“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance! Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire!” (Matthew 3:1-12). John the Baptist almost makes the coming of the Lord sound like something we should dread rather than joyfully anticipate!
John’s job is to wake people up and help them be ready for the coming of Jesus, and he uses some pretty graphic images to get our attention – the ax, the winnowing fork, the unquenchable fire waiting for those who choose to not repent.
John calls everyone to this repentance so we can all be ready for the new life Jesus brings us. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire,” John says. This is a good fire, however – the love of God burning off the parts of us that distract and mislead us, that weigh us down, that clutter up our lives so that we can’t effectively love God and our neighbor. More than just being sorry for our sins, this repentance means completely turning our whole selves around – our thoughts, attitudes, values, and behaviors – so that we live truly connected with God who loves us beyond all our sins and failings.
The Good News in this Gospel is that all of us are invited to “turn around” and be ready to receive the presence of Christ in our hearts every day. None of us are there yet. We might not be a brood of vipers, but we all have places in our lives where we have shut God out and become more “self-sufficient,” or given up on God’s grace, or gradually drifted away from spending intentional time with God, or found ourselves living in ways that we know aren’t where our Lord would have us live.
What does fruit “worthy of repentance” look like if our hearts are turned to God and maybe cracked open a bit in the process so that God’s love and peace might flow into us and back out to the world more easily? Perhaps we recognize far more gifts from God than we had noticed before and give more thanks. We may joyfully devote more time to prayer. We might choose to stop holding on to “who’s right and who’s wrong” in relationships and reach out in real peace instead. Our knee-jerk response to the stranger or outcast might be one of welcome and inclusion rather than distance and suspicion. We might be more generous with our praise, patience, and humility, and be willing to risk more of our safety and security for that of others.
These things all speak of being sure of God’s love for our own selves, and letting our own pride, fear, and selfishness be burned away. The Holy Spirit and her fire do that.
The kingdom of heaven has come near. How do those words strike you? More importantly, what are you going to do about it?
Trinity Episcopal Church welcomes you each Sunday at 10:00 a.m., where you will find a warm congregation, uplifting liturgy, and the good news of God’s love shared in word and sacrament. All are welcome; come be part of a community that stands together in faith and love.
