Month: December 2025

Dream.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“Oh God, our provider and sustainer! Your end has no end, but we find ourselves ending and beginning a new year. We ask that your compassion protect us this year from evil, that you call us sweetly to follow you, that you give us a longing to leave our old self behind, and that you guide us to walk in your love. May your grace bless the universe and shower us with favor.”

-A Prayer for the New Year, adapted from Rumi (Chuck Hoff, Cloisterseminars.com)

Matthew 2:13-23

The Escape to Egypt

13 Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[a] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

The Massacre of the Infants

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[b] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[c]17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

The Return from Egypt

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[d] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 2:14 Gk he
  2. Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
  3. Matthew 2:16 Or astrologers; Gk magi
  4. Matthew 2:21 Gk he

It is interesting to see how our world defines kings or power.  We are all about the sense of regality, of power and a sense of certitude that a king can bring.  The idea that a new king has been born is a part of the Christmas message.  What gets missed in the Christmas message though is that the story doesn’t end with Jesus’ birth in a manger and the wise men and shepherds coming.  No, this story has more twists in Jesus’ early life.

You see, as we’ve been saying throughout Advent, God entrusted God’s self to us in Jesus.  The Trinity, the 3 in 1 God flows into humanity through Jesus by the power of the Spirit.  It is a beautiful story, but rather than coming as a conquering king or in splendor and glory, Jesus shows up as a little baby born to first time teenaged parents in the middle of political and social upheaval.  God comes to us, not in regal authority, but in true humility, which has more power than any conquering army.  

After the birth in the manger in a dirty stall, our passage on this 1st Sunday after Christmas Day details Jesus’ first few days after the Shepherds and wise men (and/or women) visit.  

King Herod, who was the ruler under Roman authority, was a ruthless politician.  He had wide latitude and the Roman army to back him up.  He committed many atrocities to keep his hold on power.  He was rather thin skinned and narcissistic I’d imagine…and furious that the wise men had visited Jesus and did not tell him where to find Jesus as they were told.  So, he ordered all of the boys under 2 years old in Bethlehem to be slaughtered.

Joseph is warned in a dream by an angel to flee Bethlehem before this happens…but to make haste and do it that very night.  Dreams are interesting, they can be windows into our hearts, our souls.  The Divine was deep within Joseph, warning him, telling him to move his young family to safety.  So, he got up, got Mary and Jesus and fled to the relative safety of Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution and to save the life of his son, and probably his and Mary’s.  And, if you remember from the gospel lesson last week, God spoke to Joseph in another dream to not divorce Mary…and Mary and others had so many dreams!  

Friends, this story is so important to us as we close 2025.  This has been a year of many ups and downs for all of us I’d imagine, but it is also a year where we have seen one of the largest refugee crisis in the history of the world throughout the world.  Through wars, famine, and political upheaval, there are now an estimated 60 million + refugees.  

We should recognize that Jesus was a refugee and if we are called to identity the image of God in each person, and to identify with all of humanity, and especially those on the margins through Jesus, then when we see a refugee, we are looking at Jesus through our shared humanity.  

According the UN, the definition of a refugee is as follows:  

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

I would say that definition certainly fits with Jesus in our story this morning.  Jesus knows what it’s like to have to flee a country as a child, to know that his life is in danger.  And his earthly father knew that he had to do whatever it took to get him to safety.

I’m also reminded of a refugee that I met in Brussels, Belgium a few years ago.  He shared what it was like to have his boat overturn in the Mediterranean and to swim to the relative safety of a rock with his family and to watch 23 other humans drown who weren’t so lucky.

This amazing story of Jesus as a refugee was one wrought in peril, in danger.  It could have gone bad as many refugee stories do.  Even when Jesus and his family return to Israel, they don’t go back to Bethlehem.  It’s too close to Jerusalem, and even  though Herod had died, his sons and others still may not take kindly to Jesus.  So, Joseph is instructed to go to Nazareth, which had recently become somewhat of a more independent region.  This also fulfills a prophetic word about the Messiah coming out of Nazareth…as well as add to the narrative that God comes out of nowhere, and out of those in poverty.  Nazareth was not of any importance in that day.  

Friends, we may have gone through a lot this past year.  And, as we face 2026, we will have some struggles to face personally, as a congregation, community, city, country, and world.  Yet, even as we use the symbol of a baby as the new year 2026, we approach it with eager expectation.  We don’t know what will happen, or where hope will appear, but we can have faith and commitment to a God who promises to be with us  

When I became a dad, I looked at my kids with all sorts of amazement and wonder, I did not know what life with them would bring, how they’d turn out, but I knew I was committed to them.  And, I know that in this new year, as I continue to grow, even in my late-fifties, that my kids are a part of birthing something new in me.  

