The Rev. Frank Logue
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
December 14, 2003

 Don’t Even Start
Luke 3:7-18

John the Baptist badly needed an agent or publicist. John clearly had talent—he knew how to draw a crowd—but someone with some Public Relations savvy could have helped John soften some of his hard edges, and maybe put a more friendly spin on his public pronouncements. 

Most of all, John was church planting in the wrong place. John had obviously not been to all the right conferences and read the right books. Luke’s Gospel told us in the portion just before today’s Gospel reading that John was preaching out in the wilderness. All along the Jordan River area, on the edge of an uninhabitable wasteland, John is out preaching. Amazingly, the wild man could still gather a crowd. You have to hand that to him, he must have been doing something right. 

But listen to John’s words of greeting to the folks who bothered to make the full day walk out to listen to him preach and to be baptized. As thanks for the long walk and willingness to get baptized in the muddy little brook, known as the Jordan River John yells, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” 

If anyone was still standing around after being blasted as a Brood of Vipers, the only response would be, “Why you did John. You warned us to flee from the wrath to come.” 

Then John goes on to tell the folks to bear fruit worthy of repentance. “Why do you think I’m standing knee deep in the Jordan, John? I’m trying to take a public stand for God.” 

Finally John rails at the crowd, “Don’t even start with the claims that you are on God’s good side just because you are a descendant of Abraham. That’s not going to cut it with God and you won’t get any slack from me either.” 

Amazing. John’s chances of getting a talk show, even on late night would be slim to none. He might find some AM talk radio station willing to take him on, but John clearly needed to learn how to tone down his message. Anyone who goes spouting off like that is bound to come to a bad end. One day he’s going to give the “You Brood of Vipers” line to the wrong person and he’s going to get hurt.  

Of course, that is what happened to John. The wild and wooly saint of Advent got on the wrong side of King Herod’s court and ended up with his head on a platter. Anyone could have seen it coming. With the right PR person and a few etiquette lessons, he could have amounted to something. But John probably wouldn’t have listened to that advice anyway, because he never seemed to care what people thought of him. 

Yet, there is so much time and space between us and John the Baptist that we can miss the heat of his blast. After all, has anyone here tried the “We have Abraham as our ancestor” line? Do we have any crooked tax collectors or extortion-inclined soldiers in our midst? [Pause awkwardly long] I didn’t think so. 

The heart of John’s message is that a relationship with God will change your day-to-day life. John heard people claiming to be faithful followers of God and in his own not exactly lovable way he said, “Your actions are speaking so loudly, I can’t hear a word you are saying.” 

You claim that you are on God’s good side because you are a descendant of Abraham, then why don’t you act like Abraham did and trust God with your future? It’s really no different than thinking because you are a basically good American that God will grant you eternal life. No faith. No commitment. You are just no worse than the next guy. I’m sorry. John would be unimpressed. 

John waded out in the Jordan to baptize folks as an outward sign of an inward cleansing. John knew that his baptism was worthless unless the folks he splashed with river water also changed their hearts and their lives. If you are not going to leave the river bank acting like a person changed by a new relationship with God, then don’t even start acting all pious. There is no point in it. A change of heart will result in a change of life. Otherwise, it’s just another case of “Your actions are speaking so loudly, I can’t hear a word you are saying.” 

The crowds got the message and they wanted to pin John down on specifics. In general, John wanted those who had to share with those who did not. If you have two coats, share one with the person who has none. If you have food, share with those who are hungry. To the greedy tax collector and the extorting soldiers, John warned that they should be honest in their daily work. 

Living on the edge of a wilderness had taken all the polish off of John’s message. There was not a smooth edge to his preaching. If you feel like you are a religious person, don’t tell me about it. Show me. Don’t even start with the religious sounding excuses. They never impressed John. John could so clearly see the future judgment, where he knew pious excuses wouldn’t cut it, that coarse evangelist didn’t have the energy to tone down his stinging rebuke.  

If you wandered out to the Jordan to see for yourself what the fuss was all about, you could count on John to tell it to you straight. That’s why John the Baptist is the Saint of Advent. Each year we return to the Jordan River to hear his words. After all, Advent is a season of expectation as we await not just Christmas and the celebration of Jesus birth, but we also look ahead to Jesus return at the end of time. At Jesus’ second coming, the time for excuses will have run out. So we return to John’s rough edged preaching to remind ourselves that though we come to a saving relationship with Jesus through faith alone, if our lives are unchanged we might just be kidding ourselves. 

Advent is a season of repentance, for turning away from the ways in which we have wandered off from God. Advent is a time for turning all the areas of our life back over to God as we prepare for both Christmas celebrations and the end of time.  

Don’t even start with excuses, that Saint of Advent John the Baptist was never good at listening to them anyway. Forget the words you speak to others. What do your actions say about your beliefs? Because if your actions speak loudly of your relationship with God, no one will even need the words. 

“What then should we do?” you may ask. Live your life as if God cares for you and you will bear Fruit worthy of repentance.  

Amen.