, but in the context of building a community of renewal and hope during Advent I felt called to emphasize the two very different options John and Jesus offer us.For those of us who take a spirituality of Advent seriously, there are choices to be made: Sometimes we get trapped in the trappings of Advent – lost a wilderness of details – and obsess on what are truly small concerns: will we sing Christmas carols or Advent songs in worship – will the church appointments be traditional or creative – will we put up tasteful white lights or those tacky colored things? And I know what I’m talking about here because I used to be an Advent Nazi – one who was committed to following the letter of the season no matter what – even if it snuffed out the very spirit of Christ among us. Just ask my family… they’ll tell you what a Scrooge I used to be about lights… and music… and all the rest.
I’ll share a little more about that in a moment, but let me state again: we can get trapped in the trappings of this season and believe that our picayune choices really matter. But these incidental choices are not what I really want to talk about with you today – as illustrative as they may be. No, the choice that really concerns me has to do with whether we decided to embrace the way and heart of Jesus this Advent or that of his cousin, John the Baptizer.
I’ll share a little more about that in a moment, but let me state again: we can get trapped in the trappings of this season and believe that our picayune choices really matter. But these incidental choices are not what I really want to talk about with you today – as illustrative as they may be. No, the choice that really concerns me has to do with whether we decided to embrace the way and heart of Jesus this Advent or that of his cousin, John the Baptizer.
+ Jesus – or John – offer two very different ways of living out an Advent spirituality – for each soul testifies to both an inner grace and an outward style of living – and to be perfectly candid, they are very, very different.
+ Now let me confess something to you: for a long, long time I was confused about who to choose in Advent and beyond. And if I am really honest, I think that I chose the way of John over Jesus for a long, long time. It was a natural – and even common – mistake and it happens all the time.
So let me offer you some broad observations about the spirituality of each person – Jesus and John – and then challenge you to get honest with yourself about who you tend to embrace and follow. There are three essential truths about John the Baptizer that I think are crucial:
+ First, he tended to run away from people rather than wrestle with the complexities of community. He wasn’t an easy person to be around… he was sharp tongued and often harsh. "When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God's judgment? It's your life that must change, not your skin. And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as 'father.' Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there—children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire." (Luke 3: 7-9)
Second, he saw his job as critic and judge, not healer or helper. Think how the third chapter of Matthew puts it: "While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called "the Baptizer," was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here." John and his message were authorized by Isai
ah's prophecy: Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight! John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life." (Matthew 3: 1-6)
Second, he saw his job as critic and judge, not healer or helper. Think how the third chapter of Matthew puts it: "While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called "the Baptizer," was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here." John and his message were authorized by Isai
ah's prophecy: Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight! John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life." (Matthew 3: 1-6) Even Jesus was clear that there was a stark difference between them: John had been locked up in prison and when he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, "Are you the One we've been expecting, or are we still waiting?" Jesus told them, "Go back and tell John what's going on: The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side."Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!" When John's disciples left to report, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. "What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly. What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot. What then? A prophet? That's right, a prophet! Probably the best prophet you'll ever hear. He is the prophet that Malachi announced when he wrote, 'I'm sending my prophet ahead of you, to make the road smooth for you." (Matthew 11: 2-6)
And third, John the Baptist was an angry man – he was not filled with peace within – which meant he had a hard time sharing peace with the world. He spoke of bearing fruits that befit repentance – meaning a changed life – but he had a hard time practicing what he preached. Which is where the old adage, you can’t give what you ain’t got comes in – perhaps in spades – so John pointed towards Jesus saying do as I say but not as I do. And this is important because too often the world – or those in need – see us as John the Baptist rather than something of the spirit of Jesus.
