We’ve left our comfortable homes in Nazareth and are beginning the hundred-mile walk to Bethlehem. After walking for a day, about 15 miles, we reach the Jordan River where it spills out of the Sea of Galilee, and begins the 500 foot downhill travel to the Dead Sea through fertile farmland. But the descent is slow and the river road meanders back and forth like the river. And we begin to think, “this won’t be such a bad trip!”
he river sounds pleasant, and there is humidity in the air, we can smell it, a welcome change from the highlands near Nazareth. And so our journey to Bethlehem begins like our life, a journey that is mostly pleasant and comfortable in the time of our childhood and youth, not understanding what we are missing because we have been mostly comfortable.
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Luke 3:1-6
We grow thirsty and take cool water from the river. There are fish in the River that have drifted down from the Galilean Lake. Wide farms line the banks of the River – trees are plentiful, unlike anywhere else in our land. And so we take our time, enjoying the trip, talking to old friends, making new friends, laughing, for we are twenty years old and our life’s journey is ahead of us. We meet young men and women, and begin to chat with them, eventually settling with the most interesting one. And we walk together down the valley beside the River, the early spring flowers growing beside us, the birds singing, the water bubbling over some rocks. The leaves are green, the sky is blue, and the sun is bright. This is the beginning of the Jordan Valley; This is the beginning of our lives.
The first days are joy-filled and carefree, for we have left the farm, we have left the workshop, we have left the daily grinding of flour and baking of bread, we have left the fights with our neighbor over the land, we have left far behind the thorns of our field, the dryness of Nazareth hill. We have even left behind the constant presence of the enemy, the Romans who walk or ride into Nazareth almost daily. We have forgotten that the enemy would take our lives in a heartbeat if we stood tall to his soldiers. We have forgotten that the enemy would burn our homes, take our livestock, destroy our crops. For we are on holiday, even though this trip was commanded by the Roman leader himself, we have chosen to make this a holiday, and the beautiful river beside us helps us to forget that we will have to come back to Nazareth someday. Someday soon. And so we don’t see that the walls of the valley are rising slowly as we walk south, down toward the Sea of Death. We don’t realize that the valley is becoming a prison, the beautiful river leading us toward Death. We don’t realize that at the end of the River is a place where even worms die painfully. And so we ignore and forget what is ahead because we are enjoying life, the walk, our friends, the pretty girl or handsome man who walks beside us, the flowers, the green leaves, the river.
Over the centuries, thousands, even millions of people have made this trip. The only thing that makes the trip different this year is that the Emperor has commanded it. Even the man leading his donkey and his very pregnant young wife on the donkey are common sights every time we travel the journey. There is nothing special about him and his beard, his strong muscles, his calloused hands. There is nothing special about her, the weary eyes still smiling after a day and a half on donkey back. There isn’t even anything special about the donkey, walking easily down the road. Even their names are common. Y’sef. Miriam. Joseph, Mary.
Where are they headed to? Bethlehem, The House of Bread, it means in the language of the day. The village was the hometown of King David and had a great history. It was where Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel was buried, where Ruth and Naomi moved to after the famine killed their husbands in Moab, where Ruth married Boaz and had a son Obed, who had a son Jesse, who was the father of King David. The village is over 2500 feet above sea level, and there are many limestone/sandstone caves in the area. David hid out in one of those caves.
Back to the road beside the river...
The next day, during the walk beside the river, we come to a place which is known through history as the place where John baptized people. Of course, this was thirty years after Joseph and Mary’s journey.
John was a real character. His father was Zechariah, the temple priest who gave us the lovely song from Luke 1:68. Did you notice what Zechariah said about John?
And child, you will be called
a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare His ways,
to give His people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins.
Sometimes people get confused, for there are at least two Johns in the New Testament. There is John, the son of Zechariah, who baptized people at the Jordan River – including Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. And there is another younger man also named John, who was a student of the older John, and who became one of the chief disciples of Jesus. This younger man is celebrated as the author of the Gospel of John, and probably also wrote the three letters, I John, II John, and III John, and also likely wrote Revelation when he was a very old man.
But let’s go back to the older John, John the Baptist, or, more accurately, John the Baptizer, who was the cousin of Jesus.
Zechariah said his son would be called a prophet of the Most High, a prophet of God, for he would go before the Lord and prepare his ways. He would give people a knowledge of salvation, an idea that they needed to be saved and that they could be saved through the forgiveness of their sins.
