The Wisdom of John for Today
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
December 12, 2021
Matthew 3:1-12 from the Message translation:
While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called “the Baptizer,” was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
John and his message were authorized by Isaiah’s prophecy:
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.
When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.
“I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
This morning, I want us to take look at one of my favorite characters in the Bible and also the Christmas story.
No, you will not find him around the Nativity Scene at the base of your Christmas Tree. And no, he was not a shepherd or a member of the magi. Actually, by many in his day he was considered a crazy man.
John, the one we often call “the Baptist” or who Eugene Peterson translates “The Thunder in the Dessert.” (personally, I think that may be one of the coolest names in all of the Bible). That makes John sound more like a Professional Wrestler than a Bible character – and now, Thunder in the Dessert.
From his crazy wardrobe and bug eating to his nomad living, we may easily be distracted from seeing his ministry as a preparation for Peace.
This past week took a chaotic turn for us at First Friends, and much like the last couple of years, our lives have taken some chaotic turns - leaving us wondering about our need for peace. It is again clear this year that we are still longing for a sense of inner and outer peace in our lives.
The same was true in the days of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. It was a chaotic time for different reasons, but the people in his day were also heralding a cry for peace to come into their world.
As was often the case in the Bible – it took a prophet, someone who could get the attention of the people, to help focus their attention away from the chaos of the world and help them recenter on the peace that was available to them. John was the prophet in this moment.
We have heard that his task was to prepare the way for Jesus, but it was much more. To “prepare the way” means to create a favorable environment and to make it easy for one to come to you and operate in your life.
John was doing just that – creating a favorable environment and making it easy for the way of Jesus, or peace, to enter and operate in the lives of the people.
To help make John’s prophetic words more applicable to our current situation, I would like to return to our text this morning and highlight some areas that may speak to our condition from John’s story.
First, John’s message was simple – he said, “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”
To prepare for the way of Jesus to enter our lives means we may need to make some changes. We may have to right some wrongs, forgive someone or ask for forgiveness, or we might even have to change our perspectives and face our fears.
This is not just an outward change – but it also may take a change of heart – or an inner change. Outwardly, living in peace may take respecting and having compassion for one another despite our many differences (which isn’t always easy), but inwardly we may need to search our own hearts and minds and seek to understand the fear and struggles within us.
Take a moment to ask yourself this morning: What fears or struggles am I facing currently that may need to change so I may experience true peace?
Often our fears and struggles are simply manifestations of feeling a loss of control. In the church we often talk about surrendering to God or giving over control to the Divine. I believe John is trying to remind us that to cease power over people and outcomes in our lives is the first major step in learning to live more peacefully.
Next our text says, “Make the Road Smooth and Straight.”
What I believe John was teaching us was that we are called to help fill in the potholes and level the walls or barriers for others to receive the Peace of Christ.
Take a moment to consider what are the potholes or barriers in our day and age for people to find peace?
I think one of the biggest potholes in the church is holding convictions without ever considering the viewpoints and perspectives of others. Or not being willing to accept others different than ourselves and appreciating our diversity.
When we fail to see from our neighbors perspectives or opinions, the end result can be building walls or making potholes of discrimination, repression, dehumanization, and ultimately violence – all which are directly in opposition to peace.
The third thing I want to point out from our text may seem a bit odd for multiple reasons – it is that John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap.
As Quakers who historically used their clothing to make a statement, so did John. His dress was the way he identified with the people on the fringes of his day. John went as far as to become one of them – he not only dressed like them, he actually moved outside the city gates where the sick, the diseased, crippled, and outcast, I spoke of last week, were sent to live.
For you and me that may mean finding things to do in our lives where we engage different groups of people that we normally do not associate with. It is much harder to be discriminative, repressive, even dehumanizing when we interact with people from different walks of life. Studies clearly show that people who have racist tendencies have often not had experience with people different than themselves.
To help bring peace in our current day, it just might take building a relationship, having a conversation, even engaging a group that might be outside your “comfort zone.”
John’s wilderness journey was just that – he was a RK (Rabbi Kid). He had it made. He grew up with the elite of society and would have had a hard time identifying with those who had been sent outside the city walls. He would have been taught by his own father that they were unclean and should be left alone.
Thus the reason I believe John comes down so hard on the religious leaders who come out to see him in the wilderness. He knew they wanted control because of their positions. Listen to what he says in our text next.
Do you think a little water on your snakeskin is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father.
John is being an advocate for those who had been taken advantage of – the actual people who lived in the wilderness where he made his home. Also, the same people the religious leaders had used their position to oppress.
Now, this action of John may seem out of place, since most peace and conflict teachings say when communicating with other, seek to avoid being ordering, moralizing, demanding, or threatening, because these forms of communication can give rise to conflict with others who feel that you are trying to control them rather than speak with them as an equal. This is simply because it can lead to further conflict and does not put the two sides on common ground.
But remember – John had decided to become one of them. In this case, he wanted to bring peace through accountability and calling out his brothers. And that leads to one of John’s most important points from our text.
“What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? …ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out.”
This may be the most Quakerly aspect of John’s prophetic words for us, today. Bringing peace in this world begins WITHIN EACH OF US.
John’s query is so key – “Is our life green and blossoming?” That query gets to the core issue – it asks us to stop and listen to our lives. This is a call to personal awareness.
And when we respond to that call and take time to listen to that still small voice of the Divine within us, we begin to allow ourselves to be awakened (as I said last week) to the world’s needs. Awakened to become the day dreamers, gate keepers, bridge builders, soul speakers, web weavers, light bearers, food growers, wound healers, trail blazers, truth sayers, life lovers, and peace makers as the poem I read last week said.
So, to quickly review what we have learned from John this morning, I have prepared some queries for us to ponder during waiting worship based on his teachings:
1. What do I need to change in my life to find peace?
2. Where am I creating “barriers” for others to find peace?
3. Who are the folks on the fringe I need to identify with so they can experience peace?
4. Where am I using my position to withhold peace?
5. Is my life green and blossoming with opportunities for peace?