First Presbyterian Church
Pedigree Points
Sermon for December 5, 2004
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Listen for the word of God as it is found in Matthew 3:1-11

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea , proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." 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.'" Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You children of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 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.

Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

This ends our reading from the gospel.

Once of the things we could do with this text is talk about the sins of the Jews. After all, John called the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers. Literally it means children of snakes. The Pharisees and Sadducees valued their ancestry and their descent from Abraham. John preaches in the tradition of Isaiah, where Isaiah says that God made the chosen people from rock and dug them from a quarry(1). They should take less notice of their pedigree and pay more attention to doing what God intended . John knew they were not bearing good fruit.

One of the things we inherited from our Jewish mothers and fathers was the idea of being self-critical. There's a long history of prophets and priests arguing about what the law means, and how we should obey it. Jesus participated in that tradition too.

The Mishnah is a Jewish book full of interpretations of the Torah. Each line of interpretation lists which rabbi disagrees with who and why. In all these dissenting voices, we hope truth will emerge.

That's a very Jewish idea. John was a very Jewish prophet, even though many of us really prefer to think of John and Jesus too, as fine Christians. But they weren't Christians following Christian tradition. They were Jews.

And so it was within their tradition to argue with the Jewish leaders. John knew what the leaders were supposed to be doing. He called them to repent, and bear fruit. Apparently they found some confidence and pride in their pedigree, tracing their ancestry to Abraham. John reminded them that chosen people can come from the rocks. He warned them.

All throughout the gospel of Matthew, the Pharisees are criticized and warned. Other gospels show the Pharisees as a mixed group of good and bad. But not Matthew. Matthew uses the Pharisees to show the dangers of poor spiritual leadership. Over the centuries, Christians have used these verses to find fault with and accuse all Jews.

It's much easier to look at the sins of others than at our own sins. It's hard for us to repent because we have to admit we sinned in the first place. It's much easier to complain about other people's religions getting in our way, and making life inconvenient for us Christians.

Here's a conversation I read by a former college chaplain, William Willimon.

A while back a Duke student was telling me that he and his roommate were not getting along well. I asked him why.

“Because he is a Muslim and I'm not.”

I asked him how that made a difference.

“When we moved in together, he asked me what my religion was. I told him that I was sort of Christian…I told him up front that my family and I weren't the very best Christians, that we only went to church occasionally, and it wasn't that big a deal to me. But my roommate has this nasty habit of asking embarrassing questions.”

“What sort of questions?” I asked .

“Like after we had roomed together a few weeks, he asked me, ‘Why do you Christians never pray?' I told him, ‘We pray all the time. We just sort of keep it to ourselves. He said, ‘I'll say that you do. I've never seen you pray.' He prays, like, a half dozen times a day on his prayer rug in our room…

The last straw was Saturday morning when I came in from a date, and he asked me, ‘doesn't your St. Paul say something about not joining your body with a prostitute? ‘

I told him, ‘Look, she is not a prostitute! She's a Tri Delt. I told you I am not the best Christian in the world. You shouldn't judge the Christian faith by me!'”

And I, hearing the torment in his voice, asked , “Well, how should he judge the Christian faith? I ought to write your Muslim roommate a thank-you note. If that Muslim keeps working on you, he may yet make you into a real Christian.” (2)

That college student found it inconvenient to be held accountable about his own faith. The season of advent reminds us of the importance of repentance. An unexpected person or event might challenge us this December. I hope we will be open to that call.

Faith isn't about restrictions and exclusion. It is a way of life that brings life and hope, joy and freedom. Amen.

(1) Isaiah 51:1-3 Listen to me, you that pursue righteousness, you that seek the LORD. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. 3 For the LORD will comfort Zion;

(2) Willimon, William H. “Arguing with Muslims,” Christian Century, Nov. 16, 2004 , p. 34.