John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Luke 3:16-17 NRSV
Today as we prepare to baptise Bella and Hanna we might feel a little concerned listening to the preaching of John the Baptist. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” John did not mess around. He wanted people to repent, to turn away from their sins and to come to God. He was not shy to use fear to get people motivated. “The chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Let me read a small portion of Banjo Paterson’s poem A Bush Christening. The ten year old boy had been listening at the door when his parents and the priest discussed baptism.
From A Bush Christening by Banjo Paterson
He was none of your dolts,
he had seen them brand colts,
And it seemed to his small understanding,
If the man in the frock made him one of the flock,
It must mean something very like branding.
So away with a rush he set off for the bush,
While the tears in his eyelids they glistened —
`‘Tis outrageous,’ says he, `to brand youngsters like me,
I’ll be dashed if I’ll stop to be christened!’
Like a young native dog he ran into a log,
And his father with language uncivil,
Never heeding the `praste’ cried aloud in his haste,
`Come out and be christened, you divil!’
It is not surprising that some of the stories from the scriptures and the images used might cause confusion and fear. John did want people to repent. There was urgency in his voice and manor. His desire was to bring people to a renewed relationship with God. That renewed relationship would be most evident in the way people lived their lives.
William Loader Points out that in both Matthew’s gospel and Luke’s Gospel ones actions and attitudes are very significant. He says
In fact all that counts is attitude and behaviour that flows out of a relationship with God. Claims to be Christian, confessions of Jesus as ‘Lord’, count for as little as claims to be ‘descendants of Abraham’.
John calls those who have come out into the wilderness to be baptised to repent and to live their lives as a sign of that repentance. He tells the soldiers to be content with their pay. Perhaps we all need to learn contentment.
Kate Huey quotes Mariam Kammell , “Contentment is never an easy lesson, particularly when we have the means to attain what we wish, but it is a crucial fruit of repentance, for it reveals a steadfast trust in God and God’s work and will….one must repent from self-sufficiency.”
The fruit of Baptism
The fruit of baptism growing in us will have fully matured when our actions and attitudes flow out of our love for God as we come to know him in Jesus.
John the Baptist pointed to such attitudes as Generosity, Honesty and Contentment.
In the portion of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, that we read, Paul encourages us to rejoice, to be gentle, to be thankful and then the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In his letter to the Galatians Paul says (Gal 5:22-24) 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
The repentance that John the Baptist calls us to Paul describes as the crucifixion of our sinful nature. The fruit of repentance, that is the fruit of baptism is love joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
What does it mean to live a life of repentance in the 21st century?
I suspect John would say much the same, if you have two cars sell one and sponsor three children in need. Or eat less food at Christmas and share with those who don’t have enough all year. And what about us in developed nations we might ask. What must we do? John would probably say live simply, sustainable so that the earth regenerates and others may simple live.
There is a real cost to living the baptism life. 1st century or 21st.
We need to crucify the rubbish, the chaff, the passions and desires. But there is a rich bounty that flows as we enter into Christ’s life. The Holy Spirit grows fruit in us, the fruit of abundant, eternal life. It is the fruit of repentance: love joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
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