December 6 2015
Malachi 3.1-4, *Luke 3.1-6 “Signs of Growth – Changed Hearts” Pastor
Jacqueline Hines
In this third chapter of the gospel of Luke we hear the names of
several ancient politicians. Tiberius has been in office for 15 years. Tiberius
was a distinguished general, a CEO, large and in charge. He ruled in the Roman Empire, those Italians who
for 12 centuries, controlled 50 million
people. It was said that the sun
rose and set on the Roman Empire. The Romans were considered as powerful as the
United States is today.
Tiberius had been emperor since Jesus was a teenager and he died
a few years after Jesus was crucified. The humble, human back story is that
Tiberius’ mother and father were divorced and he was adopted by his step-father, Caesar Augustus. Tiberius’
great uncle was Julius Caesar. When it came to ancient politics it was all in
the family as much as it is for any government.
Tiberius appointed Pontius
Pilate as governor of Judea. Judea also called Judah was also ruled by
the Roman government, but high
priests like Annas and Caiaphas had religious political power like the pope and like our United
Methodist Bishops who blog, tweet, and take political and spiritual stands around
the globe on every issue, and like Billy Graham, they are inspiring and
influential to many politicians.
Luke makes a point to tell us that Herod and Phillip, who were
brothers, were tetrarchs or governors in the very important districts of
Galilee and bordering areas that were political hot spots since it was the area
where Jesus, the religious renegade called home. These brothers were sons of
Herod the Great who – for political reasons helped the Jews rebuild/renovate the Holy Temple
that had been in dissarray for 500 years, torn down by king Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon, now known as Iraq.
How the people of God must have looked forward to building and
rebuilding their place of worship, in spite of all they had gone through!!
Luke gives us a detailed political rundown because history
matters in our life and in our world, or as one of my former district
superintendents said to me, ‘What happens in our church can all depend on whose ox has been gored.’
The politicians worked hard to keep their positions so they were
careful to support the religion of the day which was worship, not of Jehovah
God, but worship of the emperor. The idea of worshipping God first was
tantamount to treason. Those who did not bow down to the Emperor were
persecuted and quickly put in their place.
Wherever we live and whoever our leaders are, God expects us to
pray for them, to be in dialogue with Go about them.
If we are not governed by godly leaders, our job is to model
godliness for them. Praying is a spiritual exercise that nurtures us in growing
closer to God and to one another. Praying for some leaders and some countries
can be a spiritual challenge.
That is where John the Baptist comes in. Luke says he was a voice crying in the wilderness.
The Greek word for wilderness is er'-ay-mos. A wilderness is a place of
desolation, lonely with pastures best suited, not for humans, but for animals.
A wilderness is often deserted by others because it is a place
where one feels unprotected, neglected, and vulnerable. Friends are not eager
to meet us in our wilderness.
We all know about being in the wilderness. We have had relationships
that ripped our heart out, jobs that ate us alive, a moral lapse that left us broken
and pierced the hearts of those around us. A nagging mental or physical
diagnosis may have crept up on us and we were dragged, kicking and screaming
into a wilderness.
Still, Luke hears John the Baptist crying above every voice in
the wilderness, ‘prepare a way for the Lord.’ John preached the baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins says verse 3.
In the wilderness, there is plenty of time to think about
repenting and forgiving, for it is easy to get ourselves bent out of shape to
the point of needing to be straightened out. In the wilderness, we see vividly
the faces of those who cause us suffering and distress and our need to forgive
them and be forgiven. It was a lifesaver
that John preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness.
Baptism is a universal symbol of spiritual cleansing and purity.
Since the beginning of time humans have sought ways to be submerged,
overwhelmed, and immersed in a sense of cleanliness that removes our spiritual
dirt and grime. If you have seen the film 12 Years A Slave, you recall Patsy
risking life and limb to get just a
little piece of soap.
Like physical cleansing, spiritual cleansing contributes to our emotional well-being and can quickly
become a matter of life and death. We want to wash away our greed, hatred, and
conniving bacteria before they can kill us.
John the Baptist cries – a grown man crying – sometimes loudly
or softly, with strong words or with sighs too deep for words, crying in hopes
that our hearts would be cleansed, changed to become a heart that is free to
repent and free to forgive. Crying so we can realize that we can’t have a
peaceful conversation with our heavenly father if we are doing dirty deeds or
wishing ill will on one of his children – our sisters and brothers, especially
when we are in dire need of God’s favor ourselves.
At sundown today, our Jewish brothers and sisters will light the
menorah to begin the celebration of Hanukkah. They will remind us all to give thanks even when we
are crying in the wilderness. Like the Advent candles, the menorah reminds us
that there is a light within each of us. It is a light that shines in the
wilderness so we can see that our guide and deliverer is with us, showing us the direction we should go in order to
live holy.
So John cries until we listen and look, until we look and see
the Christ in every area of our lives.
For everyone is ready for Christmas, but not everyone is ready
for Christ – the anointed one, anointed with the oil that glistens and shines and
lights up our lives in ways that matter more than anything. Let us hear the
cries of God and of one another until we can see the light and follow the one who can save us.
Amen.
