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| Image Courtesy of Hermanoleon Clipart |
This morning marks the
second Sunday of Advent, and as we gather this morning we gather as people
eagerly anticipating the wonderful feast of Christmas. We have our favorite
Christmas hymns stuck in our heads on repeat every day of the week, we have
probably decorated our houses with red and green, tinsel and garland, and have
hung our lights and ornaments on the Christmas trees. Most excitingly, there
may even be a few gifts wrapped and securely placed on the tree, maybe even
bearing our names, waiting, just waiting for us to open them on Christmas
morning. We gather together each week, light another candle from the advent
wreath and hear scripture about the coming of the Messiah, the Lord, Emmanuel,
God with us. We are full of expectation
and excitement. But our scripture for
this morning teaches us a powerful lesson, one that seems so simple, so obvious
and yet one that we tend to forget. That is that without Christ’s this
celebration would not be possible.
Uh, Well duh Daniel, how could we celebrate the birth of
someone that wasn’t even born? That’s
not really what I mean when I say that this celebration wouldn’t be possible.
It is also not a critique of our culture around Christmas, while some bemoan
the fact that the holiday season is become less “Christmassy,” I find it as a
wonderful opportunity to celebrate Christmas exactly where it should be
celebrated, in church. It is more than
this however, the reason that this celebration would not be possible is because
of us. It is because without Christ we would not be part of the family; we
would not be part of God’s chosen people.
Our scripture this morning makes this abundantly clear.
Our scripture for this morning is probably a story that
most of us have heard before. John the Baptist is out in the wilderness
baptizing and proclaiming that the time is coming when the Messiah will come.
He tells the people to prepare the way for the coming Lord. We see this in the
other Gospels like Mark, Luke. In Luke we even see John rebuke some of those
who were gathered there, calling them a brood of vipers, and telling them that
God can raise from stones children of Abraham.
Our scripture from Matthew this morning however makes it abundantly
clear why he says this, and to whom it is addressed. Matthew tells us that the ones that John the
Baptist is rebuking are none other than the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They
are the ones in which he calls a brood of vipers, and it is in response to them
that he says, “ Do not presume 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.” But what does this
all mean, and what does this mean for us?
First and foremost we must recognize who John the Baptist
is talking to in this story. He is talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
different sects of religious leaders in the Jewish faith at that time. These
men were well educated and well versed in their reading and understanding of
the Torah. They also were also strict observers of the Jewish laws and moral
codes, and tried to protect Judaism against those who did things that they
viewed as perverting the Jewish faith. While in the Gospels the Pharisees and
the Sadducees are sometimes portrayed as the bad guys, and in some cases
rightfully so, we should not be so quick to pass judgment upon them. These men
simply wanted to preserve the sanctity of their faith and the Jewish teachings;
they just sometimes missed the point of God’s love while doing it.
It is one aspect of this strict adherence and dedication
to the Jewish law that John the Baptist attacks the Pharisees and the Sadducees
on. These religious leaders often viewed themselves as part of a separate, and
chosen people, and rightfully so, since the Jewish people are in fact called
God’s chosen people in scripture. The
leaders had strict laws of who then were and weren’t part of God’s chosen
including to whom they were born, and also how they should live if they are
part of God’s chosen people. This did not leave much room for evangelism, since
it was already decided one must be a descendent of Abraham in order to be one
of God’s chosen people.
And yet John the Baptist started to push these
boundaries, started to live and act, and preach to those in a way that did not
fit nicely into these boundaries. And yet for how radical John the Baptist may
have been, he was now foretelling of one far more radical. One who would
destroy the boundary between gentile and Jew and graft the Gentiles into that
historic family. One who could make even the stones part of Abraham’s children,
or in other words one who would make all part of God’s chosen people.
What we must realize is that most of us were not part of
the original chosen family. Unless you are of Jewish decent, we are all
Gentiles. This celebration of Christmas, this celebration of God’s favor in our
lives is only possible because Jesus came a made us part of the family, broke
down the walls of exclusion and said that all human life is sacred, that God
loves each and every one of us. As a church, both this local church and as part
of the universal church, we must find ways of sharing this true Christmas gift.
We must find ways to include the excluded, to reach out to those who might not
fit our nice and neat cultural boundaries. As followers of Christ we must find
ways to share that same acceptance and love to the world that Christ has shown
for us. This is why in the United Methodist Church we have an Open Table policy
when it comes to communion. It does not matter who you are, how old you are,
what you have done, what you haven’t done, you are created in the image of God,
and are invited to join in fellowship as we gather together to receive God’s
grace. It is our job as Christians to take the grace that we receive, to take
this moment of inclusivity and openness and find a way to take it into the
world to share the good news that Christ has come, and that we can all be part
of that chosen family.
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