hypocrisy is poison for the collective, poison for the community. Because it’s like a wolf in a sheepskin—others are going to believe that this is what God’s people look like, this is how God’s people behave—-putting self comfort and self preservation before anything and everything else. It’s like this quotation I came across this week from Mark Van Steenwyk, Executive Director at the Center for Prophetic Imagination: If you reject the idea of merit in your Christianity (it is by grace that we are saved) but affirm the idea in your politics or economics (I worked hard for what I have, so I deserve to live better than others) then your Jesus is Lord of the dead, not the living. Spirituality without politics is dead.

The idea that it is by grace that we are saved is a core belief and tenet of Christianity. And at its most basic definition, God’s grace is life. Everything we have and everything we are and everything that has been given us is through God’s grace, God’s love. And we understand that grace is freely given. No strings attached; no requirements needed. Given simply because as God’s created we are worthy of it. Worthy of life. Worthy of having what is needed to live.

But, if we are honest with ourselves, there are many times we do not extend this grace to others. Most of us work hard for what we have. We have been given the ability and capacity to earn what we need to live. We are fortunate to have the capacity to earn a living wage within our economic system that says: if you want to have what you need to live, you have to earn it. Because that is the economic system we live in. It may be the American way, but it is not the reign-of-God-way at all.

In God’s Kindom, in God’s Creation plan, everyone is worthy of having the basic necessities to simply live. For humans this means shelter, a place to sleep, healthcare, water, food, and human connection. These are the basic necessities of life which God has already provided for all. But in our economic system, all of these necessities have been monetized so you can only get them if you can earn them. Think about it, Beloved: we have school children who have “hot lunch” debt. Even our schoolchildren are not worthy of being fed if they can’t afford it. Grace thrown right out the window. And the Good Samaritan parable tells and shows us that we are to provide for one another’s healthcare. That’s an undeniable takeaway from that story.

Now, I don’t know how to go about changing the entirety of our capitalistic economy, as much as I would like to….. as much as I think Gospel calls us to, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do. Yes, we live in an economic system that fails grace, and an economic system that fails humanity.  Therefore we must live differently.

A key question and answer from today’s Gospel is when folx ask John: What then should we do?  What does it look like when we live a life of repentance?  John answers: You live differently.  When you have more than what you need—two coats and not just one—you look for someone who needs the more you have and you give it away. Because that’s grace.  And if you are in a position of wealth and collecting wealth, like a tax collector, you use only what you need—what is prescribed for you—and you look for who doesn’t have enough and you give your wealth away. Because that’s grace.  And if you are in a position of power, like a soldier, where you can leverage your power for your own benefit, increasing  your wealth. You do no such thing. You do not use your power to accuse falsely or threaten others. Power is not for the benefit of building up your ego or your wealth, but instead, it is a responsibility to care for the collective. Because that’s grace. 

Beloved, we may live in an economic system which requires everyone to earn the basic necessities of life—and if they don’t or can’t—--our economic system just doesn’t give a damn. But, Beloved, we can be the ones to disrupt the economic system. We can live and move from grace.
Homelessness and poverty are complicated. There are many reasons they exist. But an answer is easier than we think. If people are hungry, feed them. If people are unhoused, house them. If people are impoverished, give them the means and the tools, the time to heal and turn their lives around so that with our accompaniment, they can find a sustainable pathway forward. Why do we think that people who are not housed, who don’t have the capacity to afford the basic necessities of life can somehow turn their lives around without first having their basic necessities met? How much would you be able to accomplish if you didn’t know where you would sleep or where your next meal comes from or how you were going to be able to afford your medications? 

When John talks of the ax lying at the root of the trees, he is not threatening violence to the people around him.  The trees are not people.  The trees are the traits, the tendencies, the temptations we have that keep us from living differently, that keep us from living Love out loud with all others. Our selfish control over time, presence, wealth, and resources. The idea that the basic necessities of life should be monetized and only available to some, but not all. Making sure we have what we want instead of looking to see that the collective, that all others, have what they need.  God’s love is an ax that cuts these traits, tendencies, temptations that miss the mark of love right at their roots so they can be removed from our hearts, minds, and spirits. Because when you cut something at the root, it withers and dies away.

Like the refiner’s fire we heard about last week in our readings.  Love is a fire, a burning fire, that cleanses us from whatever keeps us in a status of unhealthy self-centeredness. Because there is a healthy self-centeredness—--making sure we are caring for self so that we can know wholeness and wellness and thereby extend wholeness and wellness to others. But then there is unhealthy self-centeredness as well. Self-centeredness that tempts us to hunker down into our own comfort and wants—turning a blind eye to whatever is happening outside of that comfort zone so that we can pretend it has nothing to do with us. 

The prophet Zephaniah refers to God who is Love as a mighty warrior. This might lead us to believe that all these great things that come from our relationship with Love will be like “spoils of war.” God will fight our enemies on our behalf and struggle with our oppressors on our behalf and we will just kinda “win” the good stuff.  

But just as John is not talking about people when he claims the ax is at the root of the trees, Zephaniah is not talking about people when he prophesied that God will remove disaster from us and God will deal with all our oppressors.  Our disaster and the oppressors are not people. They are within us. The only enemies are those that lie within us: the traits, tendencies and temptation toward unhealthy self-centeredness. Focusing on our wants instead of others’ needs; caring for our own wellness while dismissing and ignoring the wellness of others; living in ways that negate that we are not related and obligated to all of humanity, and all of Creation. 

Beloved, you already know how this works. Think of any loving relationship you are in or have been in.  I mean, truly loving.  You were changed by that relationship. You began to live differently because of Love. You chose to share—time, talents and treasure. You stopped certain behaviors because they damaged the one you love. You started certain behaviors because they helped the one you love.  

A week ago I got a new doggie, Ralphie. He’s about four months old. I have never really had a puppy this young. But I fell in love. And I find myself doing things that I never thought I would do. Willingly. Because I love Ralphie. Love has turned me around—living a new way. Now, not always conveniently or without annoyance. But in the end, love wins.  And I am choosing differently.  Because this relationship with Ralphie is improving my life, making me well and whole in a new way. 

Love is a burning fire that we walk through to remove the unnecessary and unhealthy self-centeredness within us so that we can walk out on the other side and be more of who we are designed to be: God’s beloved. Each relationship of Love helps us to become more and more connected to wider and wider circles. Helping us to see more clearly that we belong to and with all of humanity, to and with all of Creation. It’s all God’s and God is in all of it. 

And this process, Beloved, this process of the burning fire of love, removing the chaff, cutting toxicity at the root, this is what enables and empowers us to live in peace and goodwill for all of Creation. Talk about Joy to the World; Love bringing us home.