12072022 – Matthew 3. 1-12
John has always intrigued me.
In a strange kind of way, I always look forward to his YEARLY visit.
He gets us.
It is like he peers into our souls, into our very beings.
He sees what others apparently do not, and if they do, they say nothing.
I am very much surprised that he “got away” with “WHAT HE DID,” “FOR AS LONG AS HE DID.”
John seemingly had “NO FILTERS.” None. Zero. Nadda.
He CALLED ‘em, the way he SAW ‘em.
He was a sly one, that John!
And people LOVED him for it.
They loved hearing him TAKE ON the “powers that be, the “power brokers” of his day and time.”
Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Roman soldiers, Temple Priests, even “puppet kings” NO PROBLEM – John was an “equal opportunity guy” when it came to DEMEANING and DISCREDITING the “behavior of others.”
Especially those in power.
John could discredit and debase anyone.
He would let YOU have it SQUARELY RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES!
In the wilderness, his STYLE and DIET were NOT strange or outlandish, it was perfectly acceptable.
It was “only strange” to the CITY dwellers.
Living off the land was COMMONPLACE, most common people did it.
Baptizing “anyone” and “everyone” was a LITTLE BIT ODD… little bit out there, but John was convinced of the NECESSITY to do it!
If you RISKED and CAME FORWARD, you got IMMERSED in the smelly waters.
If you were HESITANT or more RESERVED or were “just an OBSERVER,” YOU DIDN’T!
You walked home DRY, but still smelling of your own sin.
John didn’t care whom he held under the WATER!
He obviously felt some kind of “time restraint.”
So John seemingly had a “gitterdone mentality”…the sooner…the better…time…was of the essence, the more, the merrier.
NOW is the time! COME and BE BAPTIZED!
Hey you, over there, get over here.
John believed that the long-awaited, long-foretold Messiah was coming…and it was time to get ready to meet him in REAL TIME.
“The Lamb of God,” seemed to be one of “John’s expressions for the Messiah”…and he knew, he believed when the Messiah DID COME, he would take away the sin of the world.
John believed, what the world only HOPED FOR…he was living at the dawn of a NEW AGE.
The ANOINTED ONE OF GOD would soon make an appearance.
And YOU had better be ready!
It was on you!
So, he seemingly dedicated his life to preparing the way.
Fearlessly.
Passionately.
Shouting, yelling, hollering, persuading, until he was blue in the face…John wasn’t afraid to call a spade – a spade.
Imagine John talking today: “So what brought you slithering in here today?
You sons of … snakes.
Why are you here?
To get out of the cold?
Were you maybe bored at home, looking at the same four walls?
Did you come to be with your friends?
To make yourself feel “a little bit better” about how “faithful” and “good” you are?
Are you maybe here to give God that “wish list” you call prayer?
I wish for this or I wish for that.
Or worse yet, “I want”
Just like a small little child, I want this, I want that…
Make it happen!
Or are you here to ask him for all the stuff you want?
Is that what brings you to the waters today?
And don’t even start with me about who you are … or how long … your family has been in this particular parish…or has been going to church…
I don’t care what you’ve done for this place or how much money you’ve given.
I want to know what you are doing with your life.
Where are you headed?
How do you treat “other people?”
What have you done to benefit the lives of others?
Don’t give me some polite trite, cliched answer.
This is not “pretend time.”
This is serious and there are consequences to the way in which we live and the choices that we make.
Some of your priorities are all screwed up, but then you knew that, didn’t you?
So if you are here to change your ways, to live a different life, to open yourself to God, to truly love your neighbor as yourself, then show it.
Live it.
Practice it!
Do something about it.
Don’t just talk about it, blowing smoke.
Repent. Change. Grow. Quit playing around.
This is not a game. And YOUR TIME, IS RUNNING OUT.
Now, how about those choices that you have made, and continue to make, the priorities that you have established, the actions that you have taken, and the words that you speak?
Again, do something about them.
Get right with God.
Get right with your fellow human being.
If that’s not why you are here then get out.
LEAVE.
Go back home.
Go on. Run…
“Crawl back into the hole you came from.”
That’s why I like John, he gets us. He gets all of us. He is not afraid to be brutally honest!
Amen.