So many people today who do not regularly attend church fall into one of two categories. First are the people who believe they are good. They don’t understand their need for salvation, for they believe that all people except those who are Hitler types or serial killers end up in Heaven. They believe that they are basically good enough for Heaven, that God looks at people on balance – They think: "Today, I cussed out a telemarketer, but I also held the door open for an old lady, so that probably balanced out. I smiled at my kids, so I’m ahead for the day."
We grow thirsty and take cool water from the river. There are fish in the River that have drifted down from the Galilean Lake. Wide farms line the banks of the River – trees are plentiful, unlike anywhere else in our land. And so we take our time, enjoying the trip, talking to old friends, making new friends, laughing, for we are twenty years old and our life’s journey is ahead of us. We meet young men and women, and begin to chat with them, eventually settling with the most interesting one. And we walk together down the valley beside the River, the early spring flowers growing beside us, the birds singing, the water bubbling over some rocks. The leaves are green, the sky is blue, and the sun is bright. This is the beginning of the Jordan Valley; This is the beginning of our lives.
The first days are joy-filled and carefree, for we have left the farm, we have left the workshop, we have left the daily grinding of flour and baking of bread, we have left the fights with our neighbor over the land, we have left far behind the thorns of our field, the dryness of Nazareth hill. We have even left behind the constant presence of the enemy, the Romans who walk or ride into Nazareth almost daily. We have forgotten that the enemy would take our lives in a heartbeat if we stood tall to his soldiers. We have forgotten that the enemy would burn our homes, take our livestock, destroy our crops. For we are on holiday, even though this trip was commanded by the Roman leader himself, we have chosen to make this a holiday, and the beautiful river beside us helps us to forget that we will have to come back to Nazareth someday. Someday soon. And so we don’t see that the walls of the valley are rising slowly as we walk south, down toward the Sea of Death. We don’t realize that the valley is becoming a prison, the beautiful river leading us toward Death. We don’t realize that at the end of the River is a place where even worms die painfully. And so we ignore and forget what is ahead because we are enjoying life, the walk, our friends, the pretty girl or handsome man who walks beside us, the flowers, the green leaves, the river.
Over the centuries, thousands, even millions of people have made this trip. The only thing that makes the trip different this year is that the Emperor has commanded it. Even the man leading his donkey and his very pregnant young wife on the donkey are common sights every time we travel the journey. There is nothing special about him and his beard, his strong muscles, his calloused hands. There is nothing special about her, the weary eyes still smiling after a day and a half on donkey back. There isn’t even anything special about the donkey, walking easily down the road. Even their names are common. Y’sef. Miriam. Joseph, Mary.
Where are they headed to? Bethlehem, The House of Bread, it means in the language of the day. The village was the hometown of King David and had a great history. It was where Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel was buried, where Ruth and Naomi moved to after the famine killed their husbands in Moab, where Ruth married Boaz and had a son Obed, who had a son Jesse, who was the father of King David. The village is over 2500 feet above sea level, and there are many limestone/sandstone caves in the area. David hid out in one of those caves.
Back to the road beside the river...
The next day, during the walk beside the river, we come to a place which is known through history as the place where John baptized people. Of course, this was thirty years after Joseph and Mary’s journey.
John was a real character. His father was Zechariah, the temple priest who gave us the lovely song from Luke 1:68. Did you notice what Zechariah said about John?
And child, you will be called
a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare His ways,
to give His people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins.
Sometimes people get confused, for there are at least two Johns in the New Testament. There is John, the son of Zechariah, who baptized people at the Jordan River – including Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. And there is another younger man also named John, who was a student of the older John, and who became one of the chief disciples of Jesus. This younger man is celebrated as the author of the Gospel of John, and probably also wrote the three letters, I John, II John, and III John, and also likely wrote Revelation when he was a very old man.
But let’s go back to the older John, John the Baptist, or, more accurately, John the Baptizer, who was the cousin of Jesus.
Zechariah said his son would be called a prophet of the Most High, a prophet of God, for he would go before the Lord and prepare his ways. He would give people a knowledge of salvation, an idea that they needed to be saved and that they could be saved through the forgiveness of their sins.
So many people today who do not regularly attend church fall into one of two categories. First are the people who believe they are good. They don’t understand their need for salvation, for they believe that all people except those who are Hitler types or serial killers end up in Heaven. They believe that they are basically good enough for Heaven, that God looks at people on balance – They think: "Today, I cussed out a telemarketer, but I also held the door open for an old lady, so that probably balanced out. I smiled at my kids, so I’m ahead for the day."
