We’re deep into the Christmas season now, at least with regards to everyday life. Christmas movies and concerts and parties. The decorations are up and around this time the presents might be starting to appear under the tree. Some have finished their Christmas shopping while others are just starting to look.
And the joy is palpable. I witnessed it at the Jackson Middle School Concert last week, with the “12 Groovy Days of Christmas”, the “Elf” Theme song, and a beautiful song called “Heaven Everywhere”. I saw it a week ago when youth from local Presbyterian churches met in Stevenson to eat pizza and experience a seasonal Escape Room as they learned about Jesus and his parents fleeing to Egypt. I saw it in their cups of hot chocolate and the game Sardines and excitement about getting together again. And I know that I’ll see that joy this afternoon as we have cookies and hot chocolate with the kids down in Friendship Park- as they get gifts and get to see Santa and Mrs. Claus.
This is Joy Sunday, when we celebrate that joy of coming home to a welcome that sweeps us off our feet. That there is true joy in that longed-for home of the kingdom. We heard Zephaniah speak of it in the first reading, encouraging the people of God to sing and rejoice as God sings and rejoices with us.
And then Luke drops John the Baptizer in the middle of our joy. He calls the people “You brood of vipers.” He talks about “the ax lying at the root of the trees” ready to chop down any tree that doesn’t bear good fruit. Kinda intense for the Sunday where we’re focusing on the joy of home.
But when I read the passage this week, I noticed something new. First, the people take John seriously. He woke them up, and they’re scared because they know they haven’t been living in God’s will: they want to bear good fruit. And then, while they’re probably anxious John will tell them to run or that they’re outta luck, John doesn’t do that; John gives really practical, achievable answers when each group asks what they can do. He says to be kind: if we have 2 coats then give one to someone who has none. Don’t cheat people. Work hard. Now that doesn’t mean that these are things we always do. John was speaking to a group whose colleagues and very professions encouraged the dishonesty mentioned. It’s easy to give into worries, like: What if I lose the coat I have on? Or it wears out? Then I’ll need my extra coat. Or what if it gets warmer or colder? I’ll want the other coat because it’s a better weight.
We all have excuses, just as John’s audience did. But I’ve also seen us take those words seriously. Two years ago, we gave some of our extra coats for those who came to the Christmas Dinner- I kinda miss the red one I had with this nice black collar, but I saw the lady who got that coat last year. Her joy at finding that coat was apparent. And I’m sure she is using it far more than I did.
This news that John gives is good news: the news to repent and bear fruit in their lives because Christ was coming, the one who would further share God’s love and show the people how to live.
I love how Rev. Dr. Derek Weber puts it in his notes for this week’s theme. He says that John is telling the crowds “Bear fruit because you have repented. Because you have turned around and are now walking [in] a new direction. Because you now know life and want to share it; because this life you have claimed—this joy from which you have drunk—is not meant to be kept inside…. You’ve got to share it. You’ve got to shout it. You’ve got to sing it….”
Repentance is not easy- it means looking within ourselves and acknowledging where we aren’t doing as God wants us to, as Christ told us to and showed us how to. John baptizes with water so the people can start over. So we can acknowledge the need to transform our hearts and lives, giving thanks to God for life and for those waters.
Yes, “it will be a struggle.” Transforming our lives and and there is work to do to get there, to even get close, but it is work that is worth it. It is work that is joyful, if we pay attention. That’s the call here in Zephaniah, and in Luke’s rendition of John’s song... We’re all singing of the joy of home: the home of God’s promise, the home of hope and the kingdom and peace. On Thursday night, the Jackson Middle School eighth graders sang a song by Francesca Battistelli that sums up this season and this joy that we experience this time of year:
I hear the bells, they're ringing loud and clear
You can't help but love this time of year
It's Christmastime, there's something in the air
There's a little bit of Heaven everywhere
Somehow there's a little more of love
Maybe there's a little less of us
Or maybe we're just slightly more aware
There's a little bit of Heaven everywhere
It's the smile on a man who has finally found hope
It's the tears of a mother whose child has come home
It's the joy that we feel and the love that we share
There's a little bit of Heaven everywhere…
It's funny how it takes a holiday
To show us how the world could truly change
If we all took the time to really care
There'd be a little more of Heaven everywhere
It's the grace that we show to a world that needs hope
It's giving our lives knowing they're not our own
It's the joy that we feel and the love that we share
There's a little bit of Heaven everywhere
We’re all singing of the joy of home. The home that Christmas is a glimpse of. The home that we all long for. Let’s look for that heaven this season, the home that will complete us and will transform the world, and “drink with joy the waters of salvation.” Thanks be to God. Amen.
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