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Sermon: The Baptism of Our Lord (C) - 10th January 2010
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping 8 &10 am
Readings: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalms 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-22
The recent conference in Copenhagen shows how hard it is to achieve justice. Some countries are currently on the point of drowning, like Kiribati and Bangladesh. The city of Venice is under threat of going under. Yet in order for the big economies to change requires such major reconstruction. We wonder if they know how to achieve it. People know that something must be done. But the question is – what should be done? And we ask, where is justice in our world?
Its like the persistent problem of world hunger. We know the world has enough food for all – yet how can everyone be fed? Various attempts have been made to feed the world. Yet in spite of the billions that have been thrown at the problem, the hungry remain and millions still stare to death. And no one seems to have a solution. So again we ask, where is justice in sharing the world’s resources.
In a similar vein, victims of crime in our own city realise how allusive it is to find justice. In spite of the efforts of the police and investigators, in spite of the availability of evidence, there is no guarantee of justice in our own society; yet it is something we expect, something we see as a right, and yet there is no guarantee of justice.
And this desire for justice is heightened when you live as the subject of an invading force. Israel in Jesus day endured an imposed Roman rule, under an imposed King of the Jews, Herod Antipas. Herod tried to act like a true King of Israel. He was enthusiastically involved in the building of the Temple. He wanted to look as much like Solomon as he could. But he couldn’t give up his bad habits. He had married his brother’s wife. This was unprecedented in the Jewish community as well as being a scandal. How could Herod claim any moral authority after such an act. Yet he remained in power, propped up by the Romans.
Many Jews found it impossible to live under such godless and immoral leadership. Its no wonder there were several revolutionary uprisings to get the Romans out. There was a desire for freedom and a longing for justice. And this was exactly the theme that John the Baptist used in his preaching. He announced the coming of the true King of Israel who would bring justice to the land. Therefore, he called on all people to repent and prepare for this day of Justice.
This is why he condemned some of the crowd as brood of vipers, because they hoped to avoid the judgment due to them. This is why some in the crowd asked what an appropriate act of repentance would be. So John said, “Those with two tunics should share with the man who has none. Then the tax collectors asked what they should do. His response was to only collect the required amount of taxes. The soldiers asked what they should do. John said, “Be content with your pay – don’t extort money, don’t wrongfully accuse.” This is hardly radical teaching. His repentance seems to us like common sense.
Yet it also shows how corruption filters down through every level of society. The whole thing was rotten. The crowds were amazed at John’s preaching. And perhaps because he was such a charismatic figure, they assumed his message was about himself. They wondered if he might not be the Christ, the Messiah. But John draws a clear distinction between himself and the Messiah. John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance. But the Messiah’s baptism will be a baptism of the Holy Spirit.
But that might seem strange to us. What would a baptism of the Holy Spirit be? What does it mean? How does it fit in with John’s preaching on justice? We can notice two things. First, there is constant reference in Luke’s gospel to the Holy Spirit in reference to the coming of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is associated with John’s birth, and Jesus’ birth. Simeon’s prophecies over Jesus as a baby were moved by the Holy Spirit. So by the time we get to chapter 3 in Luke, there have been a number of references to the work of the Spirit. So the way Luke tells the story seems to be in terms of a new work of the Holy Spirit in our world. The coming of the Messiah is couched in terms of the work of the Spirit.
Second, the coming of the Messiah in Isaiah is intimately tied to the work of the Holy Spirit. There we read,
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
So we have the coming of the Messiah tied up with the work of the Spirit which for Israel included all these essential issues of justice, preaching good news to the poor, binding up the broken-hearted, freedom for the captives, comfort for those who mourn, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. Any mention by John of the Holy Spirit would remind Israel of the great hope they had in Isaiah 61.
And so it is no wonder in chapter four when Jesus began his ministry by preaching in the synagogue in Nazareth, he reached for the scroll of Isaiah and read from chapter 61. Then he handed back the scroll and announced, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This was the ministry that John had promised Jesus would perform, the work of the spirit is the restoration of God’s justice in our world.
John’s image is of the harvest, an image that Jesus used regularly. At the harvest the crops are brought in and then occurs the great separation of the wheat from the chaff. The wheat is gathered into the barn while the chaff is burnt in the fires. It’s a similar picture in Matthew 25 where there is the division between the sheep and the goats. The wicked receive their judgment while the righteous receive their reward. The parable ends the way we think it ought – the wicked are punished and the good are rewarded.
This sense of justice goes very deep as C. S. Lewis explains in his book “Mere Christianity.” Justice is not a concept that has to be taught to children. They grow up with an innate longing for fair play. Children constantly badger their parents and teachers over issues of fairness and their common complaint is – “that’s not fair.” Part of the good news in Luke’s gospel is that this desire for fairness and justice is a divine desire, a desire that comes from the heart of God and is at last being addressed in the coming of the Messiah.
But notice too that there is an element of the “Now and not yet” in this reading. John promises the coming of the Messiah with the Spirit of Justice, the one who carries his winnowing fork of justice yet it does not mean justice for John the Baptist. John had spoken out against Herod’s marriage. It was a sensitive issue. It was an attack upon his right to be king of Israel. Considering the political sensitivities it as not surprising that John was jailed. And later he was executed on the whim of Herod’s adopted daughter. Though John had preached the coming of the Lord of justice there was to be no justice for John. It is no wonder, while he was in prison, he sent a message from prison asking Jesus if he was the promised one or should they look for someone else.
Yet John’s story has been repeated so many times over the last 2000 years. How many martyrs have been falsely accused, wrongly imprisoned, and illegally executed. They are countless. The justice that was promised with the coming of the Messiah has not yet been fully realised. But that is no reason for us to give up hope. Perhaps we can do no better than to emulate the example of the Jews who listened to John’s preaching. Rather than waiting for the day of justice they asked quite another question. They wanted to know how to prepare for it. The people with two tunics were asked to share with those who had none. The soldiers were told to be content with their pay and not to abuse their power. The tax collectors were told to treat people fairly.
In other words, these people who longed for justice were asked to be just with one another. For those who craved fairness, the challenge was to be fair. And we would do well to follow their example. Rather than waiting for the world to come to dawn upon us, now is the time to express those new age standards of justice, of love, of charity. of humility. And this is not something new. It takes up back to the prophecy of Micah. At the climax of the book the prophet concludes -[Micah 6:8]
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?