Second Sunday in Advent

So..... change. Not a comfortable subject. I mentioned today a change at the church, the resignation of our Ministry Coordinator, Julie Feirer. That's a big one. Also, we have some changes coming soon in our town, and you may have changes in your life or in the lives of those you love. Of course there are some changes that are welcome, but many others, not so much. 

The Buddha said that ALL is change; all is in flux. Even from moment to moment, nothing is the same. He did not say where the change was going, or it’s end, only that it is, and is constant. And when you think about it, much of the suffering we cause to ourselves and others stems from our desire to resist that force. 

In our text this week, John the Baptizer comes on the scene to say change is coming. It’s not a comfortable message! He talks about wrath, and the ax lying at the tree, ready to chop. It’s a call to repentance – a change of mind and perspective about people's lives and world. And they come out to him and believe him. They find a kind of renewal in this ritual he brings to them called baptism, which offers a hopeful view of the future.

A couple weeks ago I shared a rather dismal view of the future – the readings were apocalyptic, which is a healthy perspective to consider now and then. Because unlike the Buddha the Biblical Prophets including John the Baptist and Jesus – say the change is headed somewhere. It’s not just change for change’s sake. Sometimes that somewhere is frightening: like the Titanic sinking, and there’s a warning call, like John the Baptist today, saying the ax is ready to swing. Where there was once a majestic poplar, soon there will be but a stump. But we’d be remiss if we stopped there. In the old testament reading of Isaiah there’s an axed stump, but look closely! There are shoots coming out! And all of those shoots are brimming and bursting with potential life and hope.

We simply do not know when either is going to happen – the ax or the shoot. We just know both are inevitable.

Nobody says this better than Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” – a movie a watch almost every year about this time -- starring a guy who’s been in a John Wayne film or two, Jimmy Stewart, as George Bailey, regular joe, small town businessman, but a good man – his whole life is all about making sacrifices for others, and as director of a building and loan bank he makes risky loans to people and trusts in their innate goodness. When an honest money error lands him on the edge of bankruptcy, and worse, possible scandal and criminal charges, he ponders ending it all – that’s when some divine intervention comes in, and he’s given a chance to see what life would be like if he hadn’t ever been born. What if he hadn’t helped all those people in mundane yet significant ways, - with loans to build their businesses and homes--  if he hadn’t made interventions which at the time he thought nothing of; if he hadn’t made certain self-sacrificing decisions. That world is before him. And he does not like what he sees. Suddenly in comparison the world of his real life blooms with significance – AND when he returns help comes from unexpected places.  That’s repentance!

While John the Baptizer  proclaimed disaster – which did happen: Jerusalem would be a smoldering pile of ashes within 40 years -- he also saw beyond the stump to the shoot. And that takes repentance. And for us too. Jesus, it turns out, is less of an axe-swinger and more of a hope bringer. Jesus himself was cut down, but the ax, or the cross, did not have the last word. The tomb miraculously empty did. Just as in the case of George Bailey, we can see God at work to bring about change, but the change that gives a fresh start and a healing space. Just as we look forward to the great day when God restores everything to the immortal hope that is stirring in God’s breast, which Isaiah foresaw: lions and lambs together; the cow and the bear, grazing. Cosmic restoration.

We may not see the grand vision yet. But you have already seen it in miniature in your own life. Maybe just in little shoots. Or if not you know it’s coming. It’s not just a vain hope, it’s a proven reality. So for any George Baileys out there, repent, change your mind, to see the wonderful life before you.

In Christ. Amen.