Sermonette: July 3, 2023

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” This is my favorite quote by one of the most forgotten characters of the Christmas story: John the Baptist. Sure, he was at most only a couple of months old when Jesus was born, but John’s entire mission was to prepare for Jesus’ ministry. John’s entire story, from his mother Elizabeth’s song, to his father Zechariah’s muteness is a precursor to Jesus. Because of this, I feel as though he warrants more mention in the Christmas story.

John the Baptist, as many may know, was a 1-trick pony. He preached only one sermon, over and over. In fact, his entire life is easily summed up in 1 word: repentance. As an adult John, took up the life of a wildman. His clothing was fur, and his food was honey and locusts. However, even more intriguing than his lifestyle is the message he delivered. He preached a message about the coming Messiah, and how the people should prepare for his arrival. Their preparations, he stated, should be primarily in the heart. They were to repent and seek forgiveness of sins from God. If the onlookers decided to respond to John’s message and seek forgiveness, John would then lovingly baptize them in the Jordan. These baptisms were not magic acts; but rather signs of the cleansing that God was now doing in the individuals’ hearts.

However, the part of the John story I think that many people have forgotten is that, actually, John preached 2 messages. To most, he preached repentance; but to some, he preached a far sharper message. The second message is in story that Mark completely leaves out of his narrative, Luke doesn’t specify the target audience, but Matthew contains the most complete account. John’s second message comes out one day when some Sadducees and Pharisees walk up. John greets them by calling them brood of vipers. He then moves to ask why they think that they can avoid the coming wrath. John caps it off by saying that they are the target of the coming wrath. They are the tree that isn’t producing fruit and will be cut down and be burned up. They are the chaff that will be harvested, separated out, and once again, burned. This is why John separates himself from the coming Messiah by saying that he baptizes with water, Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John saw that Jesus and his coming ministry would bring healing to some, but wrath to others. He knew while Jesus would heal and bring God’s love to many, some would never accept him and would eventually hang him on a cross. For the Jews in John’s audience it was matter of ‘how would they accept the arrival of Jesus?’ The messiah was coming. His arrival was imminent; some day soon, John’s cousin would request a baptism, the sky would violently rip open, and God would announce his approval with a command from heaven. The question that each Jew had to ask himself or herself was, who did they think Jesus was? Is he the Son of God, here to correct the lies they’d bought into and to bring them life and love from God? Or is he a liar, only deserving the death of a criminal.

Today, we need to ask ourselves the same question and decide which of the two groups we land in. In other words, who is Jesus to us? Is he the Messiah? Or is he some mythical man who may have lived, but was far different from the stories? Did he live a sinless life, or was he not the son of God? Does he bring love to your heart, or do you get defensive to him? Did he die on a cross for your sins, or just die like any other man? Has he baptized you with the Holy Spirit, or will he baptize you with fire? The side that you choose will define your life.