Luke 3:7-18
“Unearthing Joy”
December 12, 2021 Third Sunday of Advent
I will add my voice to the thousands of others who say that social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and the like – are both a blessing and a curse, sometimes in equal measure.
Yesterday, however, in the midst of the heartbreaking views of the devastation from the tornadoes that ripped through Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and beyond destroying whole towns and killing dozens of people, one man, Gurdeep Pandher of the beautiful but right now brutally cold Yukon way up there in Canada reminded many of us of the power of social media for good.
Gurdeep posts joyful videos every day from outside his cabin energetically dancing the folk dance from the Punjab region known as Bhangra.
He now has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world and has taught all sorts of people this Sikh dance form during the COVID pandemic, doing his part by bearing joy to a hurting world.
He offered prayers of support and reminded all those who are moved to help in some way by the images coming from those tornado-ravaged communities when he posted, “Seek joy by donating your joy! When you give positivity away, it’ll come back to you. Joy will not return to you if you simply just wait for it without contributing your part.”
It’s all in the doing. The idea of figuring out what exactly we need to do, where God is calling us since we don’t have a John the Baptist handy to fill us in on what we should be doing, could mean spending time in silence, listening first and then figuring out where and to what and how we are called by God.
John the Baptist is reminding these folks of the call of their baptism.
It is more than just going to the right church, making all the right motions, and praying that this will be enough.
This is not enough.
God may speak to us here, hopefully that’s happening, but there are plenty of other places where God is trying to get our attention.
Starting with John the Baptist’s instructions is not a bad place to begin.
Do we have more clothes than we need?
More food than we need?
Has our place of privilege been assured when others in our midst are struggling against a seemingly unjust system?
What are we to do about these calls? What is God asking of us?
During this Advent season of preparation, of waiting, of anticipation, we hear the words of all those people who reacted to John the Baptist who was brutally honest by calling the folks who had rushed in to get baptized because it was the popular thing to do the hypocrites that he thought they were.
He rails on “It’s your life that must change.”
All that tough talk on his part may have been what they needed to hear.
He knows that they are not really seeking him but the one he is clearing a path for.
He knows that right there in front of him are those who are viewed with scorn by decent and honest people.
Tax collectors back then were viewed as cheaters.
The soldiers of that day were a far cry from our brave men and women in uniform and were often nothing more than corrupt thugs.
They have all come to be washed in the water that he is providing.
John’s response is to remind them that they have a part to play.
They can turn their lives around.
They, too, can prepare the way of the Lord.
This inclusivity is amazing in its expansiveness.
This call to baptism is for everyone.
Jesus, the one who is coming, is holding the door open for everyone.
As was spoken by the angel to the terrified shepherds, this is “Good news of great joy for all people.”
John is offering a path to joy for those crowds that surrounded him then and for all of us now.
It was Mark Twain who said, “To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.”
This is the Sunday where while we are waiting and hoping and filled with expectation, we get to see joy as a very real possibility in this way of living where we each have enough and no one has too much life that John devotes so much energy to teaching, after he gets the crowd’s attention.
Tis the season in which the rushing for more might take a turn toward where the unmet human needs are around us.
Luke proclaims John’s honest and heartfelt truth-telling as good news.
John is preparing God’s people for the new world order that Jesus will proclaim.
There is most certainly joy to be found in our giving.
Let us pray then the words of the Rev. Ted Crass:
Holy One,
On this day, in our waiting, I lean into a gentle whisper from you –
That you are near
That your love will manifest
That your peace will come
That my heart and hands matter.
On this day, where coats are needed, I will share.
Where food is needed, I will offer and provide.
Where opportunity harkens, I will be generous and fair.
Is it today?
I will wait …
I will watch …
Let me be ready.
Guide me to act as part of your ever-renewing love and repair.
Amen.
Rev. Ted Crass, President, UMC Foundation of New England