A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Sunday, December 15, 2024, the 3rd Sunday of Advent (Year C).
Primary Bible Reading
Luke 3:7-18
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin 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. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” 15 As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people.
Advent Anger and Greed
By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA
“John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance,’” (Luke 3:7-8a).
In this story, John the Baptizer is angry. Let’s sit with that for a moment, because anger is an emotion that can make us uncomfortable. Expressing anger is often difficult to do in polite company like when we are in church together. But anger is a real human emotion. And it’s an emotion that is all over the Bible. The stories of God and God’s people are filled with people expressing their righteous anger about how messed up the world is. God expresses anger at sin. Prophets express that anger to sinful people. The people then usually respond in one of two ways: with contrition (saying sorry and promising to change) or with their own anger (How dare you speak to us like that? Who are you to accuse us of sin?)
But let’s back up a bit. Why is John so angry? John is angry at the people who want to get baptized because they seem to want “cheap grace.” They want to be cleansed and forgiven, have a little revival, but they don’t want to change anything significant about their lives. And to their credit, they don’t balk when John calls them out. In this story, the people respond in the first way; they are contrite. They seem to genuinely want to reform themselves and please God. We know this because they ask John, “What, then, should we do?” (Luke 3:10).
So, John’s audience is at least paying attention, but what specifically made John so angry? What kinds of sin are at the root of this outburst? We don’t know all of them, but we get three examples of the kinds of things that they need to change. “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise. … [Tax Collectors,] Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you. … [Soldiers,] Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages” (Luke 3:11, 13, 14). So these people need to be more generous with their clothes and food. They need to stop abusing their authority at work to rob vulnerable people. They need to become less greedy. I know John was talking to folks 2000 years ago, but do any of those concerns still sound relevant to us today?
This crowd of people comes to John to hear a great preacher and to have a spiritual revival. But, pay attention to the fact that John does not lead a Bible study with them. He doesn’t teach a workshop on different styles of prayer. He doesn’t even seem to worship with these people. When they ask what they need to do differently in their lives, he doesn’t mention any of the classic “spiritual disciplines.” Instead, his advice is very concrete and material. Do different things with your money and your stuff. This is a reminder that, despite what our culture teaches us, everything is spiritual, especially what we do with our money and our stuff. Our lives are not segmented into different boxes with the churchy/spiritual stuff here and our work, finances, and shopping habits over there. They all affect one another.
There are a lot of different directions we could go with this text, but the one that hits closest to home for me this year is this economic one. American Christmas is extremely consumeristic. It seems like everything becomes an excuse to shop for more and more stuff that we probably don’t need. A lot of that comes from a good, generous place of wanting to buy gifts for loved ones or share charitably with people who are less fortunate. But, at least for me, I am constantly fighting the temptation to buy more Christmas “gifts” for myself.
I have been a sucker for Black Friday deals this year. Instagram and YouTube know me better than I know myself and those targeted ads have been hitting the bullseye, if you know what I mean. I have trouble being “satisfied with [my] wages” and the plenty that I already own. I’m especially vulnerable to sales on shoes. But let’s be real. I don’t need more shoes. I don’t have more room in my closet for them. I just want them because they look cool or comfortable or something. And, to be clear, there is nothing wrong with wanting a thing or finding some joy in your possessions. But it becomes a problem when my wants get in the way of someone else’s needs.
When I hoard shoes I don’t wear while someone else burns blisters into their feet through their last worn out pair of shoes, something is out of whack. When our economy depends on consuming the earth’s resources without limits, exploiting God’s Creation instead of caring for it, something is out of whack. Of course it isn’t my responsibility to eliminate all poverty or put an end to all environmental destruction. But it is my responsibility to share a coat or shoes or food with someone who has none. It is my responsibility to care for God’s earth enough not to pretend that my consumption has no consequences. Candidly, as I prepared this sermon, I emptied some shoes and clothes out of my closet to donate to Emmaus House (our downtown Savannah ministry for people experiencing homelessness). I don’t share that to brag but to show that I’m in the same boat with everyone else, in need of a prophetic kick in the butt sometimes.
So as we enter the home stretch of Advent, getting closer and closer to Christmas and the advertising and pressure to buy more and more increases, don’t be a brood of vipers. Let’s approach this season with grateful and generous hearts. Let’s not be afraid to hear difficult truths and make a change. And let’s not be afraid of righteous anger and the need to speak difficult truths to people with more power, money, or influence. Let’s channel that righteous anger toward love and charity with our neighbors.
Let us pray:
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Comments