The Third Sunday of Advent, December 15, 2024

I am by nature and practice a very gentle and conciliatory pastor. Even when I preach prophetically, I speak hard words with a kind spirit. Yet, I have always fantasized about beginning a sermon with the words, “You brood of vipers.” Now that’s a Christmas buzzkill. Not unlike the words of “Home Alone 2,” “Merry Christmas, you filthy animals,” or Scrooge’s “Bah, Humbug!”
Today’s scriptures join caution and rebuke with joy and celebration. John the Baptist returns from the wilderness, threatening hellfire and brimstone unless people change their ways. In contrast, Zephaniah describes God’s glory, encourages joy, and counsels us, “don’t fear disaster,” for God’s loving power will restore us. Isaiah delights in proclaiming, “God is our salvation,” and Paul urges the Christians as Philippi to “rejoice” and then provides practices of joy. Beneath the rebuke is the promise of joy for those who repent, turn around, and change their lives. That timeless message of creative transformation reverberates from the first century River Jordan to the worried well and anxious affluent of many of our congregations. We need to mend our ways, to follow Paul’s advice, “be not conformed to this world,” and chart a path of personal, congregational, and planetary healing. Trusting God, we can be Agents of Advent, actively working toward Shalom in our world.
In the revival tradition of my youth, first came the bad news. John’s opening homiletical salvo is certainly bad news, intended to convict his hearers about how far, despite their righteousness and privilege (they could take time off to attend a revival meeting on the Jordan River!), they were a “brood of vipers,” poisoning their lives and the lives of those around them. In the spirit of another scripture, their righteousness is filthy rags and like Isaiah in the Temple, all they could do is stammer in response to the Baptist’s words of warning, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Beyond the bad news is the good news is that we can change direction in our lives. “What shall we do?” the people ask. “How can we escape the chaos and divine wrath to come?” they plead. We may challenge the image of a wrathful God, portrayed in this passage. But the strong words remind us that we need a “come to Jesus” moment as a people and nation. We see the signs of the times in a divided nation, prevaricating politicians, rising racism and hate of immigrants, not to mention forest fires, droughts, and extreme weather patterns. We must be willing to change and SOON to avoid the human-made apocalypse coming.
In response to the crowd’s plea, John the Baptist prescribes moving from self-interest to care for others. His counsel is both personal and political: it involves personal generosity and professional integrity and the just and irenic use of power. A commitment to healing relationships must embrace the individual and institutional, the personal and the political.
Philippians counsels a spirituality of joy. Paul believes that communities of faith should be laboratories of spiritual formation. First, Paul urges the community to rejoice, and doubly so! Joy is a choice, the apostle believes. He can choose to be joyful in prison, knowing God is with him to sustain him. In the spirit of Viktor Frankl, Paul recognizes that joy is an inner attitude not dependent on external circumstances. Joy is connected with prayer, thanksgiving, gentleness, and affirmative thinking. “Think on these things” – the good, true, and beautiful. Choose affirmative faith, not negative thinking. Be a realist and look for divine guidance in every situation. Live in accordance with trust in divine abundance – “my God will supply all your needs” – and not scarcity. Live in accordance with possibility and not limitation – “I can do all things with Christ who strengthens me” – even in challenging times.
Zephaniah puts joy in an ethical and metaphysical setting. Rejoice, shout with joy, because God is with you, God will transform the past, present, and future, and God will restore the nation. Such words seemed incredible then and seem incredible now. We don’t expect a divine rescue operation or God to make everything right without our efforts. We need grace for national restoration, but healing the soul of the nation requires a renewed mind and changed values personally and corporately. We must become citizens of a restored nation and planet, even if the restoration we seek does not immediately – or ever occur. The promise to have disaster “removed” from us and our nation and planet seems fantastic. Climate change is at a tipping point with little sign that we have changed or will change our ways. War and incivility are the norm and not the exception and threaten to become global just as division wreaks havoc on our nation. Still, as Rabbi Tarfon counsels, “it is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you to neglect it.” There is “life after doom,” as Brian McLaren asserts. We must do the work of healing even if the hope of restoration is difficult to maintain and circumstances are dire. We must choose to be Agents of Advent, doing what is in our power moment by moment and as citizens to further the moral and spiritual arcs of history, God’s dream of Shalom for our nation and the planet.
Isaiah looks beyond the chaos of his time toward the nation’s healing and restoration. God is our salvation, and we will trust God’s future and not be afraid. God is faithful and because God’s mercies are new every morning. (Lamentation 3:22-23) Our challenge these days is to trust the moral and spiritual arcs of history, and act persistently and courageously as God’s companions in healing a troubled nation and planet. This is our Advent gift and Christmas response to the grace and guidance we have received.

Bruce Epperly is Theologian of Residence at Westmoreland Congregational United Church of Christ, Bethesda, Maryland. A theologian, professor, university chaplain, and seminary professor and administrator, Epperly is the author of over 80 books, including “Homegrown Mystics: Restoring Our Nation through the Healing Wisdom of America’s Visionaries,” “Saving Protestant Theology to Save the World,” “Jesus: Mystic, Healer, and Prophet,” ”Saving Progressive Christianity to Save the World,” and “The God of Tomorrow: Metaphysics, Mysticism, and Mission in Whitehead and Teilhard.” He is also of six volumes of 12 Days of Christmas meditations, the most recent being “Once Upon a Time: The 12 Days of Christmas in Story and Film.” He may be reached at [email protected].