Let us not forget that, just as we reminded in this morning’s gospel story, that God weeps with us and looks out for us.  That the Christmas story is about what is being incarnated, fleshed out, birthed within us.  May we have the listening ear, wisdom, and trust of Joseph to follow God’s voice, even if it takes us places we may not want to go…but, as we go, be reminded that we are not alone and that God will make a way for us in 2026 and beyond…and is constantly birthing something new within and all around us.

Ponder.

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Luke 2:1-20 

The Birth of Jesus

2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,

    and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

In our church traditions, we read this passage almost every Christmas Eve.  Growing up, my dad would read this to our family…from the King James Version no less.  One thing about my dad, he was pretty consistent!  It’s a good tradition, it’s the Christmas story…and it’s the promise of new birth coming to us in the darkest of nights, the darkest of days.

This year, many of us have had to ponder on a deeper level what Christmas is about, it’s about something new being birthed…in us and in the world around us, and that can be hard, even painful, in very uncertain and troubling times we often live in.  Childbirth isn’t easy, it’s painful as I’ve been told…yet, what do we call babies after they’ve arrived?  “Little bundles of Joy”.  Possibility, mystery, love, struggle, suffering, growth, and presence are all wrapped up into babies.

December 25 was decided by the early church fathers and mothers because it is close to the annual winter solstice.  The winter solstice is also known as the “longest night”.  It is the day of the year where it’s darkest the longest.  It is to remind us of the darkness of life that we all experience.  And also that there is hope, because after the longest night, when it is the most dark, the light shines forth, dawn comes…and we can see what is being  birthed in the night more clearly and we can see something of the path ahead.  Kind of like giving birth!  

Tonight, let’s slow down a bit and ponder on the darkness of  the first Christmas night…there is a great stirring, a birthing, a movement towards something new that brings joy, hope, peace, and love. 

The passage that we read tonight is also full of subversive beauty!  Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor was the head of a political cult that set him up to be divine, a savior, the lord, one who claimed to not have any failings, in his ego, Caesar was a winner at all costs…and he lived in imperial power exacting a census that was a sign of his authority and ability to collect taxes and contribute to the wealth of Rome, and especially his own wealth.  Yet, Jesus comes to us impoverished, on the run, and in a dirty stable.  His coming is announced to a group of outsiders, literally, shepherds and not some great proclamation to the entire empire, this proclamation came from the heavens to a few shepherds and wise men and women (side note:  there is speculation that all of the wise men were actually women) so that it can be carried to and for all of creation.  Amazing!  As we said last Sunday, this is a different kind of power from God…not power that is top down, but bottom up!  It is subversive power that emerges out of unforeseen places.  

Into that dark night, a baby is born.  Emmanuel or “God with us”!  Jesus, Emmanuel, born in and through us, humanity.  God, entrusting God’s self to us, in darkness, and to a couple of young folks who were still trying to figure things out…talk about pondering!  God, who gives hospitality and relationship receives hospitality and relationship and is being birthed into the world by a teenager!  

Into the night, a small light came on to the scene of history that grew to a blazing fire illuminating hope, peace, grace, friendship to ALL…a birth that changed history from a dirty stable…a birth that we all experience.  

One of our Christian mystics from the middle ages, Meister Eckhart, says this:  “What does it avail me if this birth takes place unceasingly and yet does not take place within myself?  It is quite fitting, however, that it should take place within me.

We have opportunity after opportunity to meet God in the deepest darkness of our lives, in the stillness of the night metaphorically, this night and every night…really every moment.  May we lean into the darkest places, the deepest innermost place of our lives, into the dark night of our souls as another mystic from the middle ages, John of the Cross would say, and grow as we experience Christmas every moment as we are birthed from darkness into people of radiance, a shining forth forth people, even as we wait for the morning light!  

Friends, Westwood First is birthing new life, as we, together, embark into new chapters, may we too ponder and wait on God’s time that is shedding light at just the right time in unforeseen places…even dark places.  My goodness, we have some amazing stories being written and told in this season at Westwood First!  As we allow ourselves to embrace what the night brings, there is a light shining and leading us into a future.  A future that is emerging, birthing right before us with wild, sometimes weird, and wonderful possibilities. 

