The Voice in the Wilderness: John the Baptist's Call to Change

Foreign.

Thank you for engaging with the homily by Pastor Chill Will from

Chapel Hill.

I hope this message encourages you, challenges you and moves you

to go deeper in your faith and enrich how you love God and love

your neighbor in your day to day life.

Just a reminder.

Like the Scriptures and Gospels themselves, this homily was

written for a particular community in a particular, particular

context, time in history.

And yet, like our sacred texts, I hope that these words hold

timeless truths about God's unconditional love and grace.

We hope these words speak to you in a meaningful way.

Welcome to Holy Tree Lutheran Church and Lutheran Campus Ministry

on this second Sunday of adventure the Holy Gospel According

to Matthew in those days, John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness

of Judea proclaiming, repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come

near.

This is the one whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of

the Lord, make his path straight.

Now.

John wore clothing of camel's hair and a leather belt around his

waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan

were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the River

Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for

his baptism, he said to them, you brood of vipers who warned you

to flee from the coming wrath, therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance.

Do not presume to say to yourselves we have Abraham as our

ancestor.

For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children

to Abraham.

Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees.

Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down

and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance.

But the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I

and I'm not worthy to carry his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit fire.

His widowing fork is in his hand and he will clear the threshing

floor and will gather his wheat into the granary.

But the shaft he will burn with unquenchable fire.

The Gospel of the Lord in the name of the Father and the Son of

the Holy Spirit.

So have you put up your John the Baptist Advent decorations yet?

Maybe the John the Baptizer in the Wilderness section of your Nativity

scene.

You know, the one where you're just kind of sitting right just outside

the Nativity and he's waving his finger at everyone walking by

calling them snakes.

You don't have that.

You haven't seen that anywhere.

I haven't either.

In all seriousness, I know that I've used that Advent John the

Baptist joke before because every year I love that it is at this

time in the holiday season that John shows up.

Christmas music has been playing for a few months now.

I think the first Christmas commercial I saw was a soft launch

by Walmart at the beginning of October.

That's fine.

No shade thrown.

In a hard and complicated and gloomy world, we need something to

look forward to.

And yet here comes John the Baptist.

One Sunday around this time of year at the church I served in South

Carolina, we had someone dress up as John the Baptist with ratty

and messed up hair and a fake beard hanging off his chin and carrying

a cereal box full of honey o locusts.

And it kind of freaked out the children.

At the Children's Message.

It was like one of those viral videos of the Grinch crashing a Christmas

party and the kids just running away screaming, yeah, we

didn't do that again.

John the Baptizer isn't the Grinch per se, but he should make

us a little uncomfortable.

It's not that his heart is too small, almost too big.

It's on fire.

He's really fired up.

He's jarring, he's blunt, he's off putting.

He's a street preacher, similar to the one that you don't

make eye contact with or avoid walking on the other side of the

street.

But also there is something about him.

It is like an out in the open performance artist whose purpose

is to grab our attention, who stokes curiosity, is someone who

resonates with our longings for something different, who is advocating

for change, perhaps even revolution.

Someone who shakes us out of complacence.

When I read this text, this go around for Advent, of course I notice

the attention to detail of what he is wearing and eating.

But I also notice that he's drawing a crowd.

People aren't avoiding him, people are coming to him.

The Gospel of Matthew shares that John appeared in the wilderness

that is outside the city, outside where normal life happens,

outside of where the temple is a place where you would think not

much happens or is wild.

It's dangerous.

Perhaps God doesn't show up in those places.

It's there, out in the open, in the wild, unscripted, uncurated

places that he proclaims and advocates for a turning around the

change as God has come near.

In continuity with the prophet Isaiah, he is preaching and advocating

for this holy reversal A flipping, if you will, of where the

weak and the vulnerable are not preyed upon, but rather are safe

to live, to grow, to thrive.

It's out there in the wilderness where he screams out that

God is indeed near.

The God of surprises, showing up in the least likely of places,

in the wild and in untamed places.

I noticed that it's not a street preacher coming to the middle

of the city to yell at people and condemn people, but rather it's

John out in the wilderness and people going to him.

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan

were going out to him and they were baptized by him in the River

Jordan, confessing their sins.

You see, prophecy, the prophetic task, is about conviction,

not fortune telling, is about cultivating inspiration and action

that leads to change.

And this fits perfectly with what Advent is about.

The surprising news that God is coming near, that God is near.

