Bear Fruits Worthy of Repentance

Bear fruits worthy of repentance. (Luke 3:8)

Winter strips everything back and we are left to focus on what really matters. The hedgerows are devoid of leaves and only the red berries remain to signify the life multiplying truth of this plant's existence. Such an extravagant botanical investment in the future is also a present and welcome gift of food to many of the species of birds for whom the hedgerow is a vital part of their habitat. They in turn spread the seed far and wide beyond the parent plant. Such ecological mutuality and interdependence is a fundamental given of this landscape.

Mutuality and interdependence are integral to our wellbeing too. They signify an outlook which goes beyond self to others and which acknowledges the fundamental interrelatedness of life as a given of a healthy society. The fruits of such a worldview are obvious in terms of the bright red berries of welfare, social security, healthcare, justice and social capital which brighten up the wintry landscape in these austere and recessionary times.

The absence of berries in the hedgerow would indicate a catastrophic failure to provide for future generations and a breakdown in the local ecology which would put its very survival in jeopardy. Something would have gone terribly wrong.

And in the view of John the Baptist something had gone terribly wrong in contemporary society. The natural ecology of God's Kingdom of Love was in dire jeopardy. The fruits of mutuality and interdependence were remarkable by their scarcity. Looking around him John was struck by the comparative lack of the bright red berries of compassion, righteousness and service which signify a healthy faith. He confronted those who came to him with the simple facts of conversion, discipleship and Kingdom living. Their lives should bear clear witness to their belief. Their longing for a fresh start with God should entail a fresh start in how they live their lives towards others. They should bear fruits worthy of repentance.

The bright red berries which John looks for are very practical and down to earth and one can easily imagine that they are tailored to the individuals and groups who come to him asking what they should do: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.” (Luke 3:11-14) John emphasises the social, collective and communal dimensions of authentic faith in God. In this is he being absolutely true to the faith he has inherited and in which he stands. Without these expressions of mutuality and interdependence one can rightly conclude from the Hebrew Bible that as long as the heart remains unmoved, lip service is being paid to faith, for to take God into the heart of our being is to take the heart of the other there too.

Because the human ecology of grace is such a fundamental given of John's faith landscape, in his wintry words he strips everything back and focusses on what really matters; and not just to us, but to God. To be told unequivocally to bear fruits worthy of repentance is as much of a shock to our sensibilities today as it was when the phrase was first uttered by John the Baptist. For it suggest that the opposite holds true, and draws our attention to all that remains unworthy.

