The World of Rev Ken
gidday all. I hope Christmas was good for you. I had the flu, apart from that it was pretty darn good. A couple of days recuperating in Quorn, South Australia, which is a wonderful spot and well worth a visit, although better in winter than in summer when it gets very hot. I'll post my last pre christmas sermon, but not my Chrstmas Day sermon, which written in a flu induced haze was predictably erratic. So here is my Advent 3 sermon mostly about John the Baptist. Pax. Ken.
Advent 3, 2003
I can’t say that I’m all that keen on John the Baptist’s preaching style.
I mean, I know it’s good to start with something dramatic, to capture the attention of the congregation. I tend to do that a bit as well. I just think John takes it a bit too far. He insults them, he calls them names – “brood of vipers”. But it must have been effective for it to rate a mention here in the Bible. It must have worked.
What John was comparing the crowds to were the snakes that flee a fire, that come out of the bush seeking salvation. The crowds coming to him were seeking salvation, they were seeking the safety of the river for baptism. But John had an additional message for them, a message which is still very pertinent today.
John was warning them that just being baptised was not enough, that the action of repentance was not enough. He was saying that as well as repentance there must be a life lived in accordance with that repentance, a life that is lived ethically, a life that shares the good fortune of one’s own circumstances with others. John tells the crowds to share food and warmth. He tells them to be honest in their business dealings and work. He doesn’t tell them to give up all of their possessions to the poor. He tells them to be content with what they earn honestly and share what they can. John tells them about qualities that many people in our highly secularised world might at this time of the year call the Spirit of Christmas.
This thing called the Spirit of Christmas is a spirit of sharing, compassion and fairness. Random acts of kindness are called for by this secular spirit of Christmas. It is a wonderful thing at times, this spirit of Christmas, it can pull a community together and bind them as one - but usually it only lasts for short time. It can even bring enemies together, although it is usually a temporary ceasefire rather than a lasting truce. Today a large percentage of the motorcyclists of Adelaide will ride together from Glenelg to Hahndorf with toys and other goods for needy families for Christmas. There will be bikers in that run who at any other time of the year would be seeking to beat up or perhaps even kill each other. Not all of them, a very small minority in fact, but they will be there. They put aside their differences for one day, leave their patches at home and try to be nice. That’s the problem with the Christmas spirit though, because for those bikers, as soon as the event is over, the hostilities will recommence. There are stories of Christmas in the trench warfare battlefields of the First World War, where opposing troops stopped shooting at each other for Christmas day, left the trenches and greeted each other in the Christmas spirit, perhaps playing a bit of soccer. It’s the same thing, it’s all over too soon. The next day they are back to shooting at each other in the name of God, King and Country. All the good will of the Spirit of Christmas evaporates for another year. It’s like it never happened.
I think that in effect John the Baptist is telling us to share this Christmas spirit, this compassion, and caring, and peace, all the time. So what stops us? Our human nature, and the fact that it is often easier to make bad decisions than good. It is often easier to be nasty to others than to be nice. It is easier to look after ourselves than to look after others. It is easier to remember past wrongs than to work towards future rights. It is easier to maintain the status quo than to achieve equality, than to attempt a change for something better. I guess in the case of a war its on a national scale, between the leaders of the countries at war. Why is it easier? Usually because change, healing, peace, good will towards all people – all these concepts scare us. Maybe we are just so used to seeing the negative, flawed, selfish ways of the world that we can’t see the possibilities of living the Christmas spirit all the time.
But Paul could see it. That’s why he rejoices so much. That’s why he asks the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice. Do we actually know what this means?
Rejoice. Being joyful. I don’t think Paul is advocating a kind of silly grin Christian, the inane smiles of a brainwashed people, oblivious to the pain of life, living in a make believe world of bliss. Yet this is a stereotype of Christianity. Some people out there think Christians are like this, all shiny happy people holding hands, to quote a song by REM. Obviously this is not the reality, we all know that. I know of no Christian at all who is like this. No, what Paul is talking about it something deeper. Much, much deeper.
I don’t think it’s ever possible to be totally happy all the time without faking it. It’s just like that way shop assistants have to say “Have a nice day” all the time, whether they want to or not. And I’m sure that often it is a genuine salutation, but sometimes it is forced, it is just a requirement of the job, not something that the shop assistant wants to say, particularly to a difficult customer. To be a shiny happy person all the time must involve, at some time or another, maintaining a facade of happiness on the outside. What a strain that must be. Better to be honest about feeling sad I think. And in this honesty about feeling sad there is more rejoicing in the Lord than being a shiny happy person. Rejoicing in the Lord is more about having a foundation of faith, so that no matter what life throws your way, you can trust in God, whatever the outcome may be. The faith is built on the knowledge that, as Paul writes to the Philippians, the Lord is near, with a peace that surpasses all understanding. That is rejoicing in the Lord. That is something to rejoice about. Knowing that God is always there for us, not to take all our pain away, not to make life eternally blissful, not to make us shiny happy people, but to offer us love whatever happens to us. Perhaps this might manifest itself in us as a more positive outlook, a happier person, but in a way that has more integrity, that is grounded in the being of the person. It might even manifest itself in a person who is more likely to live the Christmas spirit all year round, grounded in the peace of God which passes all understanding.
I guess if we can live a bit more in the Christmas Spirit all year round, then we might be able to take up the challenge of following the example that John the Baptist sets before us. We, as Christians are called to take up a similar role to John. We are called by the great commission to go and baptize the nations in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But there is more to it. We are also called to be the prophetic voice, the ones who prepare the way of the Lord in the wilderness. That wilderness is the spiritual wilderness of the secular world. The prophetic message is that we don’t have to only stop fighting and arguing at Christmas time, we can actually do it all the time. It’s also that we can be generous and sharing and loving at any time, not just at Christmas.
So this Christmas, keep up the Christmas spirit after Christmas, keep it going for good, be different, make a difference. And encourage others to do likewise. The Lord be with you.