So friends, into the darkest nights of our lives as Christ is born again in us and around us…may we proclaim and rejoice in this king, this savior, this lord, this friend, this ever deepening Presence being born in us with the world!  And, in this looking in, may we experience the birth of Christ that is happening within us, all of the time.  

May the joy of the promise of new birth, the story of Christmas, be with you every day, every moment of your life.  Merry Christmas!

Love.

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Old Testament Reading

            Lesson from the Prophets

Isaiah 7:10-16

Isaiah Gives Ahaz the Sign of Immanuel

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” 13 Then Isaiah[a] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.[b] 15 He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

Footnotes

  • 7.13 Heb he
  • 7.14 That is, God is with us

New Testament Reading

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 1:18-25

The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 

“Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son,
    and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son,[b] and he named him Jesus.

Footnotes

  • 1.18 Or Jesus Christ
  • 1.25 Other ancient authorities read her firstborn son

Isaiah, the prophet.  Promising that “Immanuel” would come to us.  Immanuel, the word literally means God with us.  Now, God has always been with us, always, before time and before we were formed and life breathed into.  

But, we need stories, stories with power, with agency.  So, Isaiah says that a child will be born…and with some other wild stories about this child’s life around honey and curds.  But, a promise of a physical reminder that God is with us and will come to us in the flesh.

Our Gospel lesson follows upon this prophetic story from Isaiah, from the prophets.  It gives us an intimate picture of Mary becoming pregnant by God’s actions.  Joseph wants to honor Mary and decides to divorce her quietly.  In those days, being engaged was on the same understanding of being married.  But, an angelic being, a messenger of the Divine, comes to Joseph and calms him and tells him in a dream to stay with Mary, that she will give birth to a son and he will be “Immanuel”, God with us.  

Friends, when something new is about to happen, something that brings great change.  It can be disorienting, yet God sends messages all of the time reminding us that something deeper is happening.  We may not always see it, and it may be hard and challenging.  But, we can trust that something is happening.  New life and growth springs forth.  

As Meister Eckhart reminds us from the middle ages, Christmas, the birth of the Christ child, Immanuel, not only happens in our imagination around the winter solstice, but it happens every day and every moment.  Our only “sin” if you will, is to live lives of unawareness around this reality.  May we have our ears and eyes open to God being with us…showing us how to love…and may we experience that love of God’s Presence with us, in us, and around us!  May we experience peace, hope, joy, and love as we celebrate with amazing music today…and may we celebrate in our hearts and lives everyday!

Wait.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“Lord, make your home in the place you lead me. Take that place and fill it with your love. Make me at home wherever you lead me. May each place reflect a glory all your own.”

―Ray Simpson, 40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity

Matthew 11:2-11
Messengers from John the Baptist 

2 When John heard in prison what the Messiahwas doing, he sent word by hisdisciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for
another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepersare cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” 

Jesus Praises John the Baptist 

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someonedressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet?Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written, 

‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
 who will prepare your way before you.’ 

11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 

John had been the voice crying out in the wilderness…he knew his voice was calling out the coming of the Messiah, the promised one. He was also waiting, earnestly. Not idly, he was in the business of calling people towards something…it was an active waiting…not anxious, but active. With all of that activity, he wasn’t able to slow down possibly…until he was put into prison. Then, the questions came. Jesus, are you the one?


John was the hinge piece between promise and fulfillment. But, even as Jesus came, even with all of the waiting with faith, questions, and even doubts…and even with all of the signs pointing towards Jesus…Jesus still didn’t seem to be what folks expected. They were disappointed maybe, still waiting to see who this Jesus was…but, for most, that didn’t become real until years after Jesus’ death even…folks had to stop, look, listen and allow themselves to die a bit. Then, they began to see that God was always with them, and physically before them through Jesus.


John was a prophet, Jesus’ words in this text about him being “less important” and John’s doubts and questions, put him squarely in the prophetic role. John didn’t have the privilege in his physical lifetime of experiencing Jesus in community and as the Messiah.
John was a prophet, pointing to Jesus.


As John waited and looked at Jesus, he might have been disappointed. Jesus seemingly broke the mold of what a messiah should look like. He didn’t play by all of the rules, he was a free spirit in many ways. John’s message had been a fiery one, a calling out and into metanoia, away from a life of unawareness. Jesus’ message was, and is, that God is for us, with us. Jesus is calling us towards something greater, to a deeper awareness, to being the people we created to be, loving and honoring and inclusive.


In the beginning of the passage, John talks about pointing towards the “deeds of a messiah”. In other words, not convinced at that moment that Jesus was the one. There were other messiahs as well. Messiah is simply a savior, or the promised one who will deliver. Islam refers to Jesus as a messiah, the promised one coming to give us words of prophetic value. Judaism is always looking for a messiah, someone to deliver them.

