Second Sunday of Advent - "Baptism By Fire"

It’s the season of Advent - a time of expectation! 

Advent helps us prepare our hearts for the coming Christ and a new world. 

Jesus’ arrival is both a now and a not yet—how do we live in this tension? 

This is what it means to be followers of Jesus. We live in continuous hope and expectation that the world will be made right, that wrong will fail, and right prevail, as the Christmas carol tells us.  

We determine that we will embody the truth of God's purposes and desires that there be peace on earth, and goodwill to all.  

And Advent allows us to hear the voices and stories of those who call us to preparedness, who invite us to look within and ensure that we are ready to become the change that we so desperately seek in the world. 

Today, we are going to encounter the wildness of John the Baptizer and hear a short sermon that is meant to light a fire under us.  

Fire and Brimstone Sermons—What purpose do they serve?

Some glimpses into how they work, and why they get preached

Full disclosure: I grew up listening to fire-and-brimstone sermons on the regular, and I was fascinated by them. When I was a kid, I was enthralled by watching the pastor of the small church we attended in Greenville, SC, when he really got going. 

He would get red in the face, sweat like he was running a 5K, and would sometimes wave his Bible around, pound the pulpit, and expound on the godlessness of the world around us, the perils of Hell for those who were unrepentant, and so much more.  

All the while, the 50-odd same old people in the same old pews would nod, shout "Amen!" or "Preach, preacher," to egg him on.  

I've been to revival meetings where preachers delivered much of the same, and during the altar calls, when scores of people streamed to the front of the church to kneel, sometimes I went with them.  

The Psychology of Sermons that use guilt and fear

When we hear a passionate sermon, even one that is of the fire-and-brimstone type, it has an effect on us.  

For people who listen to them regularly, it allows them to experience something electric from a safe space, more often than not from the vantage point of someone who is "saved" and thus spared the destruction that will surely befall all those other evil people who will get their just desserts.  

For most of us, it's easy to reject these kinds of sermons, to dismiss them as ridiculous theater, reinforcing fear in the faithful, using guilt, dread, and so many negative emotions to drive home a point, and keep us on the straight and narrow.  

Despite the negative implications, is there something we need to hear?  Should we be shaken awake?  Could there be some utility to the fire-and-brimstone sermon?  

John the Baptist shows up in the lectionary text to shake us up.  

He preaches about a baptism by fire—what did he mean? 

John told the people gathered at the Jordan River to receive baptism that he baptized them with water, but that one was about to arrive who would baptize them with fire.  

I don't know about you, but right about now, those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus need to get fired up a bit.  

WHAT BURNS YOU UP WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER

Matthew 3:1-12

1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

    make his paths straight.’ ”

• “In those days…” John’s connection to the ancient Hebrew prophets. 
• Connections to Joel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, but also Elijah.  

4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.

• His dress, diet, sermons, and location were all intentional. 

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his[b] baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

• He preached a baptism of repentance, which clashed with the elites.  
• John calls them out and preaches some fire-and-brimstone to them.  

11 “I baptize you with[c] water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with[d] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

John declares that going through the motions, hedging your bets, and playing all sides isn’t enough—actual change and transformation are what are needed. 

Some Important Questions

• What are we holding on to that is keeping us from being “all in?”
• What would true repentance look like for us?
• Are we willing to allow a baptism by fire to wholly consume us?

WHAT BURNS YOU UP WILL MAKE YOU STRONGER