(the beginnings of a talk)

Relevant Scripture texts:

Luke 1:13-17 (Angels intro) Luke 1:42-46 (Elizabeth and the womb leap)
Matt 3 (intro)

Luke 7:20 (Disciples of John come to Jesus)

Luke 7:33 (not eating or drinking)

Matt 14:8 (death of John) And Mark 6

Mal 4:5 (prophesy of Elijah coming back)

(Note: This talk is being given Monday, August 28th, the day before the feast day of John the Baptist’s death)

(beginning of the talk itself:)

Tomorrow is a feast day of a unique person in scripture. John the Baptist fits in as a bridge between the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant, between the time of Prophets, and the time of Apostles.

One thing is certain however, he died like a lot of Prophets and Apostles. Herod was in charge of Judea at the time, and he married his brother’s wife. The wife didn’t mind, apparently because Herod was in charge, and that gave her more power (as far as I can tell). But John called Herod out on it… loudly and repeatedly; so much so, that Herod had to throw him in prison, to maintain his authority. Herodotus didn’t like the fact that John was alive, but scripture tells us that Herod liked to listen to John. But eventually came the dance. The daughter of Herodotus danced for the court, and Herod was drunk. Herod promised her anything, even up to half the kingdom. The daughter conferred with her mother, and the request came back: give me the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter. (You can find this story in Matthew 14 and Mark 6)

But what else do we know? We know his taste in clothes ran towards the… uncomfortable… Camel hair isn’t very soft. One thing you might not know is that many holy men and women have made a ‘hair shirt’ to wear. This garment is designed to be very uncomfortable.

And his diet probably made it worse… The Angel that announced his forthcoming birth forbade him from “Wine or Strong Drink” before Elizabeth even knew she was pregnant. No, he dined on “Locusts and wild honey”. Remember, honey didn’t come in jars then. Wild honey had to be found in cracks of certain dead trees. The bees don’t like giving up their honey either.

So, picture John with me. First, he’s wearing a hair shirt. Second, he’s got bee stings all over him, and he has a habit of eating large grasshoppers (some of these could be as long as 6 inches).

Then listen to him. He’s preaching to the multitudes, and saying some pretty interesting things:

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”

“Prepare the Way of the Lord. Make His path’s straight”

And then this polite statement to the Scribes and Pharisees: from Matthew 3:7-12

You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 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. Even now the ax 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. “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

These are some intense words. “Brood of Vipers” isn’t very complimentary.

So, what does this mean for us? John’s central message to us center around 2 things: 1) Repentance and 2) Presumption.

We all know of repentance. It’s something I certainly need to get to know better. Repentance is the God inspired desire to never commit sin again. I don’t know about you, but I get sick and tired of going to reconciliation, and going through basically the same list of sins, just with new instances of them. But I hear a talk from Scott Hahn in the back of my head where he said the same thing in confession once, and the priest responded “would you rather have new ones?”

But the thing I want to talk about a little more closely is ‘presumption’. To ‘presume’ something (to have presumption) is to have, or feel like you have a sense of entitlement. John saw clearly the presumption on ancestry in the Jews of his day. What presumption did the Jews face, and what do we face today? The Jews of those days often thought like this: “We’re the descendants of Abraham. We’ve got it made in the shade. God loves us, and hates everyone else, so we just have to sit back, and wait on the Messiah to come through, kick everyone else into submission, and then sit back and laugh.”

That’s the attitude that John is addressing. Jesus and Paul both later attacks the same attitude.

But the same sinful nature attacks me as well, just in slightly different costumes.

Do I blithely assume that God will take care of everything and we do nothing, falling prey to sloth?

Do I do everything for ourselves, assuming that God ‘helps those who help themselves’, and fall prey to pride?

Do I watch TV, getting enamored with the glamour of Hollywood, and desiring it, fall prey to envy?

Do I consume everything that we desire, and fall prey to gluttony?

Do I use others for our pleasure, with our eyes, or otherwise, and fall prey to lust?

Do I silently brood over the injustices over the world, and fall prey to anger?

Do I hoard our blessings of leadership, of service, and of prayer, and fall prey to greed?

I’ve shifted gears here from presumption to sin, but each of these can be presumed upon… ‘Oh, God isn’t so concerned with that. It’s not that important.’ John the Baptist would have some similar words for me in this time, that he had for the scribes in his own day: ‘Repent!’.