Good News - A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent December 15 2024

GOSPEL: Luke 3:7-18

The holy gospel according to Luke.

Glory to you, O Lord.

John the Baptist heralds the mighty one who is coming. John teaches that preparation for God’s reign is not a matter of identity but of bearing fruits of merciful justice, radical generosity, and vocational integrity.

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.

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ

I was listening to music the other day while driving,

and country western artist Shaboozey came on.

It was his new single called “Good News”

“Still stuck singing these blues.

All I really need is a little good news.”

he sings.

Millions of music streamers agree.

our world is longing for a little good news.

Good News, you say?

Well, meet John the Baptizer -

Herald of Good News to the people,

And here is the good news:

The ax is lying at the root of the trees,

and you’re the tree!

Stop being selfish!

You have two coats -

give one away?

You have food on your table -

share it?

You’re earning income in ways that exploit others?

stop that!

Your job is to collect taxes?

Don’t take any extra for yourself.

Be satisfied with your wages,

Oh, and the Messiah -

he’s not baptizing you with this cold river water,

he’s going to baptize you with fire!

This Messiah has a winnowing fork!

Time to burn the chaff!

Because we’ve always associated winnowing forks

with good news?!?!

“So, with many other exhortations,

John proclaimed the good news to the people.”

Happy Advent! You brood of Vipers!

John in the wilderness

was a spectacle to observe:

all the people of Judea went to see him

preaching out in the wilderness,

out in the middle of no where.

This is not like Canadians travelling across the country

to see Taylor Swift 

with a massive production team behind her,

Nor like going to hear Billy Graham

who had a large foundation behind him.

It’s people like us,

who are feeling the blues,

longing for good news,

and giving John’s message a chance,

out in the wilderness;

it was a pilgrimage of sorts

preparing for God’s power.

John was more than some spectacle;

he was a vulgar, provocative,

aggressive, rebellious,

religious, political prophet.

You can ask me about the vulgarity later,

John’s way with words would give Martin Luther

a run for his money.

John had an odd way of preaching… and it worked.

Provocative, vulgar language,

followed by practical examples

for how to live our faith,

how to prepare for Christ’s coming,

in relationship, in community;

to share the abundance of God’s creation,

and to not help ourselves to more than our share.

I thought of John the Baptizer the other day,

not out in the sticks,

but driving in my own neighbourhood,

listening to Shaboozey’s “Good News”

when I saw this person = the photo is below.

The sign says “The Messiah Has Come - dot ca”

And there is a picture of a man wearing a head covering.

Allow me to be clear:

I looked into the website,

I do not believe this person to be

the second coming of the Messiah.

But, my heart went to that man.

I thought, here is a normal looking person,

willing to stand on a street corner

during a cold snap

with sign held proudly

because he is so convinced the Messiah has come.

He has good news to share.

What might cause you

to stand on a street corner with a sign

let alone in a cold snap,

in a world in which people do not pay attention

to street corner preachers

and in a time in which

people do not trust organized religion?

What might cause you to listen to such a person?

We tend to ignore folks like this on the street corner,

like I did,

but we listen to the Baptizer.

Kind of…

Our communities are changing,

our city is changing.

When Advent was founded in 1979,

Calgary’s population was just over 500,000.

Today that number is tripled,

there are over 1.6 million people

in the metro Calgary area.

It wasn’t that long ago that we reached 1 million people,

and there are now over 1 million cars on the road

in Calgary,

and often all at the same time!

Amidst our growing population,

according to the National Post,

over half of Canadians favour mass deportations,

65% say there are too many immigrants.

Jesus invites us to welcome the stranger.

Friends, like it or not, the neighbourhood is changing,

and God is out ahead of us in the neighbourhood.

After seeing the man on the corner,

I kept driving,

and I took a route I don’t normally take

in my neighbourhood,

perhaps Jesus took the wheel,

I’m not sure why I went that way.

I found that one of the Christian Church buildings

in my neighbourhood

is now an Islamic mosque.

How did I miss that? 

