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LINKS TO THE SERMONS |
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| “The Man Who Bridged the Testaments”
Today is even better; it’s about John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the hottest ticket in the whole county. Nobody had seen anything like him for centuries, not since Elijah. The word around town was that he just might be Elijah, returned to earth after his whirlwind trip in the chariot of fire. John was the quintessential prophet preacher: minced no words, cut no slack, took no prisoners. He even looked the part of an Old Testament prophet complete with hair shirt and leather belt. Being a Nazarite, he never cut his hair. He wades out knee deep into the Jordan River, takes a bite of a big grasshopper dipped in wild honey, a hush falls over the landscape like a giant shadow and he speaks: “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee the wrath that is coming!” It’s every preacher’s dream. The words of meditation and the picture on the bulletin cover are of Jonathan Edwards. I suspect that you haven’t read the words of meditation or you would have headed for the door before now. The excerpt is from a sermon he preached in the early 18th Century called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Historians record that when he preached this sermon, people clung to the pillars of the building for fear that the floor would open up and dump them into the flames – a John the Baptist moment. You have to seize these opportunities when they come by; Edwards knew that and so do I. Next week the lectionary text is about Mary, so you have to take on a sweeter tone. Then the Baby Jesus and shepherds and singing angels and you won’t get another good opportunity to let fly until – Pentecost. So, I got me a hair shirt, and Dave Shellman loaned me a leather belt – and my prophet’s hair. It helps to look the part, don’t you think. The costume helps you get into character – I’m going to pass on the grasshoppers. John the Baptist – every year on the way to Christmas we are confronted by him. And the message is the same as last Sunday, “Christ the Lord is coming, Get ready! Repent! Turn around and live a different life!” And people were responding in droves; even the Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up. But John would have none of it – because he doubted their sincerity. It wasn’t enough just to go through the motions, the ritual and formalities. Like the parents who bring their babies to be baptized and never show up again. You have to be serious or the miracle doesn’t happen, the grace doesn’t flow. That’s what John the Baptist told them. You have to bear fruit that befits repentance; your life has to bear witness to your change in life style or the water of baptism is just water. “Even now the ax is laid to the root of the tree.” According to Matthew, John gets his authority and persona from Isaiah, “The voice crying in the wilderness,” but I would like to suggest another prophet who might have been his inspiration – the last prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi. The third chapter in the last book of the Old Testament begins with these words, “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” (Malachi 3: 1) Sounds just like John the Baptist. The book ends with these words, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” (Malachi 4: 5) John the Baptist is the prophet who bridges the Testaments, coming with all the power of Elijah, carrying on the message of Malachi, “Get ready for the coming of the Lord.” And Malachi is specific about who must repent: “sorcerers - adulterers – those who swear falsely – those who oppress the hireling in his wages – those who fail to care for the widow and orphan – those who thrust aside the sojourner – those who do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” Oh, there is something else. I’m not making this up just because we are still in our financial campaign. You can look it up. “You are robbing me. But you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ With your tithes and offerings.” I don’t make this stuff up; I just tell you what’s in here. John the Baptist accused the Pharisees and Sadducees of assuming they were off the hook because they were descendents of Abraham; same with Malachi. In verse 6 of Chapter three God says that the only reason he is letting you slide is because “I made a covenant with you ancestors and I (God) keep my promises.” But the grace period is running out. It’s because of my patience and generosity that evildoers are allowed to prosper. Now you have the nerve to suggest that it is because I am indifferent, that righteousness isn’t that important. (Malachi 3: 15) But, my patience is running thin. Then he introduces the language that John the Baptist will carry forth, “Behold, the day comes, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave neither root nor branch.” (Malachi 4: 1) What a perfectly smooth transition across the Testaments to John’s introduction of Jesus as the one who will “gather his wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” “He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” “Even now the ax is laid to the root of the tree.” I’ll bet Jonathan Edwards is proud of me today. We frustrated prophetic preachers have to use those great lines when ever we get the chance because we aren’t going to get the chance again for a while. It’s all Jesus’ fault! He started out carrying on the message of John the Baptist but then he kept softening it with conversation about love, compassion, forgiveness, grace. At one point John will be so flummoxed by the behavior that he will send messengers to ask if Jesus is really the one they thought he was. Jesus just smiles and says, “Don’t be offended at me.” But he kept it up, eating with sinners, blessing sinners, forgiving sinners. The first of his sermons, Matthew records, doesn’t even include the word “repent” or say anything about fire. He starts out, not, “You brood of vipers!” but “Blessed – blessed are the poor in spirit.” Then on the last day of his life he says to a thief on a cross, “This day you will be with me in paradise;” nothing about repentance, being baptized, paying a tithe, going to church, studying the Bible, none of that – just come. But, this is John the Baptist’s day. A day of opportunity for preachers. But at the end of the day we must also point out that John, with all his prophetic greatness and fame and flare, was not the Messiah; he came to pave the way for the Messiah. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets come to bridge the Testaments. Jesus was the harbinger of a whole new way of relating to God – the Lord of a coming kingdom – of love, compassion, peace and grace. Something new is growing up where the ax has cleared away the dead trees and the fire has burned away the stubble – that’s the thing we must get ready for. It’s
a message to be proclaimed in a shepherd’s robe – and
a stole that represents a yoke with which to bear one another’s
burdens and a towel with which to wash each other’s feet.
And this preacher can’t wait to tell you about it. As always if you would like a DVD of a service please contact the church office
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