Our gospel for today has a sense of urgency about it. It is a different kind of urgency or pressure than that which we encounter in shopping malls, grocery stores, and retail shops at this time of year. Our commercial culture is busy with external preparations for Christmas – gifts, food, decorations, etc. But the preaching of John the confronts us this morning with a different kind of preparation of examining, cleaning, and clearing up our lives so as to be able to rejoice at the coming of Christ, and to have open, uncluttered, and undistracted hearts and lives which are able to embrace and respond to his summons to love – to love him and to love each other as he loves us.

John stands in a long line of prophets. The prophets of the Old Testament were not known for their diplomacy or their diplomatic speech. They were frank and forthright figures who understood their mission and their message to have been given them from God. They were sometimes reticent to deliver the message God had given them, not simply because they knew it would be unpopular, but because they knew it could endanger their lives, or at best make their lives difficult. Yet, they were compelled to deliver their message, because it was the truth. Most often, their message was two-fold. They spoke of God’s judgement on the nation and the people because of the people’s infidelity, as well as of God’s redemption and love because of God’s fidelity. The God of whom and for whom they spoke was compassionate but not indulgent; merciful, yet demanding. For the prophets, God’s judgment and God’s love were two sides of the same coin.

John was one of these frank, forthright, and no-nonsense figures. He was an ascetic, from the Greek word, asketes, meaning one who practices strict self-denial as a means of religious discipline. He did not live in a town or city, but in the desert, the wilderness of the Jordan valley. He dressed himself in camel’s hair, and sustained himself on locusts and wild honey.

From what we learn about him in scripture, he was a powerful personality and a compelling preacher. Luke tells us that crowds, multitudes of people came out into the wilderness where he lived to listen to him and to receive a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

In today’s gospel, we are treated to an example of his preaching: Luke records that John said to the crowds, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not…say to yourselves, "We gave Abraham as our ancestor; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree…that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

One might think that after being called snakes, and deadly poisonous ones at that, the crowds that came out to hear John would have left in an offended huff. But apparently John’s message struck some deep chord of truth in them that something was awry in their lives, because instead of taking offense at his words, the crowds ask him what they can do to set things right. They ask how they can change, and amend their ways of living so as not to be displeasing to God.

John’s advice is straightforward and down to earth. Those who have more [than they need] – two coats – are to share what they have with those who have none. And the same equation goes for food. Those who have food are to share with those who do not. It is a general admonition of practical charity, toward the helpless, the unfortunate, and the deprived.

Tax collectors were generally thought of extortioners because they frequently collected more than was the government'’ due, both in order to advance themselves and to line their pockets with the excess. John tells them to collect no more than what is due. Soldiers, likewise, are told not to use their power and authority to threaten, abuse and exploit others for their own gain.

John’s advice is essentially threefold: He calls upon his bearers to share their goods, to relinquish ambition and greed, and to renounce violence. Since Luke is the only evangelist to record these practical changes which needed to take place in the people’s day-to-day living, one commentator suggests that it is Luke’s way of spelling out the kind of repentance, or change, that needed to take place in the lives of the people of the first century- both Jews and Greeks.

Luke puts all of John’s preaching in the context of preparation. These practical changes are what the people are to do in order to be ready for the coming of God’s Messiah- the one mightier than John. And at the end of today’s reading, Luke says that with many other exhortations John preached "good news" to the people.

One is tempted to ask, how can being called a snake, being told that one must reform one’s life, and being warned against complacency in religious life and practice be considered "good news"? How can it be good to hear and see that one has fallen short and needs to change?

John’s preaching confronts us, as it confronted first century Jews, with God’s claim upon our lives to embody his compassion, his generosity, and his justice in our everyday dealings. The only remedy for release from wrongdoing, and the guilt that attends it, from sin, is to confront it, confess it, receive forgiveness, and God’s help to amend what is amiss. John’s preaching is good news because it calls us to a frank and sober examination of our everyday dealings with others and how we need to change in order to be more fully and more faithfully the kind of people God intends for us to be.

Our collect for this 3^rd Sunday of Advent always strikes a deep chord of resonance with me: Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us."

I like it because it presents the notion of sin as a hindrance; a burden, a weight, a barrier that keeps us from being the kinds of persons we know God created and intended us to be. And it suggests that we cannot rid ourselves of these hindrances simply through our own efforts; simply by pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps: "let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us."

Today’s gospel is an invitation to ready ourselves for the coming of Christ by taking a look at our lives: whether and how we share our wealth with others who have less; whether and how we use our profession or life’s work for selfish ambition and greed, oppressing and wronging others in the process; whether and how we use our power, influence and/or authority to abuse, threaten, and/or exploit others. It challenges us to examine how God is calling us to change, to re-form, and amend our lives so as to be more generous, more just, and more compassionate in our everyday living.

One of the means the church puts at our disposal for just such an undertaking of honest and sober self-examination and amendment is the sacrament of reconciliation. Father John and I both have put aside time this week to make this sacrament available for those who desire it. The days and times have been printed in the Illuminare.

Even though this week may be filled with last-minute external preparations for the feast of Christmas, I would urge us all to take some time this week for internal preparation. Nine years ago, an Episcopal liturgist, H. Boone Porter wrote that, "The exercise of self-examination, sincere repentance and confession, and the medicine of absolution, will do more to give us a joyful Christmas than many an eggnog or slice of cake."

As we approach this year’s celebration of God becoming flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, let us remember that the most important preparation and readiness for this feast is one of our hearts, our minds, and our lives. We most truly show our welcome of Christ and our love for Christ when we are willing to let him have his way with us – when we are willing to change, to amend our lives in accordance with his purposes. May we make ready to receive him this Advent by having our hearts and our lives open and willing to respond to his claim upon us and upon our lives. May we be willing to see and to embrace how he is calling us to be more generous, more compassionate, and more just in our everyday lives with others.

The Rev’d Pamela P. Snare is Curate at Christ Church, Covington.

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