Could there be a lovelier reading at this time in Advent than our first reading from Zephaniah? There’s a lot of joy and love in the passage. Zephaniah helps us focus during, what should be, a quiet and reflective time, but is mostly chaotic, noisy and hyperactive. (How many shopping days till Christmas?) Previous to today’s section the prophet railed against those who oppress and defraud the poor. God is coming and what will God do when God arrives? Deal with Judah’s unjust leaders. “The Lord has removed the judgment against you he has turned away your enemies.”Through the prophets, like Zephaniah, God made promises to the suffering and oppressed. God will tend to the victims of those corrupt leaders. Later in Luke, Mary, in her Magnificat, will proclaim that God has lifted up the lowly and put down the powerful (Luke 1: 46-55).
Today’s passage speaks about the past: when God acted on behalf of the people, and the future: when “The Lord your God is in your midst, mighty Savior.” The people are joyful because of what God has done for them: “removed the judgment against you.” God is also moved by what God has done: “God will rejoice over you with gladness and renew you in his love.” It gives God joy to act on our behalf.
When we experience how God has lifted the load of oppressors off our shoulders, we fall even more deeply in love with God. Zephaniah pictures that future – there will be no more conflict, fear or shame among us. He is preparing us for Christ’s birth, encouraging us not to be afraid or discouraged by what seems irreparable and unmovable in our lives. Indeed, we will have reason to rejoice. The prophet prepares us to hear Luke’s gospel during this new liturgical year. Throughout that gospel Luke will tell the frightened, “do not be afraid.” Joy is another theme in Luke: how could people not be joyful? We were stuck and bogged down and God sent Jesus to set us free, fulfilling Zephaniah’s promise, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty Savior.”
Who could be in more need of that Savior than the ones who came to John the Baptist in the desert? We are getting closer to Christmas, yet the characters in today’s gospel are: a firebrand prophet, the crowds, the disreputable people in the community and Roman soldiers. We may be 12 days from Christmas, but we need to get our minds off our Christmas list and listen to what John tells them, because there is no avoiding him today.
If we are going to welcome the Christ child at Christmas we will need to face what will hinder our openness to him and dampen our welcome. We could ask the repetitious question the three groups asked John, “What should we do?” The issue at this point is not what people should ponder, or think about doing. The imminent coming of the Messiah requires action now. They are to do something and do it now. No putting off action.
John the Baptist tells the crowds, tax collectors and soldiers to do practical things: take care of the needy and act justly. He didn’t tell them to go to the Temple and pray more, or offer a large sacrifice. Ritual and prayer will come later. First things first: make practical changes by responding to the needs of your neighbor. That will prepare them and us for the coming Messiah.
The crowds are to share what they have with those who do not have. Tax collectors must be fair in their work and avoid greed. “Stop collecting more than is prescribed.” Then, there are the soldiers. Who would have expected these outsiders, the enemy occupiers, to be listening to a Jewish prophet! He tells them, “Be satisfied with your wages.” They had power and could use it to their advantage over their subjects. Instead, they were to be “satisfied” with what they had – that was enough.
John was a powerful preacher. He was a “this-world-preacher.” He offered a practical work ethic. He anticipated the Messiah and advised very practical preparations. People were to use their resources for those in need. No fancy, esoteric, mountain-top preparations for John. Instead, he told people to do the right thing in their everyday lives. If they did, they would be ready for the “more” the Messiah would bring.
And what would that “more” be? John’s message anticipates the coming of the kingdom in its fullness. When the Messiah comes to baptize, John tells the people, he will do so with water – for purifying the recipients. Still more. John says that Jesus will baptize with “fire and the Holy Spirit.” We know in Luke’s second book, the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit came upon all the believers. Luke anticipates that happening at Pentecost when the Spirit came and filled them with fire, in the form of tongues resting upon them. Isaiah foretold such a purification (4:4-5) and Ezekiel had promised the Messiah would give a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26).
So what is this “good news” that John is preaching to the people? It doesn’t sound like what the later church will call good news. He calls the people to evaluate their lives and prepare for God’s coming judgment. John is not merely a ranting and raving preacher trying to stir up a response to his message by evoking fear. The reference to the winnowing separating wheat from chaff and the chaff burning in unquenchable fire, are less about punishment and more about saving the wheat. The burning chaff image can distract us from seeing the real purpose in the metaphor – to save the grain. That’s the good news in John’s message to us.
As diverse as John’s listeners were, they were open to his message and wanted to know what they should do to prepare for the Messiah’s coming. “What should we do?” It’s the question we, the baptized, should ask during Advent. In our baptism, the promise John made, that we would be baptized with “the Holy Spirit and fire” is fulfilled.
Now, this Advent, we who are baptized with the Holy Spirit ask the question at this Eucharist. “What should we do?” We pray to the Holy Spirit that like John’s audience, we might receive some specific directions for what we must change in our lives. We hope for the determination and drive of the fire, as well as the guidance of the Spirit, that we might be enabled to make the changes we must to receive Christ, when he comes this Christmas. And that Spirit, as John promised, will surely come with cleansing and renewing fire.