Demagoguery and Good Fruit

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, O.A., Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

December 13, 2015; Advent 3, Year C

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Philippians 4:4-7)  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(Luke 3:7-18) 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? Bear 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. 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."

                And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" In 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."

                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.

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On the evening of November 5, 1963, I cried myself to sleep. I was eleven years old. The reason for my grief was the election that day of Paul B. Johnson, Jr. to become governor of Mississippi. His campaign motto, "Stand tall with Paul," referenced his act the previous year in my hometown when he stood in front of federal marshals as if to prevent them as they escorted James Meredith toward enrollment as the first black student at Ole Miss. His whole campaign focused on his intention to lead the resistance against outside agitators trying to change Mississippi's "way of life," a code for segregation. Once again my state had elected the candidate who played the race card with the most radical vigor. And I cried that night, praying, desperately asking God to help, and to save us from the suffering and continued backwardness that afflicted the place I loved.

Despite his campaign rhetoric, Paul Johnson turned into a wise and moderate governor. In his inaugural address he changed his motto, choosing the theme "Pursuit of Excellence." In that opening address he announced this: "Hate, or prejudice, or ignorance, will not lead Mississippi while I sit in the governor's chair," and he lived that promise, making no more demagogic outbursts and leading with common sense for the common good. Courageously he fired two KKK members from the Highway Patrol, and quietly, behind the scenes, he cut off the air of the segregationists who had elected him. When the U.S. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Governor Paul B. Johnson, Jr. urged Mississippians to comply. Indeed, he did "stand tall."

Paul Johnson has been coming back into my consciousness as I've engaged in conversations recently about some of the over-the-top rhetoric that has peppered the current presidential campaigning. I'm being hopeful. Paul Johnson gives me hope. Sometimes politicians will use inflammatory demagoguery as candidates, but then become more realistic and pragmatic when the role turns to governance. I hope so, at least.

I think we see an example of that in today's gospel. "You brood of vipers!" (I always enjoy saying that.) "You brood of vipers," shouts John the Baptist, gesturing emphatically with hot, red eyes furrowed toward his Jewish listeners. Fiery words, threatening words. Boldly spoken in the tradition reserved for demagogues and prophets. Sometimes it's hard to discern the difference.

John warns them not to assume any sense of privilege before God simply because they are God's chosen people. God can raise up children from any tribe, from any nation or race. God can raise up children from these stones on the ground, says John. With vivid, threatening imagery, John tells them God's expectation of them. Bear good fruit. Bear good fruit.

What do you mean? begs the crowd. Get specific. What should we do?

And John shifts from campaigning to governance. When he stops preaching and gets specific, he actually offers some pretty modest, practical answers.

Be generous! If you've got two coats, share with someone who has none. If you've got food, share with somebody who doesn't.

The tax collectors ask John, What about us? They are the lost and unrighteous of that day. Jewish collaborators with the foreigners occupying their homeland; facilitating that occupation which was paid for through crippling extortion executed by Jewish tax collectors. John tells them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Now that answer is more radical than it may sound. That extra collection was how the tax collector was paid. Get out of the dirty business, he's saying.

Soldiers ask, What about us? Romans. Foreigners occupying the land. Gentiles. John tells them, not abuse to abuse their power. "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wage."

What interesting answers! These are all answers about how we use our power and our wealth. These are all answers with economic significance.

John the prophet is talking about something that all of the prophets talked about. How do we create a fair and just society? A society where the secure and comfortable are generous with the vulnerable and poor, so no one will be vulnerable or poor. A society where those with power are gentle and just; where the powerful do not use their power to take advantage of their situation and to profit at the expense of those who are under their authority. A society of justice toward the vulnerable and poor, especially economic justice. Economic justice is arguably the most central theme in the entire scripture.

The crowd seems satisfied by John's rather modest agenda once they get down to the details. But there's one more question. A question about the burning hope that is always within the hearts of the Jewish people. Are you the Messiah? "No!" says John, with healthy self-definition. Then John proceeds to articulate his hope for the coming Messiah, and as he does, he moves back into his power language. He recalls the ancient yearnings of his people. His words again become destructive and militaristic. Like so many others, John expects an armed Messiah who will winnow and clear the threshing floor; who will gather the good wheat into his granary; but the wicked chaff he will burn with "unquenchable fire." Beware, you brood of vipers!

Many months later, John languishes in prison. He hears of the work of the one whom he baptized, the one in whom John put his hope: Jesus. It didn't seem to be working out like John had imagined. Jesus was not shock and awe. Jesus was not "bomb the hell out of the bad guys." There was no winnowing, no separating the right and wrong, no "us and them." There was no unquenchable fire. It's not what John expected or hoped. From prison John sent to ask the question that was once asked of him, "Are you the one?"

Jesus' answer: "Tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who is not offended by me." That's Jesus' agenda.

We don't know whether that answer was enough for John, I hope so. I hope he was satisfied with this different Messiah. For not long afterward he was executed. John became just another victim of the abuse of power, another person unjustly beheaded by an evil tyrant. And history keeps repeating itself even unto today.

So our crowd asks, What should we do? I think we get the same answers today. Bear good fruit.

Be generous. Share with the vulnerable and poor until everyone is secure and comfortable.

Get out of the dirty business of exploiting power or money. Use power to create justice, especially economic justice.

And replicate the ministry of Jesus. Open the fearful eyes of the blind with the perfect love of God, for only perfect love can cast out their fear. Help everyone to be free to move about their world with a sense of security and liberation. Restore the rejected to a place of healing and wholeness. Listen. Listen. Listen. And bring good news to the poor.

Talk is cheap, and often meaningless. It is our actions that count. But our actions tend to follow our attention; and our attention is often ruled by our ears and our eyes; and our ears and eyes are often distracted by the demagoguery and violence that infect our world.

So return your attention to the story of Jesus and to the words about him. Listen and see. Let your imagination be filled with his reality. Let the scriptures fill your imagination and motivate your heart, with words like these from Paul, which seem to me like good words to close with:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

The Lord is near.

 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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