Scripture/Sermon of the Day. December 4, 2022

Matthew 3:1-12

Thunder in the Desert!

1-2 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.”
3 John and his message were authorized by Isaiah’s prophecy:

Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!

4-6 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.

7-10 When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he 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 make any difference? 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 descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.

11-12 “I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

Reflection:

I. Do you realize that this time of year, which we call Advent, is the only time we talk about John the Baptist — except for that one reading where he gets beheaded? One Sunday a year we talk about John in the wilderness baptizing people and telling them to change from the inside-out. By next week — John is in prison.

II. This Sunday, John is prime time. Crowds “poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action.” Why? He was a rockstar.

III. Today crowds only “pour out” to see a NFL football game or a world-cup soccer match or a Taylor Swift concert. But in ancient Israel — John the Baptist was the big draw! And he PERFORMED his baptisms FREE!

IV. Well, actually—it cost your life. John sold repentance, and if you were buying, it cost your life. But most were just window shopping, not interested, really, in changing their lives from the inside out and all the work, time, disappointment, frustration and failure that required.

V. But John was famous and people wanted to see him. Imagine the crowd we would have in this church if word got out that the Rolling Stones, or Eric Clapton would be performing the hymns. There’d be lines of people going down Paradise Avenue and from Benham Street to Dixwell. And listen — I’d be the first person in line!

VI. And here’s the sad thing about all this. I like Taylor Swift. I love NFL football (not soccer). I love Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. But no matter how many times I see them, I’ll be the same person after the performance as I was before it. I’ll watch football tonight. Like the song says, “I’m waiting all day for Sunday Night!” BUT AFTER THE GAME, I’LL BE THE SAME PERSON!

VII. But John the Baptist is offering us we can actually change — from the inside out. We can become like Jesus, forgiving, loving, patient, gentle, kind. Today we can say yes to God and begin to change our hearts and lives.

VIII. John knew many people weren’t buying because they wanted a quicker, more magical, more instant cure — not the long, hard, painful haul of the cross. But I pray this morning that we will accept John the Baptist’s invitation to say yes to God so we may continue our change into the love of Jesus Christ.