Do you know people in this church - or in the wider body of Christ - who are mor
e about judgment than grace? Seeing the problems rather than the possibilities? Pulling the community apart rather than building it up? I would suggest they are infected with the spirit of John's worst qualities rather than the living spirit of Jesus. Take today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah which Jesus used to speak of his public ministry: this is a ministry of healing and hope, restoration and release, recovery of sight to the blind and liberation for all who are oppressed. (Isaiah 61)
e about judgment than grace? Seeing the problems rather than the possibilities? Pulling the community apart rather than building it up? I would suggest they are infected with the spirit of John's worst qualities rather than the living spirit of Jesus. Take today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah which Jesus used to speak of his public ministry: this is a ministry of healing and hope, restoration and release, recovery of sight to the blind and liberation for all who are oppressed. (Isaiah 61)+ The ministry of Jesus called people together: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11: 28-30)
+ He invited real people into healing - socially, personally, politically and spiritually: "Go back and tell John what's going on: The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side."Is this what you were expecting? Then count yourselves most blessed!" (Matthew 11: 3-6)
+ And he was willing to go the extra mile and give of himself – even sacrificially – because he understood that people need authenticity and trust before they will change their ways: "I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from God. You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the
world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Lord in relation to me, he gives you. But remember the root command: Love one another." (John 15: 11-17)
+ And he was willing to go the extra mile and give of himself – even sacrificially – because he understood that people need authenticity and trust before they will change their ways: "I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from God. You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the
world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Lord in relation to me, he gives you. But remember the root command: Love one another." (John 15: 11-17)Are you with me re: this choice between Jesus and John? St. Paul makes the choice even more clear in the word from I Thessalonians 5: Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out. Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. Don't suppress the Spirit, and don't stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don't be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what's good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.
When Christians are consistently cranky – not every now and again - but as a rule – unable to see the good in life and always looking for a complaint - they are choosing the way of John the Baptist not Jesus. When we obsess on what we don’t like rather than find common ground, it’s John the Baptist at work in us rather than the Lord. And when our tongue – or heart – is cruel and mean-spirited rather than kind and encouraging, it’s the Baptizer rather than the Christ, too.
Not that there isn’t a place for corrective criticism – nobody is perfect, right? And not that there isn’t room for a genuinely no good, horrible, very bad day. But I’ve met Christians – in fact I’ve been that kind of Christian – who will carp and complain rather than listen… who will judge others but get hurt feelings when the boomerang of judgment comes back at them… and who forget that when you point one finger at another there are always at least three pointing back at you. Which brings me back to the days of being an Advent Nazi…
Back in Cleveland, when I was doing urban ministry, we used to have a pretty wild collection of people in worship each Sunday morning: black and white and Latino, rich and poor, those who lived in the projects and those who came from the suburbs – AN
D – those who knew church tradition and those who didn’t. One Sunday I was preaching and asking folk for their favorite ADVENT song – not a Christmas carol but a song of ADVENT.
When Christians are consistently cranky – not every now and again - but as a rule – unable to see the good in life and always looking for a complaint - they are choosing the way of John the Baptist not Jesus. When we obsess on what we don’t like rather than find common ground, it’s John the Baptist at work in us rather than the Lord. And when our tongue – or heart – is cruel and mean-spirited rather than kind and encouraging, it’s the Baptizer rather than the Christ, too.
Not that there isn’t a place for corrective criticism – nobody is perfect, right? And not that there isn’t room for a genuinely no good, horrible, very bad day. But I’ve met Christians – in fact I’ve been that kind of Christian – who will carp and complain rather than listen… who will judge others but get hurt feelings when the boomerang of judgment comes back at them… and who forget that when you point one finger at another there are always at least three pointing back at you. Which brings me back to the days of being an Advent Nazi…
Back in Cleveland, when I was doing urban ministry, we used to have a pretty wild collection of people in worship each Sunday morning: black and white and Latino, rich and poor, those who lived in the projects and those who came from the suburbs – AN
D – those who knew church tradition and those who didn’t. One Sunday I was preaching and asking folk for their favorite ADVENT song – not a Christmas carol but a song of ADVENT. I was, you see, trying to do my part in educating the people in right and proper liturgy. When it became clear that there was at the very best a gap in our Advent music knowledge, I suggested: "Well, what about “O come, o come Emmanuel?” You know that, right?" And we sang some of it.
"And what about “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence?” That’s good for Advent, isn’t it?" And we sang some of that, too. And as I was flipping through the hymnbook to find another, a little old guy by the name of George Spice – I’m not kidding – George Spice started to wave at me.
