Shame Into Praise

Shame into Praise from Joseph Taber on Vimeo.

Zephaniah 3:14-20

14Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!

15The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.

16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands grow weak.

17The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing

18as on a day of festival. I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.

19I will deal with all your oppressors at that time. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.

20At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Luke 3:7-18

7John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin 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. 9Even 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."

10And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" 11In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."

12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" 13He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."

14Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John 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. 17His 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."

18So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

We have followed John the Baptist out to the Jordan River. 

We’ve heard that he’s this great messenger. His words have brought together a crowd that nothing but the Word of the LORD could unite. We have followed John the Baptist out to the Jordan River. On one side we have wealthy community leaders, folks who are respected by all for their wisdom and their prosperity. At another side, we have tax collectors, those who are growing wealthy from their support of the occupying Romans. We children of Abraham have followed this wild prophet to the edge of the wilderness to hear him cry out for the day of the Lord.

But in our crowd are also Roman soldiers. These are not children of Abraham, they are outsiders who are oppressing the people. They are the soldiers of the most powerful nation in the known world, enforcers of the empire. Yet they are also in the crowd, not to control it, for some reason they have also followed our prophet to this river, to the edge of the waters of baptism.

The first Sunday of advent sends us to wait for the return of Jesus Christ with hope. The second Sunday challenges us to find peace in God's restorative judgment. On the third Sunday of Advent, we look out over the waters of baptism with Joy!

Perhaps John the Baptist, this great messenger, will point us toward the joy we seek.

“John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Name calling and wrath? JBap, buddy, that’s now how you inspire crowds and fill out hearts with joy. It’s not really the “spirit of the season” to go with name calling and wrath.

After all, our Christmas trees are beginning to fill with wrapped presents, our holiday plans are almost, but not quite, fully formed. Office workers may have already exchanged Secret Santa presents. Students are entering their winter break. Christmas music has been on the radio for two months, and the parades have signaled the arrival of the season for which we've all been waiting.

We joined these crowds following John out to the Jordan River because we wanted to be comforted, to be told that we’re on God’s “nice” list. After all, we grew up in the faith. We’re children of Abraham! There’s joy in that assurance. And yet John continues to pushes to repent, to change our hearts and lives. He continues, “Do not begin 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.”

That’s for those of us who think we’re better for some reason. Luke’s gospel opens the good news up for a world beyond Judea. He reaches out to gentiles, which is all of us. We were the outsiders in the early church, even if we assume that we’re insiders now. John’s words are “a call to take stock of the ways we hide behind tradition, national or ecclesial identity, wealth, ethnicity, or position.” All the things we pick up to try and insulate ourselves from the wrath of which John speaks, all the excuses we give for not bearing fruit worthy of repentance, John attacks.

Yet Luke still calls these challenges “good news.”

We followed John to the edge of the Jordan River because we trusted him to point towards the great joy which is coming. John the Baptist does exactly that. He points beyond himself to the source of our joy, 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.”

He is, of course, pointing to Jesus of Nazareth, whose ministry has not even begun yet by this point in the gospel. He is, of course, pointing to his cousin the Christ-child, whose birth is still a week and a half away on our church calendars.

But that’s the moment to which John points, directing our attention to joy, so that we will return to the faithful living that John describes. "In crossing over the Jordan and returning, John's followers indicate they intend to return to ways of like that conform not to Roman norms but to Jewish covenantal life.” The promise of Christmas is that God is with us. For Matthew’s gospel, that meant calling Jesus Emmanuel, for John’s gospel that meant proclaiming that the Word became flesh and made his home among us. For Mark’s gospel, it meant Jesus teaching us that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

For Luke, it means that the doors are thrown wide open and all of humanity is invited in to the feast. It means that God has redeemed all of humanity, restoring us to righteousness by becoming human himself. In a week and a half, we will celebrate that God became a person.

We followed John the Baptist to the Jordan River because he joyfully points us towards the Messiah, who proves that “the LORD, your God, is in your midst;… he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival…”

He points us to the incarnation. This is how the LORD has fulfilled his promise of “I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the LORD.”

The incarnation reshapes our shame into praise. By becoming a human being, God breathes life back into a sinful and fallen humanity. Jesus strips away the barriers that we pretend protect us restores us to who God creates us to be.

Through Christ, all aspects of humanity are redeemed, only our sin is stripped away. Christ came as an infant, so our vulnerability and immaturity are redeemed. Christ grew in wisdom and stature, and so our own development is redeemed. Christ ate and drank and spent time with his friends. Christ also was betrayed, he suffered physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish, so our suffering is redeemed.

We followed John out to the Jordan River so that in these waters of Baptism, we might find joy in unity with God. God who has already chosen to become one of us, so that we are lifted up by God’s presence among us.

The joy we find in Christ unites us to God, but it also breaks down all the barriers we build up. It brings the bottom of society up to equal with the top, because all are elevated to beloved of the Lord. There is, after all, a reason why in the story we will read on Christmas eve, the birth of Christ is heralded by Angels, but is witnessed by poor shepherds. The miracle of the incarnation shows us that there are none who are too lowly to proclaim God’s goodness and joy, and there are none who are too good to serve their fellow humans. John’s preaching of the good news gives us concrete ways to live according to the joy we have in Christ, rather than in the fear that rings so often in our ears.

“The crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" 11In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."

Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?" He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."

Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

The church today can proclaim the joy we have in Christ by casting out racism, by rejecting sexism, by loving each according to the humanity in them that is redeemed in Christ. That’s the gospel message, that the fruit we bear witnesses to the God who has already redeemed us simply by joining the struggles of humanity, and making us complete in our restored relationship.

All are called to Bethlehem to see him whose birth the angels sing. All are called to come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord the newborn King.

Therefore, knowing that through Christ, our dust is made righteous, “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!”  Let us joyfully sing Glory to God in the highest.