So many people believe that when we get to the end of our lives, God adds up a ledger of good and bad deeds and decides if the good deeds outweigh the bad to decide who gets to go to Heaven. And most people believe that they are so much better than the murders and Hitler, that God will let them into Heaven – assuming they “believe in God”. And they do. They even pray occasionally to God. So they don’t worry – in their minds, they don’t need salvation, for they believe they already have it. You may have once thought this yourself.
The second common category is the set of people who look at their lives and are acutely aware of the sins they’ve committed. They realize that Hitler was worse than they are, but they also realize that they have some sins they commit over and over and over again. In their mind, they have done so much bad that God will never forgive them. Sometimes it’s because of a life full of different sins, committed daily…other times it is one BIG sin in their lives. And they believe that God will send them to Hell and there is nothing that can be done about it. They know they need salvation, but they don’t see how they can be saved.
John the Baptizer began to speak of the need for salvation. He spoke mainly to the “good people”, the people who believed they were good people, destined for Heaven, doing all the right things, for the "good people" were more numerous and more difficult to convince. At the top of the list was the fact they made a sacrifice every year. Every year they went to the Temple and did what was asked of them. Still other people simply looked around and concluded that since God had clearly blessed them – they had nice clothes, a nice home, good food, spoke well, were educated, had some money – then this was proof they were good people. To them, God’s blessings meant they were good and going to Heaven.
Do we still do that today? Do we still assume that because we live in a nice house, we mostly pay our bills, we dress well, we speak well, we have a car that we can count upon – Do we assume we are good people? And do we assume that the man begging at the intersection is "bad" because he doesn't have these material things? Maybe we do and maybe we don’t, but I’m sure we each have friends who assume this. We all have friends who assume they have no need of salvation because they are already good enough for God. Or if they aren’t, they believe that’s because God is mean and not good enough for them.
John spoke directly to these people. He called them out to repent, to re-think their relationship with God.
He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!”
Just like the Jewish crowds, who assumed that because they were Jewish, God’s Chosen People, descended from Abraham they would each be saved, don’t we often say to ourselves, “But I am a Christian, descended from Christians. Of course I’m good and will be saved.”
John continued: “Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
The second common category is the set of people who look at their lives and are acutely aware of the sins they’ve committed. They realize that Hitler was worse than they are, but they also realize that they have some sins they commit over and over and over again. In their mind, they have done so much bad that God will never forgive them. Sometimes it’s because of a life full of different sins, committed daily…other times it is one BIG sin in their lives. And they believe that God will send them to Hell and there is nothing that can be done about it. They know they need salvation, but they don’t see how they can be saved.
John the Baptizer began to speak of the need for salvation. He spoke mainly to the “good people”, the people who believed they were good people, destined for Heaven, doing all the right things, for the "good people" were more numerous and more difficult to convince. At the top of the list was the fact they made a sacrifice every year. Every year they went to the Temple and did what was asked of them. Still other people simply looked around and concluded that since God had clearly blessed them – they had nice clothes, a nice home, good food, spoke well, were educated, had some money – then this was proof they were good people. To them, God’s blessings meant they were good and going to Heaven.
Do we still do that today? Do we still assume that because we live in a nice house, we mostly pay our bills, we dress well, we speak well, we have a car that we can count upon – Do we assume we are good people? And do we assume that the man begging at the intersection is "bad" because he doesn't have these material things? Maybe we do and maybe we don’t, but I’m sure we each have friends who assume this. We all have friends who assume they have no need of salvation because they are already good enough for God. Or if they aren’t, they believe that’s because God is mean and not good enough for them.
John spoke directly to these people. He called them out to repent, to re-think their relationship with God.
He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!”
Just like the Jewish crowds, who assumed that because they were Jewish, God’s Chosen People, descended from Abraham they would each be saved, don’t we often say to ourselves, “But I am a Christian, descended from Christians. Of course I’m good and will be saved.”
John continued: “Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
What is the fruit? Could it be leading others to the love of God through our piety, our good deeds, our clear love for others? Could the fruit be results, actual results that comes from helping others?
“What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him.
He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”
And John spoke on and on about what it meant to be a good person, the daily sacrifices that had to be made, the need to stop being so comfortable and selfish and the need to personally help those who did not have those comforts.
And John offered to wash away their sins with the water of baptism. John offered to give them a chance for a clean start, a chance to start over doing what was right instead of living comfortably, assuming they were good because they were comfortable.
Are you comfortable?
