Sermon: “Weird, Wild, and Just Plain Wrong”
⬛ So, I’m preaching on the themes and scriptures from camp, and on this day at camp, the focus is on John the Baptist…
As a refresher, John the Baptist was Jesus’ slightly older cousin, born just a few months before Jesus himself was born.
According to Luke’s gospel, before John was born, an angel appeared to John’s father, Zechariah, to announce the birth.
The angel said that John would bring Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth “joy and gladness.” The angel said that John “will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and will turn many to the Lord their God.”
That all sounded great, I’m sure; but it seems to me that the angel left out a few details.
I wonder: what if Zechariah had asked for more details. What if Zechariah had asked the angel, “What kind of life will John live? Where will John live? In a nice, well-furnished house, perhaps? In the city, near the centers of power and influence, in order to accomplish what you have said?”
If Zechariah had asked that, the angel would have replied: “No. He’ll be out. Somewhere. In the wilderness. Wandering. Like a wildman.”
Zechariah would say, “The Wilderness? Well, OK... Well, What would he wear? Would he at least have robes made of fine silk, or linen? Something decent and presentable at least?”
And then the angel would have to say: “No. Camel’s hair…. And a belt.”
“That’s it? Well, angel, please tell me he’ll have something decent to eat, at least. Lamb. Figs. Grapes. Wine. You describe this news as good news of joy and gladness; please tell me, angel, that my son will at least eat decently in his lifetime…”
“Bugs.”
“What was that, angel?”
“Bugs! He’ll eat bugs. Locusts, to be exact. And honey! But not the nice honey you buy at the market; wild honey.”
Well, what a strange way to live. Is this really how John would bring joy and gladness to Zachariah and Elizabeth, by living this type of lifestyle?
⬛ John was a prophet; and prophets did weird and wild things. They lived weird and wild lives.
Isaiah once stripped off all his clothes and wandered around naked. What would you think of someone who did that today? Would you call them a prophet?
Jeremiah once took his underwear and hid it under a rock, then, after many days had passed, went back to retrieve it. (Weird.)
On another occasion, Jeremiah made a yoke, which is a harness that is normally strapped around the necks of oxen. Jeremiah placed that heavy yoke around his own neck, and wore it for many days, until another prophet—Hananiah—broke it and took it off him.
Then there’s Ezekiel. Ezekiel did lots of weird things. Ezekiel once ate a scroll that had been given to him. A scroll!
He also laid on his side for over a year, then—when that year was over—rolled over and laid on his other side for a year. After that, Ezekiel went on a diet of barley cakes baked over cow manure.
On another occasion, Ezekiel shaved his beard with a sword. (Kids, don’t try that at home.) He divided the beard hair that he shaved off into thirds; one third he set on fire, one third he scattered around the city, and the final third, he threw into the wind. But a few of those beard hairs, he saved, and sewed into his clothing.
Prophets are weird! And they do weird things!
Why did the prophets do such weird things? Why did John, who is our focus today, dress in camel’s hair, eat locusts and wild honey, and go out to the wilderness to preach?
…
The things prophets did did draw attention, for sure. And the things they did were symbolic acts, meant to draw people’s attention not just to the prophet, but to the people’s own behavior.
Because whenever the prophets acted out, they did so because something was very wrong in society. When the prophets acted out, it was to show how the people, how the nation, had gone astray; it was to show that the nation or that society was on the wrong path.
Generally speaking, it was because the people had forgotten to care for one another, and to care especially for the most vulnerable among them. They had neglected to show love to their neighbor, as God commands.
Yet the people were so caught up in their way of living, that they didn’t even see what was wrong with it. The buzz around town was that everything was fine, that we’re all just doing what everyone else is doing. It would be weird, they thought, to do anything different.
Well, the prophets' weird acts were often meant to mimic the weird, wayward ways of world. The prophets would do something weird, and people would look and say: “look how weird he is!” And then the prophet would point out that his weirdness was really just a reflection of their own weirdness, their own abnormality, and so if they thought what the prophet was doing was weird or strange or just plain wrong, they were really, in a way, passing judgment on their own behavior.
…
And then the prophets would show an alternative way to live. They would show the people that the way they were living was wrong, and then they would show the people a whole new way to live.
John, out in the wilderness, was showing that the lifestyle and way of living promoted by those in power was not the only way to live. There was, and is, an alternative way to live, a way of living that is, in many ways, the exact opposite way of living that most in society were living… and that this alternative way of living is actually the life of blessing, the life of wholeness, the life of abundance that God desires for all of humanity.
