Liz and I sometimes go to the cinema. After the ads have played there’s a little clip and a voice over says something like, “And now for your favourite bit. …. it’s the trailers.” And then you get the highlights of films that are due to arrive in the new year. Now, I’m not sure that they really are my favourite bit – after all, they’re not the film that I’ve actually paid to see, but they are quite useful in letting me know what’s coming, even if, having seen the trailer, you’ve usually seen all the best bits.
Anyway, some time ago, I had a sense that at the beginning of next year God was calling us to catch fire. I ran this past the leadership team, and now we’ve prepared a whole sermon series that focusses on fire, exploring the ways in which the image of fire is used in the Bible, and what that says to us now. We’ve even got Caroline lined up to do some art.
And then, I looked at the Luke reading for this week, with its recurring images of fire, and it was almost like God is so excited about what’s coming, that we’re being given a trailer for some of it. I won’t claim that it’s the favourite bit, but it does provide a flavour of some of the themes we’ll be exploring in the new year, with, of course an Advent twist.
So, last week Heather helped us to look at the beginning of Luke’s historical account of John’s ministry. This week, we get into some of the details of what John actually said in that desert outside Jerusalem. At the beginning of this passage we have the pictures of the fruit trees. Those that bear good fruit are spared. Those that do not bear fruit are chopped down and burnt. At the end of the reading, Jesus is described as coming with a winnowing fork, a tool used at harvest time to remove the good grain, which is gathered together, from the remaining chaff, which is burnt in the fire of judgement
In the middle we get John giving practical examples of what it means to show good fruit. He very clearly says that it is not enough to say that you repent, you have to show it by changing the way that you live. And the examples are very practical things that would have meant a big change in the standard of living of those he was speaking to. There is nothing here about religious observance, or about going to the temple more often. Give away the extra things that you have to those who do not have enough. Choose to restrict your own income in order to act fairly and justly to other people. This is down to earth, easy to understand, difficult to do.
Over the last couple of weeks the weather has turned pretty cold. Liz and I were on holiday in Wales and we awoke one morning to snow all around. Very pretty, but also very cold. We ventured out for little strolls, well wrapped up. But what if we hadn’t wrapped up well, what would have happened What happens to someone who gets caught out in the snow without a coat. What happens if they begin to develop hypothermia?
The body protects itself by cutting down the blood flow to the outer parts of the body. First sleep starts to creep over, and death is not far away.
When someone gets into this situation they need reviving, they need life to be restored to them.
What’s the connection between this real world situation and what John is saying?
As I said, one of the symptoms of hypothermia is sleepiness and confusion. The body tries to stop the heat escaping by keeping the blood as far inside the body as possible. Unfortunately the brain is in the head, which is rubbish for keeping heat in, so blood stops going there. So, if you’re out with someone who is being affected by the cold, you need to keep them moving. If you come across someone who has fallen asleep in the snow the first thing you do is to see if you can wake them.
And, it seems to me that John’s preaching could be pretty well characterised as a slap in the face, and a shout to wake up to a person who is drifting off to sleep. Wake up, says John, you’re in danger, you’re going to die, you need to wake up. The axe is at the root of the tree, you need to wake up.
As Paul puts it in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, “Wake up oh Sleeper, arise from the dead”
But just waking up isn’t enough for someone who is freezing. They have to get out of the situation they’re in. If they’re in wet clothes because they’ve fallen through the ice into a river or pool then they need to get out of the wet clothes and into some dry ones. If they are stuck out in the wind and the snow, then they need to get out of the bad conditions.
And surely this is what John is teaching as well. You need to change what you’re doing. It’s no good just waking up to the danger you’re in, you have to do something to get out of it. The things that you have being doing wrong you need to stop doing. You need to start doing fruitful things instead.
But actually, once someone has started down the road to hypothermia, even if they wake up, even if they get out of the cold, they are going to need some help from outside themselves.
They are unlikely to be able to be revived from their own resources. They are going to need to be warmed up if they are to live.
John recognises this too. He knows that the baptism that he has been giving to people, the baptism of water, the baptism of repentance, isn’t enough to revive them, to return them to life. They will need Jesus’ baptism, the baptism that gives them the resources from outside of themselves that they need to live, to be fully revived. They need the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. The baptism of the warming, reviving, energising, Holy Spirit who gives life to the people of God.
If being revived means being woken up, being removed from the place of death, and being filled with the energy of new life, then John is clearly teaching about revival, about God’s work of reviving. So what is God saying to us about being revived?
What about the wake up bit? Are there aspects of our lives that are asleep in the cold? This might be in our own individual lives or in our church life. Is there evidence of good fruit? If there isn’t fruit, is it because the blossom has been caught in the frost? Are we willing to be open to God saying to us that our lives, or parts of our lives, are at risk of dying because they are asleep? Are we going to be alert and look out for the things that God is doing in our lives and communities, or are we going to miss them because we are asleep?
What about the change of behaviour? What things do we need to stop doing, and what do we need to do instead? In this season of Advent, as we focus on being ready for Jesus’ return, are we doing the things that faithful, watchful friends do when they are expecting the return of one who is dear to them? Do the ways in which we use our money, or talk to our neighbours, or treat each other reflect God’s image clearly?
What about allowing God to warm us up? Where is the fire of the Holy Spirit shown in our lives? Where can we see the energy and life of the Spirit’s gifts and fruit expressed in the life of our church and in our own lives? Are we satisfied that we are warm enough? I’m not. I’m not satisfied. I know that I am still too cold. I believe that God has more heat for this church, if we will ask for it and be open to receiving it. I believe that this element in particular is going to be critical as we go into the new year, as we explore together the fire of God.
At each of the three stages there is a choice to make. Do we want to wake up? Are we willing to change our behaviour? Will we be open to the work of the Holy Spirit?
If we answer no at any stage then we will not experience the reviving work of God, we will not experience life in all the fullness that God has for us, and we may die.
If we answer yes to these questions then we open up the opportunity for new life to flow through our own veins, through the veins of this church fellowship, and through the veins of our communities. And as we say yes to God then we will see the river flowing more freely, and we will experience the fire of God burning more brightly, and we will see lives changed and God’s Kingdom drawing nearer.