In our world, we have elections, we are also always looking for a messiah. We elect someone who makes promises of deliverance from something.  An earthly ruler.  Israel was wanting the same thing…and earthly ruler to deliver them from Roman oppression.

John wants to know, he’s been waiting, is Jesus the promised one, the Judaic messiah, or should John continue to wait for someone else.


John wanted a clear, explicit messiah.


So, John sends his disciples to ask Jesus these questions. Jesus’ response is from Isaiah, from prophecies. Jesus says to look at his physical activity, he has been healing, releasing folks from bondage, restoring them to community. In other words: Yes. But, not exactly what you’ve been waiting for, or what you thought. Jesus goes on to say that those who can see who Jesus is, those who do not stumble as John may have been, by who Jesus is with, how Jesus acts, but see Jesus and his way of loving as markings of the Messiah, of understanding their deliverance, would find joy in the midst of their lives. 

Then Jesus explains that John was a prophet, a herald, but still not fully seeing the implications of Jesus’ life and coming. He was still waiting.


John’s message pointed to Jesus, and it may not have been what people wanted to hear…they flocked to him, but were disappointed. John didn’t have a preaching style or message that made folks feel good. Folks went to John because they wanted a spectacle, they wanted to see a prophet. And, Jesus confirms that he was…but, he wasn’t someone who fit the mood of the times, his message, point- ing to Jesus, wasn’t exactly what people were looking for. John’s voice crying out in the wilderness wasn’t about giving folks what they wanted to hear, not about making folks feel good, but about God’s salvation that is hard to understand, it doesn’t deliver us from all of our problems, but it delivers us towards wholeness as we begin to understand that we are not alone in our darkness…and that we can overcome in our lives, even as we walk through dark times. 

John was not only a prophet, but a herald greater than even Elijah, who was calling humanity into a deeper understanding of itself through the lens of Jesus, of God with us.
John’s message, John’s voice was from a different era, the last of the great prophets. Prophetic voices of change that are marked by a maturity in waiting for the right moments to be heard. Moments that are pregnant with new things coming forth. Giving definition and shape for things to come. These voices are also still in the wilderness, calling into the cultural constructs of things to come…and to wait and be ready for that change. 

Our question this morning: what are we waiting for? And, are we waiting with a sense of being able to truly receive what we’ve been promised? Advent is about waiting for the Messiah to come. What do we need to be delivered from? Are we afraid to listen to the voice calling outside of us towards a repentance, a changing of our hearts and minds? And, are we willing to wait with patience and receive the voice deep down within us calling us towards being the people God intends us to be? In other words, do we really want to live with deep agency in knowing that God is with us, or do we simply want to keep on waiting for something else? 

It is interesting to note that Jesus goes on to say in the next few verses that this generation doesn’t know what it wants…that it’s like children yelling at each other in the marketplaces, complaining about everything. John comes along with a message of metanoia with a simple lifestyle, not eating or drinking…Jesus comes along eating and drinking with a message of grace, acceptance, and God’s inclusiveness…people say John must have been demon possessed and Jesus likes to drink, and is friends with tax collectors and sinners.


Yet, more than words said by prophets and preachers, wisdom is born out of waiting and receiving with patience the actions of a prophet and of a Messiah.


May we experience “metanoia”, have a change of heart and mind…and may we laugh and dance with a God who loves us, who accepts us, and who includes us in communion with God’s Self and others. 

Voice.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

“In each hour of my workday, make me aware, Spirit of Life, of the Eye that beholds me, the Hand that holds me, the Heart that loves me, the Presence that enfolds me.”

―Ray Simpson, Celtic Prayers for the Rhythm of Each Day

Matthew 3:1-12

The Proclamation of John the Baptist

3 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.”

Are you even impatient for something?  As a kid, I can remember the tough waiting for Christmas…and, I have to admit, it wasn’t waiting for Jesus to appear, but more so the toys under the tree.  Which, I know, is supposed to symbolize the gift of Jesus to humanity…but, not much in the thought patterns a 6 or 7 year old.  

But, even today, I can get impatient.  But its different than it was just a few years ago.  I used to want to move things, to get them done yesterday.  But, being at Westwood First, I’ve been able to rest more in who I am.  A sense of “re-membering”…becoming whole, being at peace if you will.  Don’t get me wrong though, I do love it when projects move forward and there is buy-in from others and a sense of unity, collaboration, and teamwork.  

