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? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
“Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them. (Luke 3:7–18 NIV)
Today’s Advent reading comes as a bit a jolt. John, full of judgment, rebukes the presumptuous, righteous Jew who felt their heritage guaranteed their salvation. But perhaps more shocking than John was Luke’s assessment that “John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.” This is not how we typically understand the good news of the Christmas season.
But what exactly is the Gospel John proclaimed? Some suggest it is the hint of One coming who baptizes with fire. His words of judgement are good because, although most Jews assumed the Messiah was coming in judgment on the heathen, John has warned them that he will come to judge them. In fact, the axe is already at the root of the trees, an allusion to the agricultural practice of farmers to remove unfruitful trees. But the good news is they can still repent. They can live lives of genuine, neighbourly love. The powerful can stop misusing their power on the weak. The rich can show generosity by no longer hoarding their wealth for themselves. The privileged can restrain from abusing their positions. The opportunity to show true repentance of a cleansed heart, and not just the outward cleansing of baptism, will stay the axe from falling.
Certainly, the coming of the fire baptizer is good news for those who repent. But others suggest the good news is found in the words of judgment themselves. In a world like theirs, and indeed like ours, the message that evil will be judged is Good News. Of course, they and we could have never anticipated how that judgement upon evil would come. That it would come was welcome news in a world fraught with injustice, sin, and abuse.
There is yet another aspect of the Good News John proclaimed. John was the greatest of the prophets (see Luke 7:28), representing the pinnacle of the Law’s teaching. But there was one coming who represented what was greater. What could be greater than the Law? Grace. What the Law commands, grace enables. What the Law proclaims as the standard to which people must strive, grace offers as fruit for those who abide. The call of grace to genuine, neighbourly love turns the “must” of that law that command us to stop misusing power, hoarding wealth, and abusing privileged positions into the “may” of grace so we can leverage our power, wealth, and position for the good of others. It turns our hearts outward and allows us to reflect God’s own nature.
Recently, an immigrant woman in our congregation who is a caretaker for an elderly man in our church – we’ll call her Mary – told how she and her son had bought a house. Unfortunately, the son got sick, and before he was able to work again, they had fallen behind on their mortgage. They owed $32,000 and had only been able to save $12,000. The bank was threatening to foreclose, and they had to pay before the close of the month, which was the upcoming Thursday. The previous Sunday, Mary had attended her own ethnic church, and that morning a lady in her church was told by God to bring money for a woman he would point out. The lady with the money did not know Mary or anything about her circumstances. Yet, she was led to Mary and handed her an envelope with $5,000. Upon hearing her story, she asked her how much was needed. Mary told her she needed $15,000. The day before the mortgage was due, the woman gave Mary the remaining $15,000.
What would have caused this woman to give that money? This is what grace allows us to do. This is the privilege, indeed the fruit, that God produces. What good news it is when we can use God’s blessing for the good of others.
Merv Budd is part of the NAB Missional Initiatives Team.