When a pair of eagles is about to lay eggs, they build a nest. They start with big sticks and then gradually move to smaller and smaller sticks and then twigs. Then, they put in leaves. Finally, the mother eagle takes the soft down hair from her chest and she feathers the nest with it so it will be soft and cozy for the eaglets that will soon be hatched, so they will be comfortable.
Is your nest soft and cozy? Have you ever thought about when your nest is feathered enough? How much feathering of your nest are you going to do?
Then, after they are hatched, they grow and grow and finally, there comes the time when they need to fly from the nest. So mother eagle begins to pull those soft down feathers out of the nest so the nest bottom will become sharp and poky and uncomfortable for the eaglets. They move up to the edge of the nest and one day they fall over and have to fly.
Perhaps your world has become sharp and poky. Perhaps it is becoming uncomfortable. Perhaps that’s because God knows that it is time for you to stop hiding in that soft, cozy, comfortable nest. Perhaps God knows that it is time for you to FLY! Perhaps it is time for you to go into the world and achieve the godly goals God has for you!
John made things uncomfortable for his listeners. And many of them chose to rethink their relationship with God. They began to understand that, despite the fact they were good and successful and comfortable by the standards of the world, they needed to change. They needed forgiveness. They needed to grow closer to God.
There were many people in that crowd that didn’t take long. They were the people who already understood their sin. They were the people who already knew they needed forgiveness, they needed salvation, they needed a new start. Others in the crowd walked away and went back to their comfortable homes, to their servants, to their pleasant lives where no one reminded them that God wasn’t looking at their ancestry, but at their lives, where no one reminded them that God wasn’t looking at the sacrifices their grandparents had made, but what they had given up, where no one reminded them that God was a jealous God who wanted to be worshiped far more than they worshiped their comforts, their homes, their money.
And those who went home…they missed the main event, the big show, the most important part of what happened in that spot there beside the Jordan River in the Valley. For John was just the warm-up act. John was the carnival barker attracting the crowd to the Big Tent. John was the pre-game show, who said He wasn’t even worthy to untie the sandals of the One who would come after Him.
Imagine being there that day. Imagine you can see what is happening...
The vision forms...John has been speaking in the heat that morning…and you can smell the sweat from the crowd. The water looks cool and inviting before you. A gentle breeze is blowing from the East and it bring the mixed smell of flowers – and animals. It is the smell of life blowing in. It reminds you that the same word is used for wind, for breath, and for spirit. God’s Holy Spirit, God’s Holy Breath, God’s Holy Breeze.
A fly buzzes near your head, trying to distract you from what John is saying. A group of well-dressed young men from Jerusalem have been asking John what to do and finally, in disgust, they decide to leave. But several men and women go forward, down into the water for John to baptize them, and they all come up from the water filled with joy! Again, the breeze blows from the East.
And then, as if He came in on that breeze, a taller man walks down to John. They look similar – there is a family resemblance. But where John is roughly dressed, the new man is middle-class. Where John’s skin looks like leather, the new man’s hands are rough and calloused. Where John seems like a wildman – the new man seems almost kingly in bearing.
They talk in the water. John shakes his head no. The other man insists. And John baptizes the man in the water. As the man comes up from the water, a dove descends on his shoulder, and the crowd says “OO!” And you realize something important has happened, you just don’t know what. But you hope you’ll find out. You’d like to talk with that man. Maybe someday. And the vision fades away…
But all of this is years in the future. Is that what it is like to be a prophet, to see a vision? It’s something to consider later. For now, we have to follow Joseph and Mary and that donkey down stream, deeper into the valley, closer to the Sea of Death, having Faith that one day, that new man who seems so kingly will actually come to the River to meet with John. For we have days and many miles to travel until we get to Bethlehem. And the worst part of the road is still to come. We all have to walk into the wilderness in order to escape the Valley and reach Bethlehem.
This week, I ask you to come to prayer with the question of comfort on your mind and on your prayer lips. Come to God and ask what comforts in your life are keeping you from God. For instead of being comforted by STUFF, God wants to be your comfort. Ask God what comforts you need to give up so that you might fly before the Holy Wind of God, the Holy Breath of God, the Holy Spirit of God. What comforts are holding you back, keeping you from being free?
“What then should we do?” the crowds were asking him.
He replied to them, “The one who has two shirts must share with someone who has none, and the one who has food must do the same.”
And John spoke on and on about what it meant to be a good person, the daily sacrifices that had to be made, the need to stop being so comfortable and selfish and the need to personally help those who did not have those comforts.
