Luke 3:7-18 (through 20 for me) is the lectionary text for Advent III on Sunday, December 12.
Good News is relative. Here it is good for those who have been occupied and oppressed for a couple of generations. It is good for those whose lives have been controlled, whose livelihoods have been taken, whose people have been beaten down and exploited and whose own leaders have abused them. It is not Good News for those who have benefitted from systemic tyranny and exploitation, those at the very top and those in the midst who have engaged in the ruthless behaviors of division and devastation for others. The Good News here is that God will turn things around, and that all the people had better get with the program of turning from a system and ideology of exploitation and abuse to one of mutual support, equality and equity.
John did not mince words when he spoke to the people. He accused the crowds that came to be baptized of being "vipers" who perceived God doing something, as ones who came to try and justify their participation in empire and its evil. He demanded repentance - producing fruits of it - ACTION in turning around in thinking and direction. He told them that their heritage of walking with God and their ancestry in that walk meant nothing if they did not act correctly. He threatened them with God's wrath - the wrath they came to have baptized/ritualized away.
So, the crowds asked for direction in their repentance, and John gave them specifics. Those of you who have lived under the evils of empire, and who still have more than you need must share with those who have nothing. The devastation that empire creates in the lives of the masses under it has destroyed them, and those who have weathered it better must make sure that the basic needs of those who have been left with nothing are met. Business folk who benefitted from a ruthless system of taking are to stop gouging people for more profit for themselves, at the expense of others. Enough profit is enough. It is a time to change the predatory and consumptive business practices that keep people down, back and out. Those who use their positions to corruptly make money off the backs of the people must stop doing so. Those with power over others must stop abusing their power over others. Believing that one's position or power (or both) entitles him/her/them to exploit others through that position or power is not consistent with the Kingdom of God. Jesus, Emmanuel, is coming. It is time to turn around.
John was forceful. The authority with which he spoke startled them. Some thought he was the one sent to turn things around, but he pointed out that he was only Elijah, and that the one who was coming had more power and authority, and that His baptism is not just for ritual repentance, but a purifying of our spirits by the Holy Spirit. Again, he threatened those who would not turn from their thinking and wrong directions in life.
I love that this is GOOD NEWS. It IS Good News for anyone waiting on the Lord to save them from oppression. It is Good News for all those who have been told that they are "less than" by others claiming to be "better than." It is Good News for all those who are powerless and abused by those in power. It is Good News for families who struggle just to survive because others have milked a system created to hold them down, back and out so that the ruthless can take more for themselves and their families. It is still Good News for them.
And the reaction was predictable and swift. John got locked up for talk of God's Kingdom Come and God's Will being done. He got locked up for saying that God's Way is different from Empire, and that it will change the world. Like the prophets of old and like our modern prophets, he had to be silenced in order that the status quo might be maintained for all who benefitted from it.
But we still have this GOOD NEWS, even in the midst of this iteration of empire, under which many in our nation and in the world struggle while a few enjoy their power, prestige and opulent wealth. In this Advent season, we will either see that God wants this repentance in ushering Emmanuel into our lives and embrace it, or we will see that as something to be avoided and treat this as one more quaint religious story and holiday.
For you, this Advent, which will it be?
Pastor Jamie
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