Behold Now the Kingdom
Reflections on Luke 3.7-18
RCL Advent 3C
16 December 2018
Holy Trinity Cathedral
John 3.7-18
3.7John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
Every family has traditions that accompany the major festivals in their lives. These traditions are so important that even as adults we hold them very close to our hearts and feel their absence when, for one reason or another, we are not able to keep them. Our traditions can provide us with a way of interpreting the meaning of festivals and how these festivals can shape our lives and our characters.
Since my late childhood one of my traditions has been to read or to watch or to read and watch A Christmas Carol. My favourite film version is the 1951 version with Alistair Sim as Scrooge, but I can easily be coaxed to join with my now-adult children in watching A Muppet Christmas Carolmade in 1992 with Michael Caine as Scrooge and various Muppets in other roles. It’s one of those ‘children’s’ movies made for adults and filled with wonderful songs.
Let me share with you why A Christmas Carolis an important part of my Christmas tradition. I watch or read this work of Dickens to remind me that becoming more like Scrooge is a desirable goal. What I mean by saying that becoming more like Scrooge is a desirable goal is that we are called to ‘conversion’ throughout our lives. Conversion is a life-long process by means of which we learn to see the signs of the kingdom of God even in the most shadowed times of life. It is the glimpses of these signs that transform us and have the potential to transform all those with whom we live and work.
It is somewhat unfortunate that most English translations of the Greek New Testament continue to use the word ‘repent’ as central to John’s message to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him at the river Jordan. The actual word John uses is ‘metanoia’ and a better translation would be ‘conversion or ‘seeing the world as God sees it’ or ‘looking at the world from God’s perspective’. Surely, if you and I were to look at the world from God’s perspective, if you and I were to look at how we live our lives from the perspective of God’s expectations for a truly Christ-like life, our first reaction would be to repent, to acknowledge our sins and failures, our fears and cowardice. But God does not wish us to stay there, beating our breasts, protesting our unworthiness, no matter how unworthy we are. What God expects is that we move from repentance into conversion of life, from who we presently are to who God wishes us to become.
One of my favourite prayers comes from the fifth century and is attributed to Pope Leo the Great. In many Anglican churches it is used on the Second Sunday of Christmas and, in some cases, prayed quietly by a priest or deacon as he or she adds water to the wine to be used at communion. Here’s the version I learned as a teenager:
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. [1]
What God wants for us is that we become Christoi, icons of the Christos in the here and now of this world, so that the dignity of human nature might be restored not only in us but in all our sisters and brothers.
And the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future come to us in many guises and lead us to reflect on how there were signs of the kingdom in our past, how the kingdom pops up in the most unexpected places in our present and how we become agents of that kingdom in the future. Think about it for a moment. What the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge is that the bitterness and the miserliness of Scrooge’s present were not inevitable but choices he made by ignoring and refusing the love offered to him. What the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge is that the Cratchett family, for all their poverty, love and care for one another and find joy even as they contemplate the lost of Tiny Tim. What the Ghost of Christmas Future shows Scrooge is a teasing possibility of what might be if he does not see with new eyes and behold the signs of the kingdom.
When I watch Scrooge wake up on Christmas morning and discover that he’s alive and that there is a future that he had not contemplated before, I cannot help but hear Jesus when he says that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who beholds the kingdom for the first time than there is for a hundred disciples who have always had the kingdom in sight. Thank God for John the Baptist! Thank God for Jacob Marley! Thank God for Ebenezer Scrooge! After all, ‘Ebenezer’ means ‘stone of help’, a reminder that God has helped, is helping and will help us become who we are as God’s beloved.
So, my friends, may this Advent preparation for the Christmas festival be a time of intentional conversion. May it be a time when we are all looking intently for the signs of God’s promised kingdom of justice, of loving-kindness and of humility. Like Scrooge let us look back on our pasts to see how God has brought us safely thus far; let us look at the present to see how God is guiding us, loving us, challenging us to become more fully human, more fully Christ-like; let us look forward to the future, not with dread or dreariness, but with hope and confidence, that the day shall surely come when God’s purpose for us and for the whole of creation will be realized. May we, like Scrooge, wake up on Christmas and behold now the kingdom and rejoice to be partners with God in its realization.
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