I’ve come to realize over the years, that takes time and patience to move forward.  Which, again, has been something that I’ve been able to live more fully into at Westwood First  Which is a good thing.  And, waiting can produce character and other benefits.  

Advent is partially about waiting…and that doesn’t mean not finishing or moving something along.  There are markers, goals, and lists that can be checked off in moving towards the development of an idea or project.  

Our passage in Matthew finds John, the cousin of Jesus, waiting for the appearance of the Messiah, of the Son of Man.  John was looking forward to the day that Jesus would make his presence known as the promised one.  Really, before John was even on the scene, doing his thing of proclaiming Kingdom come and baptizing, the whole of Israel was hoping for the Messiah, their savior to come on to the scene and what the Messiah would do.

Hundreds of years before, in the book of Isaiah, this was said:

11 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
    the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the spirit of counsel and might,
    the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

This passage goes on to say that this Messiah would have good news for the poor, the oppressed, and would give release to those held in bondage, in captivity.

John comes along and begins his ministry.  John practiced what he preaches.  He wasn’t afraid.  He wore clothes made of camel hair, which was unusual and probably not a fashionable thing to wear, for any period of history.  He also ate locusts.  That sounds kind of gross, but in Levitical law, that was an accepted thing to eat, they were plentiful apparently and high in protein and nutrients…yet, still, not something that was common.

It’s as if John was making a statement, I will live a simple life in order to make my message heard and simple as possible:  Repent, which again, is not translated correctly, the original Greek is “metanoia”, to have a change, or an enlarging, of heart and mind from the way you’ve always thought and lived.  Be baptized to symbolize that the old way of living is dead, be raised into new life in the way that God intended…living simply in love with others, especially those on the margins.  John also did his ministry outside of the temple, outside of institutional norms and processes.

And, the people came in droves to hear him and be baptized.  It’s as if they knew that they needed change.  Yes, they had hopes for a Messiah, they knew that John was pointing them towards someone to come…yet, they were also ready for a change.  A change that would include everyone, that would be both personal and communal.

Even the Pharisees and Sadducees came to hear John and to even be baptized.  John has some harsh words for them, calling them a brood of vipers.  Which, in that context meant that they were like serpents, feeling the flame of fire and trying to get away from it.  As I’ve said before, God’s love extends to all, even those on top of a religious and political system that oppresses folks and isn’t good for them.  

Now, God does call those systems into question…and God does separate the wheat from the chaff as the author goes on to say.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that the wicked folks will burn and the righteous folks live.  It means that actions done out of selfishness, need for control, anxiety…actions born of out of sin, out of missing the mark that God intends, will pass away, be consumed, forgotten.  But, righteous actions, actions done out of loving others, honoring one another, listening and not being condescending, but lifting others up.  Actions of inclusion and genuine friendship, those will produce good fruit and multiply and lead to real life.  

The religious leaders of that time felt like they had a birthright to live as they chose because of their identity as Children of Abraham, as descendants…and that God promised to bless Abraham’s descendants.  But, John is saying that’s not the case because they’ve forgotten the most important thing…it’s not about what you inherit, it’s what you do with the the inheritance, and the giver, how well you love.  

God’s wrath, or God’s desire for things to be in right relationship can bring an axe to cut down an unhealthy tree, in order for something new to grow.  And, yes, there will always be something new, and good, and bearing fruit to grow.

Friends, hear this clearly, John is reminding us that Jesus is coming, that this Jesus will show us how to love and will love us no matter what.  This Love Incarnate will bring wholeness and peace that is real.  This what Jesus is brining is worth the wait, and while we are waiting, it’s a good thing to prepare by confessing our vulnerabilities and the ways that we have missed the mark of God’s loving intentions…and to prepare our hearts and minds to be receptive to God’s voice through Jesus in our lives.  

Something in us may need to die in order for us to hear God’s voice.  That also applies to us as a community.  God’s voice is rising up in us, what do we need to clear out of the way to hear what God is saying to us?  We cannot rest in our identity as part of the PCUSA or even as Christians, we have to ask ourselves what does it mean to receive grace and recognize what it means to live in Christ, and into our collective lives together as a church, as a part of the body of Christ.  

As we do that, may we be reminded that this Jesus gives us courage and voice to ask the hard questions, first with ourselves, then with each other.  This Jesus, in his life and even now, because we are his body, reminds us through the taking of the elements of communion that we about to share, we are bound together in him and that the Christ is speaking deeply in and through us through the power of God’s Spirit, God is present with us!