On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Commentary
One homiletical key for using either the Old Testament or gospel lesson for this Sunday is to keep in mind the tension between the unexpected messiah and the One who comes out of Nazareth. Zephaniah anticipates a manifestation of God as Divine Warrior. John's reference to one more powerful than himself suggests that John's expectation is in the tradition of Zephaniah, a slam-bang intervention of God with some human military assistance. When John saw Jesus in action he had doubts. "Are you he that should come or do we look for another?" (Luke 7:19). One could say that Luke, in his gospel, sets up a radical contrast. The canticles of the nativity stories contain the vocabulary of traditional expectations. In his gospel he will present a nonviolent Benefactor whose agenda embraces the whole of humanity and who will launch in history a mission extending far beyond the borders of Israel. He presents John the Baptist simply as a forerunner of Jesus and not an end-time figure like Elijah who engaged in retributive violence (2 Kings 18:20-40). Later Christian tradition will totally redefine Jesus as the Divine Warrior in a different sort of struggle. Luke can help us proclaim the One who has come and will come in a world still grafted to a belief in redemptive violence. He presents to us a Savior.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Zephaniah 3:14-20
This is a traditional Advent reading with which we have to exert extreme care. The picture of a warrior God emerges. While the prophetic passion for justice rings in this passage we have to bear in mind that God is also expected to act against the national enemies. The concomitant of this conviction was the assumption that God's people would bear arms and be partner warriors with God. The Jesus who comes to us in the gospels does not fit this script. He comes swordless and mounted not on a war horse but on a donkey. His agenda is reconciliation. He comes not to bring back the glory days of a nation but to usher in a new age for all peoples. There is within the history of the ancient church a tradition that exalted Jesus as the hero/warrior savior but invested the words with an entirely new meaning and understanding. I know there are some who object to military metaphors. Paul employed them freely. Are there not many kinds of battlefields and calls for courage and heroic action in our discipleship? Would it be appropriate to call Bishop Desmond Tutu a warrior without a sword? Edwin Markham's poem "The Nail-Torn God," is a this-century expression of the hero/warrior tradition. "The One forever hurtling back the Curse -- The nail-torn Christus pressing toward the stars, The Hero of the battling universe." If you are responsible for a children's sermon this day tell the legend of Saint Christopher, a giant who may have been martyred in the year 250 A.D. Offero, the giant, having great strength himself, wanted to serve the greatest and bravest king he could find. He settled by a river where he bore travelers through the waters on his mighty back.
One stormy evening a child he was bearing on his shoulders became heavier and heavier and turned out to be Christ who told Offero that by helping others he was serving the greatest of kings and renamed him Christopher (Christ-bearer). This tale is compatible with the theme of the hero/savior. How does the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as savior/hero enter into conflict with our frontier legends which exalt the gunslinger/hero/savior? What about the indestructible warrior/saviors of our films from Agent 007 to Rambo to the Terminator to the Mutant Ninga Turtles? Film makers and media representatives say in response to complaints about violence in films and programs that they are only reflecting the culture around them. They forget that they also reinforce that violence in our culture. Who are our cultural heroes? For whom do we reserve our adulation? Do they have salvic significance? What about the unexpected Jesus? What is there within us that wars with him? How can we express in current language and idiom the church's traditional view of Jesus as the conqueror of sin, death and Satan? All sorts of sermonic roads are suggested here.
Philippians 4:4-7
As he often did in his letters Paul inserts a benediction as he concludes his words to the Philippian congregation. Since not all lectionary selections beg to be preached from, why not use this lesson as the benediction in your order of worship this Sunday?
