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What will you do with your ton and a half of garbage this year?

Being Prepared: Waste Management - Matthew 3: 1-12 - December 9, 2007 - Cicero Untied Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            What will you do with your ton and a half of garbage this year? It seems like an important question. A note in the newspaper this week said that Americans generate 25 % more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day than normal. I believe it. I don't know about you, but some days it seems like I walk straight from the mailbox to the waste basket, and just discard stuff, one by one. I know I generate my share of garbage. (If Sharon had her way in my study at home, I would generate a lot more.) But that note in the paper made me wonder just how much garbage 25 % more was. I didn't actually figure that out, but I did find some staggering numbers:

            Last year, Americans generated something like 340 million tons of garbage. New York State ranked second in garbage with almost 29 million tons. There are about 18 million people in New York State - so, the average per person comes out to a ton and a half of garbage. The thing about averages, of course, is that some people put out a lot of garbage - like big companies and trash-talking football players. And some people put out a little garbage. But, as a state, the average per person is a ton and a half.

            What will you do with your ton and a half in the coming year? Waste management is a major part of our lives. If you can't get rid of your garbage, you're in a lot of trouble. And here's my confession as a bona fide suburban American: I love garbage day. It is the best! Sunday night I wheel my bin out to the curb, and carry out my recycles. And by the time I walk out my door on Monday morning, it's gone! It has disappeared. I feel cleansed. And humbled! I spent my week generating trash - and some wonderful person came and took it away. It's beautiful.

            So, what's that got to do with Advent? Advent is the time in the Christian year when we are called upon to prepare our lives for the birth of Jesus. Jesus is born, no matter what we do. But if we don't prepare, then we might totally miss the significance of it. And year after year that happens to millions of people - the birth of Jesus has no impact in their lives, because their lives are filled with too much other stuff. And that's why it occurs to me that a big part of Advent - a big part of being prepared for the birth of Jesus - is waste management. We need to get rid of junk.

            This morning we read about a key figure in the Advent story - John the Baptist. John embodied Advent in God's plan. God knew that the age of the Messiah was about to begin. But He also knew the people weren't ready. They had too much garbage in their lives, and not the kind you take out to the curb. It was the garbage of sin; of blindness to God; of despair on the part of some, and pride on the part of others. Enter John the Baptist, sent by God to - well, to remove garbage. And I want to talk this morning about the ways John invited the people of his day, and the people of our day, to get rid of junk.

            To begin with, there was his lifestyle: "He wore clothing of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey." We should note that one of the reasons John lived that way was because he was identifying with the tradition of prophets - this is how prophets often dressed and acted. But still, imagine the impact ­whether you're a poor person who worries and frets about what you don't have, or a rich person who wonders how you'll ever keep track of all you do have - here's a man wearing a scratchy old pelt, eating locusts, as if to say, "Let it go. You don't need all that stuff to find what it's all about. In fact, it's in the way. Let it go so there's room for God." The apostle Paul wrote, "I count everything as (garbage) because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." John's message was exactly that - nothing compares to the priority of being right with God. Get rid of everything that prevents it.

            Here's something sad I read. The majority of people who resolve at the start of the holiday season to be careful about their spending - to not go crazy with gift-giving and buying - often because they are still paying the bills from last year - end up spending 4-5 % more than they did the year before. They start out resolving it won't happen; but they can't prevent themselves. The machine is too strong; the subtle pressure to buy is too persistent. And it wins in the end. And that's what John's lifestyle confronts. And one of the things we can take out to the curb this year is the need to buy, the need to spend, the need to own - and the need to surround ourselves with more and more stuff. We're going to throw a good bunch of it away anyway. It is garbage. And we don't need it.

