The Way Things Are Supposed to Be
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
December 3, 2023
Matthew 3:1-12 (MSG)
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 blossoming? 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 week, I responded to an email from a person who was looking for some answers from a Quaker perspective about the war between Israel and Hamas. Now, I am not an expert and I definitely do not assume I understand all that is going on. As I told the person, war is a complicated subject and not easy to simply diagnose or understand from listening to the news or social media. I sent the person some really good resources put together by American Friends Service Committee which helped give perspective and a greater understanding of what all is behind this longstanding war.
But I sensed in their questions that they just couldn’t understand why? I perceived in their words that this is not the way things are supposed to be. I could not agree more.
It was theologian Cornelius Platinga who said, “Shalom is the way things are supposed to be.”
We might say as Quakers that “Peace is the Way” but how do we get there? Obviously, most of us are not going to magically change the views in Israel or Palestine and bring the war to a close from here in Indianapolis.
So, what can we do?
Most of the time when I ask that question, it means that I need to do some personal work by turning inward and asking myself what I think about peace and how I am preparing my own heart. And for me, when I do this, it helps me see the wars and conflicts in the world from a different light.
Many times, we talk about the lack of peace, or how we are in a moment of chaos or peace-less times, but very seldom do we stop and take time to really consider how we, ourselves, manifest peace in our daily lives. We may not feel we are able to fix what is happening across the seas or even in our own county, but we can make inroads to peace right where we are at.
Ironically, I have found some help on this from an unexpected place – the life and story of John the Baptist. A perfect person to discuss as we prepare for Christmas and a person that I think can speak to the underlining questions of the wars and conflicts in our world.
Eugene Peterson in our text for this morning labeled John, “The Thunder in the Dessert.” With that label, he may not seem to be the most likely character to be considered for talking about shalom.
In many ways, his life seemed less than peaceful just from the bible’s description - crazy uncomfortable wardrobe, bug eating, nomad living – all of which can easily become diversions from his ministry of peace.
You and I live in a time full of power and political struggles, the draw of materialism, the challenge of the poor and needy, and an overall sense of uneasiness and lack of peace in our world. And this chaos of life is constantly heralding an inner and outer cry for peace in our own daily lives.
The same was true for the days of John the Baptist and for that matter, Jesus. The world under Roman rule was struggling with many of the same issues I just outlined, and we still see in our news, today. Life in John and Jesus’ day was a bit chaotic as well as it was heralding a cry for peace to come to the world.
For many, especially the Hebrew people, that peace was to come in the form of a messiah – a ruler who would set things right (which is the definition of shalom). Yet, the chaos of life in that day distracted the people from watching, expecting, or even seeing what was right before them – very much like it still is in our day.
So, the bible says that a prophet had to be sent – one that would herald a cry and remind the people what TRUE peace would look like in this world – and that prophet was John the Baptist.
One of the things you may have heard is that John’s task was to “prepare the way.” But what did that really mean in biblical times.
“To “prepare the way” in the bible meant to create a favorable environment or to make it easy for one to come to you and operate in your life.”
Apparently, John the Baptist, was creating a favorable environment and making it easy for Jesus’ Peace to enter into and operate in the lives of people. And that is his cry for us still today. We are to be people who create favorable environments for our neighbors to live fully.
Is that what we are attempting?
Having this in mind, I want to point out five different areas in our text that point to how John taught us to prepare the way. And please note, I believe what John is talking about speaks directly to how we can ultimately make a difference in the wars and conflicts in our world.
1. Change your life (or in more religious terms - repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand).
To allow God to convict us and bring true Peace means we are probably going to need to make some changes in our lives.
This means we may need to admit where we have thwarted peace and done something that has caused a lack of peace. We often think first of the outward acts (that rude Facebook post, that off-color comment at the dinner table, the rolling of my eyes while listening to that person who drives us nuts, etc…), but it will be the inward acts that are the hardest to change.
Don’t get me wrong – outwardly living in peace takes respecting and loving each other despite our many differences (which isn’t always easy), but inwardly, we must search our hearts and minds and understand the fear and wrongs that have caused our own lack of peace. Just take a moment to ask yourself this morning…
What fear or wrongdoing do I struggle with that causes a lack of true peace in my life? [Pause]
I believe finding peace also has to do with surrendering to God those parts of our lives where we seek to control. I read recently in an article titled, “Living in Peace” the following…
“Ceasing to seek power over people and outcomes in your life is the first major step to living peacefully. Trying to control people is about seeking to impose your will and reality on others without ever trying to see their side of things. A controlling approach to relationships will keep you in conflict with others. Replacing a will to control with a broad approach of loving others instead, including their faults and differences, is the way to a peaceful life.”