Now you have to understand that George lived in a group home, had an IQ of maybe 75 and wore the wildest outfits he could find to church: red sweat pants and purple paisley shirts -sometimes silk disco shirts with plaid pants – totally outrageous. A great and dear man who was... out on the edge. 
So I look up and George is waving his arms at me like he had a question. And when I ask, “Do you have something to say, man?” he nodded and said, “I have a favorite Advent song that has nothing to do with Christmas. Can we sing it?” And I must tell you I thought we were in for trouble because while George was loving and fun, I had a hunch – snob that I was – that he wasn’t well grounded in liturgy. But I had opened the door. So… with fear and trembling I asked, “Ok, George, what is your favorite Advent song?” And without reservation, he stood up and proclaimed: “Jingle Bells!”
He had a point – right? There’s NOTHING about Christmas in that song – no jumping the liturgical gun or confusing sentimentality with piety there – just pure, unadulterated joy. And as he stood there in all of his wild glory, that Advent Nazi inside me began to retreat. He was right – not liturgically pure or sophisticated – but he was right. And then he said, "Nothing about Christmas, right, James? So can we sing it?"
And we did because it sounded like Jesus speaking to me through that sweet old man. So in the memory of St. George the Advent Nazi Slayer's honor I’m going to ask you to sing it with me, too. We have a choice to make: are we going to be John or Jesus – it makes a difference in how we embrace Advent – and how we live in the world. And I have to tell you that the older I get the less time I have for Nazis of any type. I hope the same is true for you, too:
DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW, IN A ONE HORSE OPENED SLEIGH,
O’ER THE FIELDS WE GO LAUGHING ALL THE WAY
BELLS ON BOB TAILS RING, MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT
WHAT FUN IT IS TO LAUGH AND SING THIS SLEIGHING SONG TONIGHT
OH, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE ALL THE WAY
OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH….
I invite those who have ears to hear to hear.
So I look up and George is waving his arms at me like he had a question. And when I ask, “Do you have something to say, man?” he nodded and said, “I have a favorite Advent song that has nothing to do with Christmas. Can we sing it?” And I must tell you I thought we were in for trouble because while George was loving and fun, I had a hunch – snob that I was – that he wasn’t well grounded in liturgy. But I had opened the door. So… with fear and trembling I asked, “Ok, George, what is your favorite Advent song?” And without reservation, he stood up and proclaimed: “Jingle Bells!”He had a point – right? There’s NOTHING about Christmas in that song – no jumping the liturgical gun or confusing sentimentality with piety there – just pure, unadulterated joy. And as he stood there in all of his wild glory, that Advent Nazi inside me began to retreat. He was right – not liturgically pure or sophisticated – but he was right. And then he said, "Nothing about Christmas, right, James? So can we sing it?"
And we did because it sounded like Jesus speaking to me through that sweet old man. So in the memory of St. George the Advent Nazi Slayer's honor I’m going to ask you to sing it with me, too. We have a choice to make: are we going to be John or Jesus – it makes a difference in how we embrace Advent – and how we live in the world. And I have to tell you that the older I get the less time I have for Nazis of any type. I hope the same is true for you, too:
DASHING THROUGH THE SNOW, IN A ONE HORSE OPENED SLEIGH,
O’ER THE FIELDS WE GO LAUGHING ALL THE WAY
BELLS ON BOB TAILS RING, MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT
WHAT FUN IT IS TO LAUGH AND SING THIS SLEIGHING SONG TONIGHT
OH, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE ALL THE WAY
OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH….
I invite those who have ears to hear to hear.
2 comments:
wait! wait! are you putting John the Baptist on par with Ann Coulter?! for shame RJ!
;-)
loved it. i had to look up those scriptures, and yup! they are there. funny how wanting to have a positive view of someone colors your reading of the scriptures. also love your comment about this sermon on my blog. great stuff! good to know that some people are listening and questioning. your response was perfect and much better than i would do in that situation! RAWK!
Don't get me wrong, I have LOVED the Baptist at various stages in my life. But when I really think about who I want to follow - how I want to live and who I want to be to those I love - John goes down. Keep on rocking, brother.
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