Our wintry world desperately needs to see evidence of bright, berry red lives. And John still prepares the way for us to take that truth to heart in Jesus and make it our own.

~~~

This post comes from the ever wonderful Visual Theology blog, by Dave Perry. The original post can be read here

Advent day 8: The Gospel According to L'Oreal

We live in an immediate world - instant food, instant info available on the internet, instant winners with our lottery mentality. What we want, we want now and we are not prepared to wait for it. We are encouraged to live for ourselves, to live in the now, to live as if no-one else mattered - and we reinforce this mentality when we begin to take seriously advertising stap lines that say things like ‘Because you’re worth it!’

Yet for most of us right at the moment, very little, in reality, is instant. We may not instantly get a pay rise, we may not instantly get a job, we may not instantly be able to afford the new TV or foreign holiday, the bank may not instantly extend our overdraft. Yet we expect our, our nation’s and our world’s ills to be sorted out in the blink of an eye - and we don’t like it much when they seemingly can’t be, because you’re worth it! You and I deserve so much more, so much better. Don’t we. Don’t we?

This morning’s Gospel reading comes from Mark’s Gospel. It’s a very 21st century account of Jesus’ life - it’s short and instant. It doesn’t faff around with stories of angels, babies, shepherds and visiting wise men. It cuts straight to the chase. Mark, almost understanding our need for instant answers even tells us that what he’s about to write is about Jesus, whom he names right at the beginning as the Messiah, the Son of God. This is no slow burning page turner. Mark has shown us the last page of the book right at the beginning - Jesus is God’s chosen one come to transform us and our world.

Then bam! Immediately we are flung into the wilderness with this odd man John the Baptist calling people to repent through baptism. To change their lives, before the coming of another person. We know that this other person is Jesus, who’s coming we are in the midst of preparing for and at this time of year we are in the midst of (frenetically) readying our homes and our lives for Christmas.

John called people then, and us this Advent, to repentance. Repentance is so much more than being really really sorry. It involves imagining something you regret and imagining it as an object in the middle of the road and you are walking towards it. Repentance is acknowledging that it’s there, and then walking away from it, resolving never to go there again. In our immediate world, this is hard as it’s something we cannot rush mostly because it is something we probably want to avoid it altogether. We do not like change. Certainly not this sort of change.  It is much easier to make excuses and continue on business as usual. It takes time and courage to even realise that things could and should be better. This morning, this Advent, John encourages us to change our lives in readiness for the coming of Christ, because it is only He who can change our hearts by the power of His Holy Spirit. Repentance is not walking away in failure thinking we cannot do it. Repentance is profoundly hopeful - it is about acknowledging that where we cannot and when we cannot change, God can.

My experience is though, if you scratch beneath the surface, all of us do want change. We want better homes, lives, cars, jobs, livelihoods, better fitness, better looks, a better world in which to live, better politics, better hospitals, better schools, better relationships with our family and friends and so on - and we want it now. Peace in nations begins with peace in people.  Free nations begins with free people.  Liberation of lands and political systems begins with liberating the human heart, and all of that can only come in time, in God’s time.

John met people in the wilderness - not a desert but a place with few resources, but a place where people had to rely on God, where they met him, often powerfully. In the 4th Century there were many Christians who withdrew to the wilderness to find God. Some of them became wise leaders and were referred to as “Abba”. One such Abba lived high in the mountains and a young man wished to be taught by him and so set off early to find the Abba. He climbed for hours to reach the cave in the mountain and when he arrived he found the cave with few possessions, but amongst them were a water jug and bowl. The Abba didn’t acknowledge him but was silent in prayer so the young man sat down and waited. One hour passed, and then another and then another. He became frustrated and worried that he would have to return home soon before it became dark, so he said “Abba, are you not going to teach me anything?” The Abba arose and poured water from the jug into the bowl and said “What do you see?” The young man looked into the bowl and replied “I see dirty water”. The Abba fell silent again for another hour and then repeated the question “What do you see?” The young man looked into the bowl again and replied “I see my face.”

We can’t do anything about answering John’s call to repentance until we see ourselves as we really are, until we realise that we need God to make us to be the people He and we long to be, deep down.  In doing that, we open ourselves up to the one who is to come, the one whom John didn’t feel worthy to be even in the presence of, the one by whose Holy Spirt even our hearts can be changed - Jesus - who can transform us from the inside out - because He believes we’re worth it. Amen.

h/t to Lesley for some pointers and hints in this sermon....

Presents or Pressence?

Advent 3

13th December 2009

Luke 3:7-18

It is hard for me, at this time of year not to look back to events of four years ago and to recall the events of 6.01 am on 11th December 2005 - the date and time of the Buncefield explosion. Despite four long years elapsing, it fills me with anger that those responsible are only just beginning to be held to account and that those affected most are still trying to piece their lives together and move on. None of my feelings are about retribution but they are about public, upfront reform and justice.

It is also hard for me, at the end of week one of the UN Climate Summit, not to look forward with hope and expectancy to the outcome of these crucial talks. I told you when I was last here that I hoped to attend The Wave. With a few others we gathered with 50,000 others last Saturday in London, and my hope and prayer as I marched was to show the world’s leaders that they need to act with courage and justice for the world and her peoples both now and in the future.

John the Baptist who we meet again this morning, seems to be fueled by similar anger, calls for reform and justice. John preaches about ethical reform, about lifestyle change. Yes his message is both personal and political. John says step up folks, change your ways, because God is coming with justice. Get ready... God is coming!

Now that is surely good news. God is coming! Change your lives! Change the Government! Change the economic system! Save the planet! But I am also suddenly brought up short by John. He’s talking to me. I am the crowd not Total or HOSL, or the banking sector, or our politicians. I don’t much like being lumped in with others as a brood of vipers. A snake in the grass. It is all to easy to lose sight of what John really says - change your life Simon because God is coming. You are a snake in the grass, you are a viper. You lie low with others colluding. Yes you have a poisonous bite.

Yes you Simon, are you growing into a healthy tree? Are there visible signs of God at work in your life? Are you bearing fruit, because if you aren’t, the axe is lying at the foot of the tree... Oh and don’t kid yourself that you are ok because you wear a dog collar and say all the right things in church - God can provide all the dog collars and people to fill churches he likes. What about you Simon? Well? How in all God’s earth is that good news? This Gospel is not about them and us, there is not a sheep or goat in sight. It is a Gospel about us not about the institutions and how corrupt they may be. John reminds us not to lose sight of the vision we started with this Advent - long for the world to be different and for God to transform it, but it begins with me.




John’s hearers are as bewildered with this other-worldly message as I am. What should we do? His message can be summed up in one word - repent. Do not live the way you have been, but seek to live out the justice of God in ways that can be tangibly seen and experienced - share out of your wealth, with those who have less than you - if you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t. If you have food, share it with someone who does not. Repentance should be visible and should cost us something.

Our natural inclaination is to recoil from John’s suggested lifestyle. This is not about supporting DENS or giving to Christian Aid. This is about demonstrating that we are ready for God’s coming. By living a repentant life, not only do we willingly choose to favour and support the poor and needy and live out Kingdom values, we outwardly demonstrate to the One who comes almost unseen amongst as a baby that we are ready to receive his judgement on us.

Hmmm... that doesn’t sound much like good news. First he calls me a viper, and now I should live like a paper... The good news that John proclaims is that the change we long for is coming in Christ, the babe of Bethlehem. He comes transforming judgement. When someone says to you this week, ‘Are you ready for Christmas?’ they mean, have you got all the trimmings ready - cards sent, presents bought and wrapped, turkey ordered etc. But with only 12 days to go, are you really ready for Christmas says John?

This morning, John reminds us that Advent is not about readying ourselves for Christmas - all turkey, crackers, parties and presents, but that Advent is about God and His presence in our lives and in the world. Are we really ready for that, for,

‘..He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire...’

12 days to go, are we ready with presents or His presence?