And John offered to wash away their sins with the water of baptism. John offered to give them a chance for a clean start, a chance to start over doing what was right instead of living comfortably, assuming they were good because they were comfortable.
Are you comfortable?
When a pair of eagles is about to lay eggs, they build a nest. They start with big sticks and then gradually move to smaller and smaller sticks and then twigs. Then, they put in leaves. Finally, the mother eagle takes the soft down hair from her chest and she feathers the nest with it so it will be soft and cozy for the eaglets that will soon be hatched, so they will be comfortable.
Is your nest soft and cozy? Have you ever thought about when your nest is feathered enough? How much feathering of your nest are you going to do?
Then, after they are hatched, they grow and grow and finally, there comes the time when they need to fly from the nest. So mother eagle begins to pull those soft down feathers out of the nest so the nest bottom will become sharp and poky and uncomfortable for the eaglets. They move up to the edge of the nest and one day they fall over and have to fly.
Perhaps your world has become sharp and poky. Perhaps it is becoming uncomfortable. Perhaps that’s because God knows that it is time for you to stop hiding in that soft, cozy, comfortable nest. Perhaps God knows that it is time for you to FLY! Perhaps it is time for you to go into the world and achieve the godly goals God has for you!
John made things uncomfortable for his listeners. And many of them chose to rethink their relationship with God. They began to understand that, despite the fact they were good and successful and comfortable by the standards of the world, they needed to change. They needed forgiveness. They needed to grow closer to God.
There were many people in that crowd that didn’t take long. They were the people who already understood their sin. They were the people who already knew they needed forgiveness, they needed salvation, they needed a new start. Others in the crowd walked away and went back to their comfortable homes, to their servants, to their pleasant lives where no one reminded them that God wasn’t looking at their ancestry, but at their lives, where no one reminded them that God wasn’t looking at the sacrifices their grandparents had made, but what they had given up, where no one reminded them that God was a jealous God who wanted to be worshiped far more than they worshiped their comforts, their homes, their money.
And those who went home…they missed the main event, the big show, the most important part of what happened in that spot there beside the Jordan River in the Valley. For John was just the warm-up act. John was the carnival barker attracting the crowd to the Big Tent. John was the pre-game show, who said He wasn’t even worthy to untie the sandals of the One who would come after Him.
Imagine being there that day. Imagine you can see what is happening...
The vision forms...John has been speaking in the heat that morning…and you can smell the sweat from the crowd. The water looks cool and inviting before you. A gentle breeze is blowing from the East and it bring the mixed smell of flowers – and animals. It is the smell of life blowing in. It reminds you that the same word is used for wind, for breath, and for spirit. God’s Holy Spirit, God’s Holy Breath, God’s Holy Breeze.
A fly buzzes near your head, trying to distract you from what John is saying. A group of well-dressed young men from Jerusalem have been asking John what to do and finally, in disgust, they decide to leave. But several men and women go forward, down into the water for John to baptize them, and they all come up from the water filled with joy! Again, the breeze blows from the East.
And then, as if He came in on that breeze, a taller man walks down to John. They look similar – there is a family resemblance. But where John is roughly dressed, the new man is middle-class. Where John’s skin looks like leather, the new man’s hands are rough and calloused. Where John seems like a wildman – the new man seems almost kingly in bearing.
They talk in the water. John shakes his head no. The other man insists. And John baptizes the man in the water. As the man comes up from the water, a dove descends on his shoulder, and the crowd says “OO!” And you realize something important has happened, you just don’t know what. But you hope you’ll find out. You’d like to talk with that man. Maybe someday. And the vision fades away…
But all of this is years in the future. Is that what it is like to be a prophet, to see a vision? It’s something to consider later. For now, we have to follow Joseph and Mary and that donkey down stream, deeper into the valley, closer to the Sea of Death, having Faith that one day, that new man who seems so kingly will actually come to the River to meet with John. For we have days and many miles to travel until we get to Bethlehem. And the worst part of the road is still to come. We all have to walk into the wilderness in order to escape the Valley and reach Bethlehem.
This week, I ask you to come to prayer with the question of comfort on your mind and on your prayer lips. Come to God and ask what comforts in your life are keeping you from God. For instead of being comforted by STUFF, God wants to be your comfort. Ask God what comforts you need to give up so that you might fly before the Holy Wind of God, the Holy Breath of God, the Holy Spirit of God. What comforts are holding you back, keeping you from being free?
No comments:
Post a Comment