Luke 3:7-18
John does not use gentle words in addressing the crowd, but then the great ethical prophets never did traffic in pabulum and euphemisms. Their writings are mines of invective. Read chapters 1 and 59 of Isaiah for the images and words that are echoed in John's language. Jesus recognized the prophetic credentials of John by submitting to his baptism and in later praise (Luke 7:26-28). John's words and his question and answer session with his audience go right to the visceral issues of the day. John reminded them and reminds us that pious rhetoric and posturing is no substitute for ethical integrity and no group can claim executive privilege under God. John tells the crowd that they can start by sharing food and clothing with others. This means something more than just supplying food banks. A just and caring society begins with just and caring people both in the personal dimension and in the social/political dimension. That he even answered the tax collectors would raise eyebrows. They were quislings who represented Roman fiscal policy, a profitable pursuit. Think of them as among the anything-for-a-buck crowd. John's vocal hammer comes down on graft, insider trading, financial flim flam, greedy opportunism; all the tentacles that reach out to destroy the moral fiber of a people. Luke does not tell us whether the soldiers are Roman or Jewish. Either way they represent oppressive systems along with the tax collectors. While Jews did not serve in the Roman army Herod had Jewish soldiers. There were also guerilla soldiers and bandits who plundered the large estates. Peasant sympathies often ran with these ancient Robin Hood bands who plundered the rich. In the American Dust Bowl of the '30s folk songs were sung about the notorious bank robber, Pretty Boy Floyd, who is reputed to have been a benefactor to the dirt-poor farmers. There were also those religious/patriot fanatics who believed they had a right to commandeer anyone or even eliminate them. John's imperatives fall upon the whole of society. Luke concludes his account of John's preaching with the odd statement, "So, with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people" (v. 18). Good news? Not all so thought. But whenever the voice of conscience is heard in the land isn't that good news that raises hope for a new day? Jesus endorsed John then went his own way with a whole world in mind. He envisioned not only a reformed community, but a transformed community.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Zephaniah 3:14-20
This is a traditional Advent reading with which we have to exert extreme care. The picture of a warrior God emerges. While the prophetic passion for justice rings in this passage we have to bear in mind that God is also expected to act against the national enemies. The concomitant of this conviction was the assumption that God's people would bear arms and be partner warriors with God. The Jesus who comes to us in the gospels does not fit this script. He comes swordless and mounted not on a war horse but on a donkey. His agenda is reconciliation. He comes not to bring back the glory days of a nation but to usher in a new age for all peoples. There is within the history of the ancient church a tradition that exalted Jesus as the hero/warrior savior but invested the words with an entirely new meaning and understanding. I know there are some who object to military metaphors. Paul employed them freely. Are there not many kinds of battlefields and calls for courage and heroic action in our discipleship? Would it be appropriate to call Bishop Desmond Tutu a warrior without a sword? Edwin Markham's poem "The Nail-Torn God," is a this-century expression of the hero/warrior tradition. "The One forever hurtling back the Curse -- The nail-torn Christus pressing toward the stars, The Hero of the battling universe." If you are responsible for a children's sermon this day tell the legend of Saint Christopher, a giant who may have been martyred in the year 250 A.D. Offero, the giant, having great strength himself, wanted to serve the greatest and bravest king he could find. He settled by a river where he bore travelers through the waters on his mighty back.
One stormy evening a child he was bearing on his shoulders became heavier and heavier and turned out to be Christ who told Offero that by helping others he was serving the greatest of kings and renamed him Christopher (Christ-bearer). This tale is compatible with the theme of the hero/savior. How does the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as savior/hero enter into conflict with our frontier legends which exalt the gunslinger/hero/savior? What about the indestructible warrior/saviors of our films from Agent 007 to Rambo to the Terminator to the Mutant Ninga Turtles? Film makers and media representatives say in response to complaints about violence in films and programs that they are only reflecting the culture around them. They forget that they also reinforce that violence in our culture. Who are our cultural heroes? For whom do we reserve our adulation? Do they have salvic significance? What about the unexpected Jesus? What is there within us that wars with him? How can we express in current language and idiom the church's traditional view of Jesus as the conqueror of sin, death and Satan? All sorts of sermonic roads are suggested here.
Philippians 4:4-7
As he often did in his letters Paul inserts a benediction as he concludes his words to the Philippian congregation. Since not all lectionary selections beg to be preached from, why not use this lesson as the benediction in your order of worship this Sunday?
Luke 3:7-18
John does not use gentle words in addressing the crowd, but then the great ethical prophets never did traffic in pabulum and euphemisms. Their writings are mines of invective. Read chapters 1 and 59 of Isaiah for the images and words that are echoed in John's language. Jesus recognized the prophetic credentials of John by submitting to his baptism and in later praise (Luke 7:26-28). John's words and his question and answer session with his audience go right to the visceral issues of the day. John reminded them and reminds us that pious rhetoric and posturing is no substitute for ethical integrity and no group can claim executive privilege under God. John tells the crowd that they can start by sharing food and clothing with others. This means something more than just supplying food banks. A just and caring society begins with just and caring people both in the personal dimension and in the social/political dimension. That he even answered the tax collectors would raise eyebrows. They were quislings who represented Roman fiscal policy, a profitable pursuit. Think of them as among the anything-for-a-buck crowd. John's vocal hammer comes down on graft, insider trading, financial flim flam, greedy opportunism; all the tentacles that reach out to destroy the moral fiber of a people. Luke does not tell us whether the soldiers are Roman or Jewish. Either way they represent oppressive systems along with the tax collectors. While Jews did not serve in the Roman army Herod had Jewish soldiers. There were also guerilla soldiers and bandits who plundered the large estates. Peasant sympathies often ran with these ancient Robin Hood bands who plundered the rich. In the American Dust Bowl of the '30s folk songs were sung about the notorious bank robber, Pretty Boy Floyd, who is reputed to have been a benefactor to the dirt-poor farmers. There were also those religious/patriot fanatics who believed they had a right to commandeer anyone or even eliminate them. John's imperatives fall upon the whole of society. Luke concludes his account of John's preaching with the odd statement, "So, with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people" (v. 18). Good news? Not all so thought. But whenever the voice of conscience is heard in the land isn't that good news that raises hope for a new day? Jesus endorsed John then went his own way with a whole world in mind. He envisioned not only a reformed community, but a transformed community.
