sermon091206

This is the Sunday of the Candle of Peace and the Sunday of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness:

"Getting Ready for Peace"                      Advent II                                  December 6, 2009

Cicero United Methodist Church      Text:  Matthew 3:1-12                            Jack Keating

This is the Sunday of the Candle of Peace and the Sunday of John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness:

-"Repent, for the kingdom of God is near."

-"Repent, for every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

-Repent, for after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry."

-Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand."-

This is the Sunday of Peace and the Sunday of John the Baptist.

John sure presents an awesome image to us, doesn't he? With his strange garb, his strange diet, and his long, long, hair and long, long beard.

But what connection is there between this John - out there preparing the way of the Lord in the wilderness by preaching repentance and the nearness of God's kingdom - and peace?

Is it just one of those coincidences of the seasonal calendar and the lectionary readings? Or is it a deliberate coming together of themes and ideas so that you, the people of God, learn the truth and are equipped by the Truth - and by the Spirit from whom all truth comes - to live the truth and share that truth with those around you?

How much I wish certain people were here today,

-  people from my family who are hurting

-  and people from our community who are unhappy and are always seeking something

-  and people from those corporations and governments that afflict their citizens and indeed our entire world.

Peace and repentance,

Peace and being in the right relationship with God,

Peace and looking to God and walking in his light that are so intimately linked that you cannot not have one without the other.

Think of how elusive peace is - how far away the Kingdom of God seems at times. There is no peace in the Mid East - or Indonesia

-there has been no war to end all wars

-just times in which there is suffering and killing and times in which there is less.

And think of your own households - and families - or those of your closest friends. Think of the addictions - the ignorance - the greed - and the rebellion you see.

Think of those people who live in fear - and of those who do all kinds of self destructive things - and yes - think of those bedrooms or living rooms or playrooms where there is violence or neglect.

My friends, there is no peace in the hearts of literally millions of people. But there can be - for we can and do see peace around us as well.

We see nations without civil wars or violent oppression within;

-nations reasonably well run - whose people eat and drink and have a place to sleep

-nations that run according to the rule of law - a law that respects individuals and

tries to ensure people of certain fundamental rights.

And we see families - and individuals within families - with peace, indeed we see them even when they are afflicted by disease or accident - or poverty not only with peace, but with a kind of joy, and hope, and love that radiates from them.

So how do we get there you ask?

I don't know about you, but I'll guess like me there are some days you wake up and you don't feel like being the lamb that looks to lie down with the lion. I have some days when this goat has no desire to cuddle up with the leopard! And yet I know that I am called to live in a world in which I foster peace.

But I can promise you that - on the world scene - peace doesn't come by making treaties or alliances, nor does it come from fighting for peace, by bombing cities or by assassinating foreign leaders ..... though for a short time these things may seem to work.

And in our lives peace doesn't seem to come by buying the right kind of deodorant, or by investing in the right kinds of securities or mutual funds, nor by obtaining a better paying job or by trading in your husband or wife on a new and better model ... though for a short time these things may seem to work, as well.

Peace obtained in all these ways seems to last for only a moment - and then our hunger, our desire, our anxiety arises once again, and our inner and outer conflicts return.

Where is peace to be found? That is the question of the day and of our lives ... isn't it? Well there is an answer to that question. An answer that our readings speak of today, an answer that I hope to share with you in plain terms now.

Peace comes through repentance. Peace comes with turning towards God and living within Christ. Or, to use the highway image that both the Prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist use so often, by preparing the way for the coming of the promised one.

It is that simple.

Isaiah wrote in chapter 32, verse 17:

"The fruit of the righteousness will be peace. The effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever."

That is in our hearts. But more, in verse 18 ... for our out there it says:

"My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest."

The fruit of righteousness, that is fruit, my friends, of walking in the way of Christ of being grafted into the vine, of turning towards him and doing those things he asks us to do ­is fruit indeed!

It grows out of us -not because there is something special about us but because of something special about the God we open ourselves up to ... the God we resolve to truly love - ­truly trust - truly obey.