And even a step further, we sometimes try and control who God is and what God says – which has us needing a change. Yet, we must remember that loving God and our neighbor is the beginning of the change – thus, Jesus emphasized it as the most important.
This leads us to the second point I want to highlight from John.
2. Make the roads smooth and straight.
What I believe John is conveying is that we must fill in the potholes and level the walls or barriers for others to receive true peace in their lives.
What are some of the potholes or barriers in our present day for people to find that true peace?
What about thinking in narrow ways and holding convictions without ever considering the viewpoints and perspectives of others? This is an important question for any two groups or people in conflict or war with each other. Are we considering the other’s perspectives? Do we care? Do we think everyone should think like us?
Or what about accepting others different than ourselves and appreciating our diversity?
When we fail to see from other’s perspectives or opinions, the end result can be building walls and making potholes of discrimination, repression, dehumanization, and ultimately violence (all which are the opposite of peace). This is exactly what I believe is happening in Israel and Palestine, or in our polarized country, as well.
And let’s be honest, this is probably because we have a hard time identifying with those different than us.
That leads to the third point I want us to consider.
3. John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap.
Some thought John was just crazy, but in reality he was going all out in trying to identifying with the folks on the fringe. He went as far as to become one of them – literally moving outside the city gates – in the wilderness where the poor, the sick, the lame, were forced to live. Some of us may think this is crazy, but this is how we break through our comfort zones and begin to make inroads to relationships and better understanding.
For you and me this might mean finding things to do in our lives where we engage different groups of people than we normally associate with. It’s harder to be discriminative, repressive, even dehumanizing when you’re interacting with people from different walks of life. If you want to understand the pain and difficulties of war – spend some time with a refuge. If you want to understand the impact of racism – spend some time with a person of color or indigenous person.
Studies show that most people who the world would consider racist, never have had experience with people different than themselves. I find it interesting that American Friends Service Committee points out that the war is Israel and Palestine is deeply rooted in racism. And many of our own conflicts in our country revolve around racism. Just maybe we have a problem with identifying with those different than us.
It might be time to build a relationship, have a conversation, even engage a group that might be outside your “comfort zone.” This could be the impetus to making a greater change.
John’s wilderness journey was just that, he grew up with the elite of society and would have had a hard time identifying with those outside the city walls – he would have been taught that they were unclean by his own dad – Rabbi Zechariah. Thus, John became a radical.
This is 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 (it is number four in my list)…
4. 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.
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 - I have a feeling John would have been living in Gaza, today.
Now, this action of John may seem out of place, since most peace and conflict teachings say when communicating with others, 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’re trying to control them rather than speak with them as an equal. Simply because it can lead to further conflict and does not put the two sides on common ground.
But we must remember that John was one of them. In this case, he wants to bring peace through accountability and calling out his brothers.
And that leads right into what I consider John’s most important point in all of this…If you want peace in the world, if you want to prepare your heart for the peace of Christ, if you want to change, it starts with YOUR life. He says…
5. 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.
Now, that sounds very Quaker like, doesn’t it? Bringing peace in this world begins with your life.
Gandhi said it so well,
“BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.”
We need to ask ourselves, “Is our life green and blossoming?” That may mean we will need to stop and listen to our lives – what I would call doing some personal reflection.
When was the last time you stopped to reflect on your life in regard to peace?
When we go inside ourselves – we engage our inner light. This engages an opportunity for God to speak truth into our action – meaning when we find peace then we have the possibility of changing our world for the better.
This Christmas season, I believe God is calling us to be part of the solution first and foremost right where we are, just as he was through John in his day. He is calling us to a life of peace – where we love God and love our neighbor for the sake of the greater community around us. And ultimately, our work of bringing peace in our daily lives will overtime translate into a more global peace.
As we enter our time of waiting worship this mornings, I would like us to center down by pondering some words and queries from our Faith and Practice on peace. It states,
“…be peaceful yourselves in words and actions, and pray to the Father of the universe that He would breathe the spirit of reconciliation into the hearts of His erring and
contending creatures.”
Then it asks us to consider the following queries:
· Do I consistently practice the Christian principles of love and good will toward all people?
· Do I work actively for peace and for the removal of the causes of war?
· Do I endeavor to make clear to all whom I can influence, that war is inconsistent with the spirit and teaching of Jesus?