"St. John the Baptist" – Leonard DaVinci
For the past several Sundays, we have talked about various ways of preparing our hearts not only for Jesus to be born into this world, to live and die as one of us and to give us a reason to hope,
but we have also been preparing for the coming of God’s kingdom—
God’s coming in glory at the end of time to establish God’s eternal reign on this earth and throughout the universe, a reign of everlasting justice, peace, and goodwill.
So in my sermons during this season of Advent, I’ve talked about how, as Christians, we are to be hopeful people who can witness to hope in a world full of despair.
I’ve talked about how we are to be people of abounding love, who can witness to God’s love set loose in the world in the ways that we love one another and those around us.
And last Sunday, I talked about the importance of being people of quietness and reflection. As we cultivate that hopeful, expectant silence, we open up space in our hearts for God. We also open up more space to deepen our relationships with one another– an essential part of our preparation for God’s coming among us.
Hope, love, quiet expectation.
Today’s gospel from Luke brings us the next important way in which God calls us to prepare.
John the Baptist is out in the wilderness by the River Jordan, and the crowds have come out to hear the great prophet declare that the salvation of God is at hand.
“What then should we do?” the crowd asks.
The crowd’s question is our question as well.
What then should we do to prepare for God to be in our midst?
John tells the crowd several things—share with others, take only what is owed to you, don’t use your position in the world to extort things from others, and to be satisfied with what you have.
Today I’d like to focus on the first thing that John says that we must do to prepare, and that is to share with others.
John tells the crowd that whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.
Not “maybe share,” but MUST share.
Sharing is about more than money. You all are very generous about sharing your time to help one another. I constantly hear stories about what parishioners have done for one another and also what you all do to help those out in the community who need it. Helmut and Marilyn and Brad and the choir generously share their musical talents here and out in the community.
In today’s passage, John the Baptist talks specifically, though, about sharing resources—clothing and food.
How do we, as a congregation, share our resources?
Here are some examples. Our UTO offering this fall was over $800. That’s a large amount of money coming from a small congregation. When Region One in our Diocese did the toilets for Haiti project, our small congregation was responsible for providing an outsized portion of the total amount of money needed to get those toilets built. My discretionary fund is another example. I generally have enough money to help the people who call for financial help. The food distribution is another great example of how we are sharing. Not only are we now making fresh produce more available for over 100 people in this county on a monthly basis, but you all generously provide extra food and money for us to prepare a great selection of food for people each month.
This generosity makes us a joyful congregation.
In fact, study after study shows that giving leads to happiness.
In one study done with toddlers at the University of British Columbia in Canada, the researchers Aknin, Hamlin and Dunn found that “before the age of two, toddlers exhibit greater happiness when giving treats to others than receiving treats themselves, and that children are happier after engaging in costly giving—forfeiting their own resources—than when giving the same treat at no cost.” ( http://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/files/2010/11/Giving-leads-to-happiness-in-young-children-copy-2012.pdf )
Just this week in the Huffington Post, this headline appeared. “Want to be happier? Give more. Give better.” ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brady-josephson/want-to-be-happier-give-m_b_6175358.html )
Brady Josephson, who wrote the article, suggests that giving to specific projects, giving with no strings attached, and giving when we know who the donation will help are all things that increase our happiness about giving.
So I’m glad that David Caprara, from the Global Peace Foundation, is here today to tell us about a family in Nepal whose home was destroyed in the massive earthquake several months ago. This family is no longer in a tent but instead in a temporary shelter, thanks to St Peter’s. The Vestry and I are hoping that St Peter’s can develop an ongoing relationship with the family and to help them with other needs as they arise. So we’ll hear more about this Tamang family in Nepal during the announcements.
Helping this family halfway around the earth from us, is a way that we can witness to hope and to God’s love in a world full of despair.
Now lest all of this sound too easy, I have to do my due diligence as the preacher and point out that John also says that we have to bear fruit worthy of repentance.
Repentance is more than simply being sorry, confessing, and asking for forgiveness.
Repentance requires turning around, reorienting how we think about the world and about our lives, and turning toward God rather than the things that our culture tells us are important, like how rich we are, or who we know, or how much power we have.
None of these things matter to God. What matters to God is that we change our hearts and turn toward God.
The fruit worthy of repentance, the good news, is what happens when we turn toward God and follow God as hopeful and loving people. The fruit that we bear when we follow after God is the fruit that feeds the world with the good news of God’s hope and God’s love.
At the beginning of this service we prayed for God’s “bountiful grace and mercy” to come among us through the love of God’s Son, Jesus, so that while we wait in quiet expectation for God’s coming in glory, we can carry the good news of God’s hope and love out into the world–
Rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
Amen.