The fruit of righteousness is peace.

Each year within the church the Second Sunday of Advent is called the Sunday of Peace. And each year on this Sunday we read - either from Luke, or from Mark, or from Matthew the story of John the Baptist and of how he went out into the wilderness and there preached a baptism of repentance and the good news of the coming of the promised one of God.

It is deliberate - and it is repetitious - because it is the truth we need to hear.

So where is peace?

It is not in claiming that we are descendants of Abraham or that our grandmother or grandfather were saints of the church, if indeed they were. It is not in claiming that we are part of the true vine, or that our membership in the church is all paid up .... That we have worked hard at this job or that job ... and that we attend as often as we can.

No, it is bearing fruit in keeping with repentance, fruit that arises out of our conscious and deliberate acts of love, out of our conscious and deliberate acts of forgiveness, out of our conscious and deliberate devotion ..... Out of our daily turning and opening to God.

John is harsh in how he speaks toward those who come out to him in the wilderness, not because he wants to scare these folks away, but because he wants them to really understand what is at stake, to really understand what is going on.

It is not simply that there is a wrath to come that we should fear. But that there is a wrath that is already here. The axe is already being laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Do you doubt this?

When you look into your life - at those things that didn't work out so well and when you look at what is happening in the lives of so many around you - can you really doubt the presence of the axe?

I feel that way whenever I think about my alcoholic Dad or see the greed and the fear and the meaninglessness of a dear one who is always looking for more than he has. I felt that way when I see nations picking on nations like bully boys in the school playground or when I think back to the days of domestic violence in my home as a child.

I see a need for good fruit my friends - that can only come from good seed. We reap what we sow.

So it should be our prayer that we sow, that the Spirit sows, God's word into our hearts and minds, so that it might grow into the hands of one that blesses others with a healing touch, so that it might grow into the voice and smile of one that speaks blessing and forgiveness to those in need, so that it might grow into the feet of one who will cross the street to bring hope and comfort to a stranger.

Our prayer each day should be that the word - the Spirit - might produce its fruit in us, and that those around us will taste and see that it is good and yearn to produce the same fruit in their lives.

That is what repentance is all about. It is about turning to God

- and yearning for God

- and allowing God's Word to work in you,

turning so much - that your eyes and your whole body are focused on the path of righteousness, yearning so much - that you deliberately engage in random acts of kindness, allowing so much - that you forgive those who do not know what they do, and even those who do.

What is our command - the one that will demonstrate to the whole world that we are Christ's disciples? It is that we love one another - that we love one another in the same manner that Jesus loves us.

There must be people that you wish could hear this word today - people who aren't here, and, sad to say, aren't likely to be here anytime soon - and probably not likely to hear and accept if they were here.

But I am here. And you are here. And the preaching of John, a preaching that drew literally thousands of people to him, that teaching is here for us as well. It is for us for as long as the world needs peace, for as long as we need peace.

Near the end of the Book of Romans Paul prays these words...

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

We are called, my friends, to be ones who overflow with hope and peace and joy: to be ones who bear the fruit of repentance in abundance - so all the world - and especially those who are closest to us - may know whose we are and where it is that peace may be found.

This is no great labor that requires years of training and an immaculate pedigree.

This is the fruit of turning towards God. And loving mercy and justice and walking humbly with your Lord. This is the fruit of turning towards your brother or sister and of loving them in the way that Jesus loves them - in the same way he loves you. This is the fruit of walking in the light and obeying the commandments that Christ has given us.

- "Repent - and bear fruit befitting repentance."

- "Repent - and know that one greater than I is coming

- the one who will clear the threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn,

- the one who will burn the chaff - and who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, and bring you into the fullness of the kingdom that he promised, that kingdom where the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat.

Where is peace? It is in the Prince of Peace.

And it is within us... as a fruit of His Spirit within us.

Behold the Lord is coming; he is even now at hand. May those whom have ears - hear this word and turn to God and accept it into their hearts. AMEN.