December 8 2019 Matthew 3. 1-12 “Snow in John’s Wilderness” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

Continuing to reflect on God speaking to us through snow during this Advent season, will you allow me a little snow humor? It’s snow funny…

 Q: How do Eskimos make their beds?

A: With sheets of ice and blankets of snow.

John the Baptist was a trailblazer. He led the way for Jesus, who had the most controversial and bitter sweet message ever to be told. Matthew describes John as a wilderness man. Verse 4 says his clothes were made of camel’s hair. After he skinned a camel, the hair was probably course and crude looking. As a wilderness man, John was not as bothered by the itchiness or the woodsy smell as most of us might be.  If you have a camel coat, like one from Brook’s Brothers in the King of Prussia Mall, you might pay $1000. Even in the day of John the Baptist, there was a hefty price to be paid if one were to wear clothes made of camel hair.

John also wore a leather belt, which also implies that he and or his associates were mindful and familiar with animals in the wild. He ate locusts, crunch crunch, yum, yum.  We can buy locusts as well as grasshoppers, ants, scorpions, worms, and these barbecue crickets chips  I bought from Amazon. (only kidding) They are gluten free and high in protein.

Locusts, like some other bugs, can kill trees and devour crops. A locust plague occurred in the late 1800’s damaging $200 million crops in several Midwestern states. One witness said, the locusts looked "like a great white cloud, like a snowstorm, .."

Hearing that John the Baptist has been eating locusts is a very important part of this passage. You may have heard a lawyer tell in his television ad how he eats giant bully corporations for lunch. Witnesses might say of John the Baptist, “John eats locusts.” That is, John devours the devourer!” John also ate wild honey which has to be retrieved in spite of the bees and bears on the hunt. Honey is a reward for those who can manage sticky situations which happens anytime one talks about Jesus. We have come to know that honey is definitely not safe for babies to eat, but only for those who are mature. John was a wilderness man.

There was likely some snow, physical and spiritual, in John’s wilderness. Our Advent reflections on snow remind us in Job 37.6, “snow comes from the Lord.” We do not picture snow often in biblical stories, but John the Baptist probably saw snow in the mountainous region of Judea’s wilderness. There is snow in the Middle East . Snow does a variety of things to our lives and has many meanings and messages for us in this Advent season. From snow cream, to snow jobs, to being snowed in, snowed under, or the enjoyment of the beauty of falling or fallen snow, snow comes from God. God sends us snow and with God, we will be ok with it. 

Like John, we have spent time in a wilderness, and in every wilderness we find ourselves, God’s blessings have fallen upon our lives like gentle snow, reminding us that everything is going to be alright. Is there anyone here who has learned that God blesses us in our wilderness?  In this world, we have encountered our share of ferocious animals, untamed beasts and we have tasted bitter roots. We have stomached hardships. In our hearts we can confidently say, “God’s got this.”

Some days it seems like the whole world is a wilderness. Last week we looked at global warming and how it causes some forest fires. When I mentioned to the Bishop that experts say we are too late in trying to do reverse a catastrophe, she agreed saying that in Maryland, Smith Island and two of her districts are already under water. Our problem at Bethel is that the scout hut was destroyed by mold. Ten thousand dollars of donated goods and volunteer hours gone.  Increased rainfalls have caused our sub pump to run overtime, which costs.  

Forest fires are another problem said to be created by global warming. The earth is heating up to 3 degrees Celsius which is 37 degrees Fahrenheit causing dry wood to spark and inflame.  Interestingly, the natural forest fires caused by lightning make the forest healthy because their seeds are sealed with a gummy substance in cones. Only in a fire is it hot enough to melt the gummy seal, opening the cone, allowing the seeds, called “fire seeds” to drop to the ground, grow and become a specialized pine tree. One woman from Montana knows these trees, grown from fire seeds, are barely 16 inches in diameter  are used by Native Americans to make their teepees. 

Whether our wilderness is personal or global, God fulfills an awesome purpose and plan.

John cries out in our wilderness three urgent cries. First, he calls us to repent, to look within our hearts and note if there is anything there that is not like our God, to ask God to shine a light on us and search our lives for any wicked way in us. Rabbi Benjamin Blech tells the story of how death helps us change for the better. He has seen children at their parent’s deathbed shedding tears of regret, couples going through a divorce, begging for forgiveness. One woman argued with her husband. As he walked out the door she exclaimed, “I hope you drop dead.” That is just what he did. She never seemed to get over it. The day to repent and do God’s will is today.

Secondly, John cries out and welcomes us to be baptized in the wilderness. Baptism is a powerful reminder to be attached to one another. Baptism is a ritual that affirms our togetherness, our oneness, our unity from generation to generation. In and of itself, baptism is just plain water, but with a simple prayer of dedication, the water becomes a river of life, a wellspring of holiness, a refreshment to our thirsty souls, and hope and help for the least, the last, and the lost among us. You know their faces. God dares us to know their names. Our connection to one another creates an atmosphere that humanizes us and heals us rather than sabotages God’s plan by turning us into wild animals that call the wilderness their home and even sleep in the freezing snow.

Finally, John the trailblazer humbly reminds us that he is not even worthy to tie the sandals of the one who is coming, the one for whom the trail is blazed. Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming with a winnowing fork  says verse 12. That is he will come close enough that we will feel his breath, the breath of life, and we will be windblown just enough for the debris in our lives to be separated from the seeds that can grow into something great. And, that is not all. We will be baptized with the Holy Spirit that stirs up truth and sets us free from our burden of sin and sadness. We will also be baptized with fire; holy heat and purging flames will change us in ways that cause us to grow become whatever a loving and kind God designs us to be for God’s sake, for our sake, and for the sake of each and everyone around us who needs a Merry Christmas, a white Christmas,  a Christ with us. Amen.