From the Daily Lectionary for Tuesday in the Sixteenth Week after Pentecost
Luke 3:15-22
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 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.”
So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Luke has laid the groundwork for his Gospel. In the prologue there are prophecies as to the births of both John the Baptist and Jesus, two prophets, very much like the ones in Israel’s history. Their births mark the beginning of a new age for the people of Israel. Mary’s song describes what this new age will look like. It will be a radical reversal of the way society is ordered. The poor are raised up, and the rich are sent away empty. This sort of proclamation in any and every age is revolutionary.
The revolution begins with Baptism. John Baptizes with water, that is to say, a baptism of purification and repentance… purification from the illusion of and complicity to sin; and repentance that literally means, a “reorientation to reasonableness.” John’s ministry and purpose, according to Luke, is preparation. Jesus’ ministry and purpose is to empower these newly prepared followers for the revolutionary work ahead. Luke uses apocalyptic language appropriate for things revolutionary: The wheat, all that is good and true, will be harvested, taken to heart; while illusion and falsehood and injustice will burn like chaff. It is an image of clarity between truth and falsehood.
Jesus is baptized just like all the others who showed up at the Jordan River. He too must get oriented and prepared. Luke’s point is that revolution is collaborative. Jesus is not alone in the work of salvation. Baptism is about the power of people, people who have examined their conscience, shucked their compliant illusions, and called on the spirit within, on its fiery intensity… the Spirit that moves mountains when it takes on the critical mass of community.
Luke tells us that the Spirit of God descended on Jesus accompanied by a voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus as Son of God. But I suspect the countless others in this fellowship there gathered heard the voice as well, naming each of them sons and daughters of God with whom God takes favor. All of us are God’s sons and daughters upon whom the Spirit descends to bring salvation to the world. It is a noble legacy into which we have been initiated, the legacy of Love’s revolution.
The remainder of this Gospel will teach us what love looks like in our common life, and how that love is undermined by self-interested power, and how we as God’s sons and daughters are duty-bound to persist in the truth, calling out that which opposes love’s transforming grace. Being God’s sons and daughters means that our faith is public, the way Jesus’ ministry was public… it is not for our own edification; rather, it is for the world’s healing and wholeness. That means our faith has something to say about matters social, economic, and political. Piety is one thing… faith is another. Faith calls us into the world as advocates for the well-being and dignity of those who have none. Love will not rest until God’s gracious favor is shared by all. We have work ahead of us, good people. Pray for God’s Spirit and fire. We’ll need both.
A Prayer on Good Friday (BCP p. 278)
Everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
