Göttinger Predigten im Internet
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Advent 2 (RCL), 5 December 2004
A Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12 by Samuel Zumwalt
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Matthew 3:1-12 [NRSV Text from The Word for Today, Eugen Lehrke]

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, [2] "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." [3] This is the one of 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 paths straight.' "
[4] Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. [5] Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, [6] and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
[7] But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] Bear fruit worthy of repentance. [9] 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. [10] Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
[11] "I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [12] His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

KEEP LOOKING

The Lutheran Church in the 21 st Century USA needs a strong dose of John the Baptist. But don’t look for a lot of applicants for the job. When you consider that John ended up dead for telling the truth, the stack of submitted resumes gets notably thin.

The reason John lost his head was he knew nothing about subtlety. He clearly had not been listening to Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziegler, or any other sales gurus. John clearly was a naively fearless man, going right into the belly of the beast, telling everyone from King Herod right on down the line to the manure scoopers that they were no better than a bunch of stinking Gentiles. So much for unconditional positive regard! So much for speaking no evil of one’s neighbors!

What has been said about noted preacher, Methodist bishop Will Willimon, could be applied to John the Baptist. The central message of John’s preaching is: “I’m not OK, and you’re not OK either.”

John’s good news sounds pretty bad to us, and it should. After all, most Lutherans will shift their bottoms in the pews and clear their throats a few times if the words devil or hell are used in a sermon. We’re all too educated and sophisticated to believe that there is a personal malevolent force promoting chaos in the hearts of women and men, young and old. We’re all too educated and sophisticated to believe that there might be a final separation of sheep from goats. We’re all too media savvy to be taken in by someone that’s giving an unpleasant message in an edgy tone of voice.

Think about it. All that presidential hopeful John Dean had to do to sabotage his campaign was to be caught on camera sounding like a cowboy trail boss yelling “Yee Haw!” They played that scene over and over until the man was political road kill within 24 hours. Imagine what the media would do to John the Baptist today. Eye rolling with a smirk, a touch of elitist repartee, comments about his personal hygiene, who-dresses-this-man, and perhaps even the Bubba label would be permanently affixed to John the Baptist like a bull’s eye the very first time he dared to suggest that people were going to hell.

And we are so media savvy that we don’t need a professional to tell us what to think about John the Baptist and those like him. We all have a feel of what’s just not said or done if you want to get your message across effectively.

In the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas remarks, “ Israel in 4 B.C. had no mass communication.” Then Judas asks Jesus: “Why’d you come to such a backward time and such a strange land?” Maybe lyricist Tim Rice hit on something there. Maybe God didn’t send John the Baptist or his only begotten Son to a media savvy time for a reason. Neither man would have been able to sell his message today.

So here we have this period piece, this Gospel lesson from a man that clearly doesn’t care about public opinion. John the Baptist has no media pollsters. John the Baptist has no image consultants. John has no speechwriters or political operatives. John simply speaks the truth without any concern for his own well-being. You can’t stop a man who has no ambition, no family to support, no fear, and no need to be liked. John the Baptist says, “Repent – turn around – have a change of heart and mind – God’s kingdom is at hand and your lives are far from the kingdom!”

John the Baptist didn’t say, “Look at me. I’m the Messiah. Follow me. I’ll take you to the Promised Land.” John said, “I’m not the one. If you’re looking for the Messiah, you need to keep looking. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. I’m the one who’s here to tell you that if you don’t turn your lives around you’re going to be kindling in the devil’s fireplace.”

Well, I began by saying that the Lutheran Church in the USA could use a strong dose of John the Baptist. If John the Baptist were here today, he would say, “Don’t tell me that you’re baptized children of God whose hearts are full of justification by grace through faith. Please don’t tell me that the only word that God has for you sounds like Billy Joel singing: ‘I love you just the way you are.’ If you’re buying that message, I can get you a great deal on swampland in Arizona and a certain bridge in Brooklyn.”

“You Lutherans are so quick to say ‘God loves and forgives me’ that you never actually do more than say a few ‘I’m sorrys’ as you read a general confession now and again. Whatever happened to sin? (Karl Menniger asked.) Do you think God loves you so much that he really doesn’t hate your sin? Do you think God is so dimwittedly lovesick for you that he doesn’t notice that you don’t love him enough to even ask him to help you amend your life? Science seems to be your god, because all you have to hear is that groups of scientists somewhere have theorized that there is a genetic predisposition to this or that, and then you think that lets you off the hook for your behavior. Science isn’t God, and scientists aren’t infallible. You smirk at the idea of an infallible Pope while buying whatever makes you feel good about yourself right where you are.”

