Advent
December 12, 2015

Scripture Reading: 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 axe 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.’ –Luke 3:7-9

“No thank you, I don’t care for any.” I said as the hostess offered me a wonderful selection of sweets carefully arranged on a Christmas themed plate. The lady sitting next to me took a piece of chocolate as the plate was extended to her, thanked the hostess, and then turned to me and said, “You’re lucky, you don’t need to watch your weight. I’ll have to get back with the program after the holidays.” When situations like this occur, I often want to say, “If you are going to eat the candy, enjoy it. Feeling guilty about eating it will not shave off one calorie.” I have never said it. I, like others, who have to constantly work at weight maintenance must constantly be efficient with what we eat. Nutrition comes first for me, but having a piece of chocolate at a party means I will extract its equivalent calories somewhere else on that day or the next. The fruit I bear that is worthy of my repentance from eating more than I burn, is less weight on bad knees, normal blood pressure, and a general feeling of wellbeing.

It is hard to bear fruits worthy of repentance all the time. Although, I will admit, better habits can be developed, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they can be lost. The history of the Israelites echoes the highs and lows of being in favor with God, falling out of favor, repenting and repeating the cycle over and over again until they finally ended up in exile. John the Baptist is challenging the descendants of Abraham to not just repent but to bear the good fruit that results from the repentance. He is paving the way for the one who is coming to show them the way to bear that fruit. We are the inheritors of this wisdom.

Prayer: God grant us the wisdom to follow your way not just in our personal lives but particularly in our spreading your love through our communities to the ends of the earth. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.