            The second thing about John was his baptism. Baptism has come to have a rich and multi-faceted meaning over the centuries, but with John it seems to have involved one basic thing - the forgiveness of sins. The people who came for baptism came confessing. Even the religious leaders, the ones John called a 'brood of vipers', came fleeing the 'wrath to come' because of their sins. A major part of John's message had to do with a God who simply would not put up with sin. And I suspect many people came out of fear of the wrath to come. But 1 don't know about other people, but my own experience of sin is that 1 don't usually need fear of God to motivate me to want to get rid of it. 1 can see all too clearly what my sinfulness does to myself and the people around me. And when I'm thinking clearly - when I'm not blinded by sin - I just want to be rid of it.

            So, the people came to be baptized by John, confessing their sins - carrying out the garbage. Here's some things you don't have room for this year: you don't have room for grudges you've carried for a long time; you don't have room for habits that eat up your time and your health and your self-esteem; you don't have room anymore for prejudices that cause you to dislike people because of political sentiments or lifestyle differences or the color of their skin or their religion; you can't afford to hold on to jealousy or envy or bitterness or greediness or self-centeredness that keeps you from being compassionate toward others. All those things need to go out to the curb. Don't hold on to the junk that is crowding out the blessing God wants to give you. Confess it and let it go.

            And the third thing about John was his message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." That's a pretty important message. We know that in part because it is exactly the message that Jesus started with when he began his ministry. That word, "Repent" is often narrowed down in our minds. As we use the word, when someone repents, we associate it almost exclusively with admitting you're wrong and being sorry about it. It certainly contains that meaning. But as the word is used in the Bible, it has a much wider meaning. It is associated with the Greek words 'metanoia' or 'metamorphosis.' Those are words that signify transformation, or totally new direction.

            There's a story about a man who was walking the countryside to Topeka. And he came upon this dirt road, and saw a farmer driving his wagon, and without a word, he jumped on the back of the wagon, startling the farmer. And the man said, "Listen. I've been walking all day, and I'm not in the mood for arguments. Just let me ride with you to Topeka." And the farmer started to protest, but the man shook his fist, and said, "Just go." So the farmer drove ... and drove ... and drove. And after hours, the man said, "This is taking a long time. Just how far is it to Topeka?" And the farmer said, "Well, let's see. The direction we're going, I reckon it's about 25,000 miles."

            In the current movie by the Coen brothers, No Country For Old Men, there is a sheriff who is nearing the end of his career, and reflecting how the world has become overrun with drugs and greed and violence and disrespect. And he just can't figure out how we got so far down this road. Don't you wonder that sometime? We're riding in the wrong direction. And the pain and tragedy of that is unimaginable. Finally, in that movie, an old friend of the sheriff tells him yet another story of how wrong things are - except it turns out that the story was almost 100 years ago. And the man's point is - this is nothing new. Things have been bad long before we came along. And that's how it is. We can look around and say, "Man, how did it ever get to this?" But the same could be said a hundred years ago. Or two hundred years ago. Or two thousand years ago. When you have a moment, read some of John's words addressing the evil of his time.

            But then read the promise in his message. Repent. Turn around. Embrace the new direction. The kingdom of God has come near. John could look at the horizon and see the shadow of the One who was coming. And he said, "Get ready," because he knew that that One would bring the kingdom of hope and mercy and justice within reach.

            You and I come here today because we know that things need to change. The world is going in the wrong direction. Our lives need transformation; need renewal; need - and I promise this will be my last waste management reference -recycling. The message of John the Baptist, and then Jesus the One we await, is that repentance is possible - and that is a new, fresh beginning - in the right direction. God's direction.

            John concludes his message with the image of a farmer picking up a winnowing fork to clear his threshing floor. He will separate the wheat from the chaff. Many Christians have seen this as an image of the final Judgment whereby God will separate good people from bad. I don't tend to go there. It seems to me that people are much more complicated than that. There is wheat and chaff in all of us. And the promise of Advent is that God will help us to know what to keep, and what to throw out and burn. I depend on that. I pray that, in good Methodist language, I am moving on toward perfection. And it is truly a blessing whenever we can look honestly at our lives and truthfully say, "We're not where we ought to be; we're not where we want to be; we're not where we're going to be; but thank God, we're not where we used to be."