Dec. 15, 2024: What Should We Do?

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 12: 2-6
The Gospel: Luke 3: 7-18     

(Children’s Sermon - Getting the Manager Ready)  

We have been preparing for Christmas for weeks, maybe even months. Through the scriptures over the past two weeks, we have considered the still speaking God quietly, patiently whispering through our hearts, souls and minds, waiting for us to listen. We have learned to heed messengers paving the way for Christ in our own lives and those of others and to be messengers of Christ helping others where and how we can: allowing them to see God through our actions. 

Outside of church we have been busy preparing for the holiday as well. Christmas trees and decorations have gone up inside and outside of houses and buildings.  In the past week I, like many of you, have written and sent cards off to folks from church as well as friends and family. I have been madly pulling out gifts purchased long ago and shopping for new ones to make sure everyone has something: wondering if the gifts for our sons are equal, if I picked out gifts that younger family members will like - who knows what a ten-year old wants these days anyway?- and then making sure I have enough wrapping paper, gift tags, boxes and time to wrap them and get them to the post office so they arrive on time for Christmas. 

Then there is the day itself - who will we share it with? What should we make? Can we get the house cleaned in time? 

There is so much to prepare for that I sometimes find myself just buying a gift to check it off the list rather than being thoughtful about it. I need to remind myself to slow down and remember that it is the thought that counts and the reason for the season that matters more than the gift. 

Preparing is important. In our scripture from Luke today, some of the people going to be baptized by John, wanted to prepare by covering their bases, checking that Baptism off their list of things to do, without letting it change their lives. That is why Peter referred to them as a brood of vipers - snakes. Being willing to be baptized was not enough - they had to be willing to change their lives, to get out of their comfort zones.” What should we do?” they asked him. He told them to share their extra clothes, their extra food, to be fair, kind and content with what they had. Who was he talking to? Everyone! The tax collectors came and asked “What should we do”” and he told them to take no more taxes than required. Soldiers came - we do not know if they were Jewish or Roman, there to guard or there because they wanted to be baptized but John reached even them as they asked him “What should we do?” He told them not to extort money or threaten people but to be satisfied with the wages they had.  

He told them all of this to prepare for Jesus. As John said, “I baptize you with water but one who is more powerful than I is coming: I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” 

Let’s think about being baptized by the Holy Spirit and fire for a minute. We see that clearly in the story of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit appears as flames above the disciples giving them the ability to speak in other languages- giving them the ability to have their message about Jesus’ life, teaching, and resurrection understood. But that also lit a fire under them. It got them out of the locked room and working.

 Being baptized by fire is about being fired up. It is about being changed. It is about putting belief in Christ’s teaching - his messages about equity and justice into action.  John was preparing them, having them take the first steps of fairness, sharing, and  selflessness that would pave their way to Christ who would put a fire in their belly to do even more for God’s creation.

John goes on to say that Jesus will separate the wheat from the chaff. Chaff is the dry scales of the wheat that cannot be eaten. John said Christ would  burn them off in an unquenchable fire. Many interpret this to mean Jesus is going to separate the believers from unbelievers in this way but what if it just means we all have chaff to burn off? Might we need to burn off those To Do lists that we just check off to say we did them without thought or care for them? Might we need to burn off those parts of us that worry about stuff more than God’s creation? Might we need to burn off those worries about having to do it all or have it all when maybe doing less and having less is actually better for us? Might we need to burn off those worries about what people will think if we dress this way, or act that way?  

We all have chaff that needs to come off and removing that chaff is a way to make way for Jesus - to make way for joy. 

Zephaniah and Isaiah were both telling persecuted people, exiled people, that they should find joy in God even amid their challenging circumstances. That God, although sometimes angry with what we do, forgives. That God is there for people even and especially in those times when they feel most lost and left out, when they are oppressed. The message is that even amid life’s struggles there is joy: whether it is the joy of hope or the joy of hope fulfilled. It may not be the joy of a happy life but the joy of a happy moment - the laughter of a child, the smile from a stranger, the gratitude for a gift given, or a sunny or snowy sky that can provide joy even when we are sad, lost, ill or oppressed. There is always a way to find joy. 

“What should we do?” the people asked John. What should we do? We might ask. We should be joyful. We pave the way for Christ by opening our hearts to joy: clearing out the clutter of busyness, the weight of society’s or maybe even our own judgments and expectations and tossing out that chaff. We also need to toss out the chaff of our judgment of others and see them for whom they are: the beloved creations of God. 

We prepare for the birth of Christ by finding joy - even if only in brief moments of quiet gratitude for the little things that make us smile and for the great joy in God’s abundant love and mercy. We also prepare for the birth of Christ by spreading joy - through a card, a smile, a song, a cookie, or a helping hand. It’s not hard to find or spread joy when you have the right attitude, when you let the chaff fall off and get to your core fire of love glowing from within - that inner light that connects us to Christ. 

Let’s pause for a moment and think of something that brings us joy. Picture the person, the pet, the place, the action that brings you joy. (Pause) Let that joy start as a warm image or memory that radiates out through your body bringing a slight smile to your lips. Hold onto that feeling as you picture a child born in a manger who would bring help and hope; who would teach and inspire, who would heal and forgive, who would die so we could live. Feel the love, feel the joy. That feeling is what we should do to prepare for the birth of our Saviour. Amen. 

Pastor Michelle Fountain

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