“Bear fruits that befit repentance. Demonstrate that someone other than you is the center of the universe. Stop saying that God forgives you even when you aren’t sorry and you have no intention of asking God to amend your life. If all that being a child of God is about is getting some water thrown on you in God’s name, then why aren’t the stone jetties at the beach all children of God?”

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When God’s Son Jesus was baptized by John in solidarity with us sinners, God was not discrediting John’s message. God wasn’t saying that God was revoking his NO to sin. Rather God took his judgment upon himself. God in human flesh died for sinners. God said “I love you enough to die in your place.” Martin Luther called it the froehlicheWechsel, the happy exchange; God in Christ graciously takes our sin and death to his cross and gives us his life and his righteousness as a free gift!

In the washing of Holy Baptism, we are buried with Christ and raised with him to new life. It is not magic. It is a pattern. It is a way of life until our bodies draw their last breath.

21 st century Lutherans are so confused about what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and what it does. God doesn’t say, “I love you just the way you are.” God says, “You are not OK, but I love you in spite of what you are, which is, a sinner.” God doesn’t say, “Once you’re baptized, you’ve got it made.” God says, “Baptism is daily drowning the old sinner in you by confessing your sins and asking for my help to amend your life.” God doesn’t say, “What you do with your life really doesn’t matter, because good works will never save you.” God says, “Good works are the way you say ‘thank you.’ Good works are the sign that my Son is alive in you.”

The heavenly No, spoken by John the Baptist, is God’s continuing Word that remains valid. The purpose of that NO is to show us that we are indeed sinners. The purpose of that NO is to show us that we need a Redeemer – not once but everyday! Only God’s Son Jesus is able to set us free by God’s Word of forgiveness. Christ has died for these particular sins today – here and now. And he has a better way for us!

The forgiveness of sins isn’t some kind of routine affirmation for those with low self-esteem. The forgiveness that Jesus extends to sinners always does something. The forgiveness of sins took a hated tax collector like Matthew and turned him into a disciple – he left the old life behind. The forgiveness of sins took a hated tax collector like Zacchaeus and he gave away 50% of his wealth – he left the old life behind. The forgiveness of sins took lepers and transformed them into different people – they left the old life behind.

The forgiveness of sins can heal a drunk, free an addict, rescue somebody from a lifestyle of casual sex, change a crooked professional, save a condemned killer from the pits of hell, renew self-control among both the married and unmarried, turn a greedy miser into a happy donor, transform a spoiled pampered child into a contented worker at a shelter or a Habitat for Humanity build. The forgiveness of sins can take someone headed into a lucrative but lifeless profession and turn that person into a seminarian, a future pastor. The forgiveness of sins can even take a brilliant but very wrong theologian and turn that person into a passionate proclaimer of the forgiveness of sins. She or he can turn from being an inspirer of sins! Do you want to believe that even though you don’t yet believe it?

Forgiveness works – people leave the old life behind. Sometimes the forgiveness of sins stops a person from entering into a disastrous marriage with an unbeliever. Sometimes the forgiveness of sins changes a disastrous marriage into something that reflects God’s everlasting faithfulness. And sometimes the forgiveness of sins gives a new beginning to those who are heartbroken over the failed marriages they never should have entered into. As one who knows the failure of divorce, I confess that divorce is not God’s will. Nevertheless, it is not an unforgivable sin for those who throw themselves upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. There is forgiveness in Jesus’ name no matter where you have been or what you have done or how you have failed!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, has the power to change the world one life at a time. That’s the Holy Spirit power that the baptized can draw upon to bear fruits that befit repentance. That’s the Holy Spirit power that the unbaptized can feel drawing them towards the life that God wants to give them in Jesus Christ. Do you believe that? Will you stake your whole life on that?

“Don’t look at me,” says John the Baptist. Keep looking! Keep looking for Jesus Christ. Keep looking at Jesus Christ, crucified and raised, for your sins and mine. Keep looking at Jesus Christ leading you and me into a new life that demonstrates we have been changed and turned around today, here, now by the forgiveness of sins, by the love and mercy of God in Jesus Christ!

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Zumwalt
St. Matthew’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Wilmington, North Carolina USA
szumwalt@bellsouth.net


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