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Thursday, December 13, 2007 I baptize you with water for repentance… John the Baptist did not have kind words for his Jewish audience, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father.” It is not sufficient to claim your rights as the Chosen People. Rather, “bear fruit worthy of repentance.” I assume that means acts of justice and mercy. This passage reminds me of a scene from the ministry of Jesus when he turns to those following him and asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I command you?” It is not enough to confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Jesus would rather we love our neighbor, even love our enemies. We are asked to bear the fruits of righteousness rather than the name of Christian, or Jew. In this passage Jesus is not presented as gentle, meek and mild. He comes in judgment, winnowing fork in hand. Psalm 130 expresses our condition as we cry from out of the depths, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand?” But the psalm goes on to speak of God’s forgiveness, ending “O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love and great power to redeem.” We need to hear both - words of judgment, and words of mercy. John the Baptist points to the Lamb of God. This lamb is not sweet and cuddly. This lamb is understood to be sacrificial. During the 1960s, artist Robert Hodgell created a series of linoleum block prints to portray the Passion narrative. As Wesley Foundation director at UW-Eau Claire, I arranged for the entire series to be purchased and exhibited by various congregations and campus ministry centers. The prints were not universally admired. In them Jesus looked grim and troubled. (Hodgell wanted to counter that picture of Jesus which looked like a shampoo ad.) Hodgell’s print picturing the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem contained images of palms; in the negative spaces of the print, the palms become swords. Bob Hodgell’s Gethsemane was not a lovely garden. The crucifixion was ugly. In other words, Hodgell’s artwork depicted the emotional reality of the Passion week. The pictures placed the viewer in a time of judgment where they - where we - must wait for the resurrected Lord and the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist announced that Jesus would come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The Holy Spirit renews and refreshes the soul. What does fire do? Is this the refiner’s fire which cleanses, or the fire of Pentecost which enlivens the soul? Or is it both? |