This invokes and stokes spiritual revolution.

A chance and an invitation and an opportunity to move, earn, see

things differently.

The change.

During the season of Advent, we are on a journey to the incarnation,

which is a fancy theological word that means God becoming flesh,

carne, meat, God becoming meat.

And as we get closer to Bethlehem, as we get closer to the

surprise of God showing up in a manger, surprisingly, it appears

that we have to go through the wilderness to get there.

The way to the manger goes through the wilderness.

It goes through those wild and untamed, perhaps even dangerous places.

Yes, indeed, John the Baptist seems weird and out of place this

season.

But if he is an image and an icon of God showing up in least likely

places, if he is calling for us to wake up and see that God has

come near, if he is advocating for those who long for revolution

and change, and it has everything to do about Christmas,

this is what I noticed this go around.

John's vision of nearness of God has within it this image of axes

and chopping down trees and consuming fires.

And yet it seems that the incarnation and Jesus even surprised

John.

Yes, with the nearest of God there is this reality of the fire

of the Holy Spirit that is life altering and transforming and

purifying.

And yet this God shows up in unlikely and surprising places.

The wilderness, the manger and water at a table with bread and wine.

Yes, there is continuity with John and Jesus's vision of the nearness

of the kingdom of God, with the first being last and the last

being first.

And yet God shows up not in a temple, but in the wilderness and

in a vulnerable baby in a feeding trough.

Again, God Showing up on a cross, saying, father, forgive them,

for they know not what they do.

And then the ultimate surprise, an empty tomb.

And the good news that death will not have the final word on our

lives.

That love wins.

That God's love wins.

Today we have our congregational meeting voting on

new leadership and on a new ministry plan for the new year.

Talking about trees and bearing fruit, I can without a doubt

say that this past year was a fruitful year for our community of

faith.

We are a growing community and in a hard and unsettling world.

We are leaving leaning even harder into our vision and mission

and our core values of what it means to follow Jesus together.

There is no doubt that God will continue to show up at the font

and at the table, but also taking our lead from John the Baptist,

I hope and pray that we can continue to be open to God, showing

up in wild and unexpected places in the midst of that, keeping

our focus on Jesus, a God who is full of surprises.

Perhaps, like John the Baptist, we too will continue to

show up in wild and surprising spaces to speak up and speak out

about the nearness of God and how that impacts how we love God

and love our neighbor.

Perhaps as we continue to journey to the manger into Bethlehem

through the wilderness, we will find oasis of water, remembering

our baptism that we are beloved child of God.

Nothing can change that.

As that warms our heart, we in turn turn to others, share with them

the nearness of God.

What I want you to do now is get out your red handles, they're

there in your few chairs.

And turn to page 237 towards the end of the Liturgy of Baptism.

There when we do affirmation of baptism, I thought on when John

the Baptist shows up in the wilderness on our way to Christmas,

perhaps we too can remember our baptism and affirm our baptisms

as we meet together as a congregation.

Thinking about how we use our money and our stewardship of gifts,

perhaps we can remember the gift of baptism and how that leads

us to walk and follow Jesus to the Manger into Bethlehem, here at

the top of the page says affirmation by the assembly.

And as we read this, I want you to note that if anybody asks

you what's the job description of a Christian, or what do Christians

believe?

Or what do Christians do in the world?

This is a great paragraph and snippet that you can show them.

This is what we are called to be in the world.

We will affirm this together and pray for one another, knowing

as we get closer to Bethlehem, we remember our baptisms and the

gifts we we have for the community of faith and for the whole

world, even in surprising and untamed places.

So each and every Sunday you make public profession of your faith.

You intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy

baptism, live among God's faithful people to hear the word

of God and share the Lord's Supper, to proclaim the good news

of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people following

the example of Jesus and to strive for justice and peace in the

earth.

I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

People of God, you promise to support and pray for one another

in your life in Christ?

We do, and we ask God to help.

And God let us pray.

We give you thanks, oh God, that through water and the Holy Spirit

you give us new birth.

You cleanse us from sin and raise us to eternal life.

Stir up in your people the gift of your Holy Spirit, the spirit

of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the Spirit

of joy in your presence both now and forever.

Amen.

Foreign.

Thank you for listening.

If there is anything that stood out for you, or if you have

a question or you just want to have a conversation, you are always

free to reach out and contact us.

And remember you are not alone and.

That you are loved with a love stronger than death.

Sam.