SURPRISING HOPE
Luke 3:7-18
Third Sunday in Advent 2024, Year C
Analysis by Steven E. Albertin
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 axe 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.
Bartholomeus Breenbergh (1598–1657)
From Wikimedia Commons
“He joined us under the blade of the ax and in the flames . . . on the cross…. We hope in a future that is now in the hands of the One who went this way before us.”
DIAGNOSIS: Hopeless
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Looking for Hope
The crowds flocked to the crazy baptizer in the wilderness because they were looking for hope. They wanted a better future. John’s fiery preaching had touched a sensitive nerve.
Some believed they could flee to the nostalgic memories of the past (not all that unlike our current culture’s longing for the warm memories of Christmases past). After all, they have Abraham as their ancestor! Others are too honest to let such nostalgia cover up the failures in their lives. If the End is bearing down on them, as John’s fiery preaching implies, they ask, “then what should we do?” If they could only get their act cleaned up, then at least there would be hope . . . for the world . . . and for them.
But John the Baptizer is a prophet. Prophets never do what is expected of them. They are always full of surprises.
Can you imagine opening a Christmas card in these Advent days before Christmas and reading the words: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Whatever happened to “Merry Christmas”? John punctures one balloon after another. John insists that God can even raise up children of Abraham from a pile of rocks.
Step 2: Advance Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – Losing Hope
If we think that doing a few good deeds is going to salve our anxiety and give us hope, John pulls out the rug from under us. John’s demands expose the self-centeredness that lurks even in our good deeds.
If anyone needs a coat or something to eat, John tells them to give it to them, no questions asked! Tax collectors, who were expected to make a living on whatever extra they could extract from their subjects, give it up and forego what puts bread on your family’s table. Soldiers, who have no power without the threat of the sword and fear of intimidation, were to be like the nice guy who lives next door and hands out flowers to his enemies.
Such demands are impossible to keep. That is precisely the point. The prophet is not in the business of telling us what to do so that we could please whoever is coming.
BUT we can’t. We won’t. We don’t. Therefore, we are losing hope and can’t seem to do anything about it.
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Ultimate Problem) – No Hope
If we act like we have some claim on the future because of our genes, our bloodlines, our social class, our good family, our warm memories of Christmases past, then we should not be surprised if God is done with us. God does not need our good works. God can raise up a future from a pile of rocks.
When we live reckless lives, piously uttering “God loves to forgive sins! I love to commit them! Isn’t the world admirably arranged!”, then don’t be surprised when God decides to get out His axe and do away with such worthless and unproductive vegetation.
All the destruction, suffering and hurt that fills the world is exactly what it appears to be: the settling of the score has begun. The “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.”
PROGNOSIS: Hopeful
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution) – Surprising Good News
What else would we anticipate from a prophet who was called by God to tell the truth regardless of the whims of public opinion? That is why Luke’s closing comment is such a surprise. It is a shocking announcement that defies what John seems to be doing: “So, with many other exhortations, he (John) proclaimed GOOD NEWS to the people.” Good news??? There is good news here? Where?
John speaks of a “coming” one who is “more powerful than I.” This One too will baptize. It will be “with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” It will not just be the burning of chaff but also the “gather(ing) the wheat into his granary.” This Coming One is ultimately about saving and not destroying!
This One completes what John has begun. This One’s birth in human flesh reveals His desire to join all the hopeless sinners of this world and become a friend of sinners. When the time came, He joined us under the blade of the ax and in the flames . . . on the cross. When he did not come down from the cross, he seemed to confirm our hopeless plight. You see, in the end Ebenezer Scrooge was right about life and Christmas and other such sentimental notions when he uttered those famously cynical words, “Bah! Humbug!”
But SURPRISE! When God raised Him from the dead, Jesus had the last word after all. The famous words of that ancient Christmas carol are true after all: “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
Step 5: Advance Prognosis (Internal Solution) – All The Hope We Need
When Luke reported this about John, he had the advantage the other side of Easter. No wonder he declares in hindsight that this was “good news to the people.”
We stand in the same place. We too have the advantage of hindsight. Jesus has come to save us, “to gather the wheat into his granary.” We get to believe this promise. We get to trust this good news, so that we might do what was previously impossible: hope.
We can leave behind the false hope of genes, family, and revisionist memories of the past that never really were true. Abraham never was, and need not ever be, our ancestor. We have all the family connections we need in Jesus.
We need no longer chronically worry, “What then should we do?”
Believing this means that because of this One, we have all the hope we need. We hope in a future that is now in the hands of the One who went this way before us. The ax has been blunted. The fire has been quenched. The harvest has been completed . . . and we are safe and sound in the granary.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Hope For All
Having hope we get to share our coats with the poor, give food to the hungry, selflessly serve our neighbor and fearlessly care for the world without having to brandish a sword or wave a gun. We no longer need to extort, exploit, threaten or bribe our way through this life. Having hope we no longer need to even fear the future. We can give our lives away in service of the neighbor, . . . taking time to listen to that friend who is hurting, looking out for those who are stuck at the end of the line or the back of the bus, ignored and neglected, unwanted and undesirable. There is no one to whom we will not offer hope.
When Luther was once asked what he would do if he knew the world was to end tomorrow, he said, “Plant a tree.” Having hope he didn’t anxiously wonder “What should I then do?” as if he was not ready and had to get prepared or else. On the contrary, having hope he kept on doing what he always had done: trust the Gospel and keep on caring for the world by planting trees and surprising it with the hope we have in Christ who holds the future in his loving hands.