I believe God used this little neighbourhood drive

to remind me

that I can become so insular,

so private,

that I don’t always notice what’s really happening

in my neighbourhood.

It challenged me to get out of my living room

and get to know more neighbours,

neighbours like the man on the street corner.

Maybe I wont give his message a chance,

but I could give him a chance.

Imagine if it was one of our faithful members holding that sign.

Someone we know, and love, and trust.

I might give their message a try,

because of the relationship.

The gospel, the good news

is best shared in relationship.

So, for various reasons,

I am not convinced that holding a sign on a corner

is the way to spread the Gospel.

I wonder, instead,

What if you and I are the sign?

I ask our Confirmation students this question often;

how many Gospels are there?

And they know its a trick question,

you’d think the answer is 4,

but the answer is 5:

It’s Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and you

- a Gospel is a story of God’s good news -

and you,

each and every one of you,

are a story of God’s good news.

You don’t just proclaim good news,

you are good news.

What if you and I are the sign?

The sign of God’s presence;

the sign of a better way of life for all people;

the sign of God’s reversal in the world.

We want to know what we should do!

How do we be faithful?

How do we prepare for the Lord’s coming?

What if it is less about what we should do

less about doing,

and more about being.

Being who we are

and being who we are made to become.

Our God is a God of reversal.

We sung this in Mary’s Magnificat:

God has chosen the foolish things in this world 

to shame the wise.

Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness.

God casts the mighty down from their thrones

and lifts up the humble of heart.

The hungry are filled,

the wealthy have no part.

Here’s the reversal with John’s message -

a message that sounds about as welcome 

as a postcard from your dentist

but really is good news.

The invitation to the Roman Soldiers:

“Do not extort money from anyone

by threats or false accusation,

and be satisfied with your wages.”

That’s what the soldiers were doing;

many soldiers were crooked.

But when the soldiers uphold their position

with justice and ethics,

it is good news for the people.

The invitation to the tax collectors -

some of the most hated people around:

“Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”

Tax collectors would get rich

collecting more tax than was required

and keeping sums for themselves.

But when the tax collectors uphold their positions

with justice and ethics -

it is good news for the people.

The invitation for the average citizen   

- Jews and non-Jews alike -

is to share your abundance:

if you have extra clothes,

give them to someone who has none.

If you have enough to eat, 

share your food.

When people engage in true, pure religion

and care for their neighbour, 

welcome their neighbour,

it is good news for the people.

We join the crowd asking John and Jesus - what should we do?

I hear God telling me to get to know my neighbours.

I hear John and Jesus

telling me to share what I’ve been given.

But how can I share with my neighbour

if I don’t know my neighbour?

and I hear God reminding me - reminding you,

you are the baptized,

and yours is not John’s baptism, but Jesus’ baptism,

Water and the Word,

you’ve been through the fire with the Holy Spirit.

God’s Spirit is in you.

yours is a story of God’s good news.

Be the Gospel.

Be the good news.

But it is not easy.

being the good news means

that, if we are the trees,

we need some pruning.

If we are precious metals, 

we need some fire to be purified.

If we are to be the good news for others,

it means God’s going to do some purifying and pruning

so that we can bear good fruit.

Good news is only good news

if it is good for the whole neighbourhood.

We know that fruit trees don’t reap the benefits of their fruit -

their fruit feeds and nourishes creation,

and plants new trees.

Metals don’t reap the benefits of their use,

They serve others.

With Christ, by God’s Spirit,

our God enables us to bear good fruit,

our God makes us good news.

Soon we will get in our cars

and find ourselves out in the neighbourhood.

God is out ahead of you there.

God knows the people, the creation

that, like Shaboozey, is stuck singing those blues,

and all we really need

is a little good news.

Let us pray…

Thank you, O God, that in your reversal and your wisdom, we may be the good news. We know our world is longing for Good news. So use us we pray. Show us where we need pruning and purifying. Open our hearts and minds to your work in the world, your presence in our neighbours, and in ourselves. Thank you for Jesus, the coming Saviour, the one who saves us, Who is the good news, Immanuel - God with us. Come, Immanuel. Amen