Which is why John ditched his name-brand clothing, the clothing that people wore to show their status; the clothing people wore to show how cool they were. John did away with that, because worldly status didn’t matter to him.
And food, too, could be a sign of status, so John did away with that. No trendy diet, no instagram-worthy meal of lamb and grapes and figs. Just locusts, and honey that he found in the wilderness.
Because worldly status meant nothing to John. John liberated himself from that pressure to be cool, that pressure to be trendy. He was free from that. He was not swayed by the pressure to be popular, to be rich, to be followed by tens of thousands of people on social media. He could care less about being an “influencer.”
But for those who had ears to hear… For those who longed for an alternative way of living… John was ready to lead the way… and to prepare the way for the one who would more fully lead people into that alternative way of living.
…
Obviously, not everyone was convinced by the prophet’s message. Those who benefitted from the way the world was were especially reluctant. Those who were blessed by the way the world was structured, those who were able to accumulate wealth and power and influence in this world, were especially resistant to any sort of alternative world, where they might not have as much power and wealth and influence, and where they might lose out on some of their privilege, and end up being just like everyone else.
They didn’t want to be just like everyone else. They liked the privilege this world afforded them. So they resisted the prophet’s message, and fought against it.
They even used their power and wealth to attack the prophets, and those who followed the prophets. They said that the truth proclaimed by the prophets was really filled with lies and deception.
Which is why so many of the prophets ended up imprisoned or executed. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it…”
But those who are attracted to the prophet’s message, they are the ones who realize just how broken this world is, how dysfunctional society is, how corrupt, and how lacking in compassion and decency it is.
These who followed John recognized the futility of their own pursuit of status, and the meaninglessness of their own attempts to set themselves apart from everyone else, to set themselves above everyone else. These are the ones who recognized that the way of the world just isn’t working, that it isn’t sustainable, that it isn’t creating the type of world we want to live in, or the type of world God wants us to live in.
So when John called on the people to repent from the sinful ways of this world, they were ready. They eagerly embraced this new way of living that the prophet proclaimed. And they rushed to him, out in the wilderness, ready to repent, ready to be baptized—ready to immerse themselves in the Jordan River—the very river that their ancestors passed through to begin a new life in a new, promised land—so that they could also start a new life—start their lives over—and live this new way of living that John proclaimed.
…
Most of us… we are attracted to this alternative way of living: the way that John proclaimed; the way that Jesus proclaimed
Yet we also feel attached to the way of living prescribed by the world. And we try to figure out a compromise; a compromise between the way of living God calls us to, and the way of living that the world defines as normal.
We envy those who are able to break free from the restrictions and limitations of society. We love to read stories about them, and watch movies about them. Those who break away from society’s harmful expectations, and are able to live freely, fully, the life they feel they are meant to live.
⬛ I think of Chris McCandless, whose life story was chronicled in the movie Into the Wild. He left everything behind, including the considerable wealth of his family, to live completely free. If you know anything about his life, you know there is quite a bit of foolishness there—genuine foolishness—and yet, despite ourselves, we can’t help but envy him, at least a little, because of how he was able to free himself from the pressures and demands of this crazy world.
John the Baptist was a sort of first-century Chris McCandless. Out in the wilderness, he was free. He had the kind of freedom most could only dream of.
⬛ Yet, of the many who ventured out to the wilderness to see him, to hear him preach his message of repentance, and perhaps even to be baptized by him… how many of them were able to actually cast aside all the things of this world that limit us and restrict us? How many of them cast aside their wealth, their status, their influence, to live completely free?
And how many just returned back to their lives, trying to figure out how to compromise this idealistic vision of how the world could be, with their present reality, and all the social expectations that actually work to isolate people and confine them to living lives that are less than fully human?
Some of the seed falls on the path, some falls on rocky ground, and some falls among the thorns, and the hope that was there fades away…
The question is: how far are you willing to go when it comes to following Jesus? You’ve been immersed in the waters of baptism; how far are you willing to immerse yourself in the alternative way of living John and Jesus proclaimed?
And what pressures from the world, and what symbols of status, will you continue to cling to?
When it comes to creating a better world, for yourself, and those around you, how far are you willing to go?
The compromises we make every day: we want to protect the climate, yet we still use fossil fuels. We feel called to care for our neighbor, yet we vote for politicians who promise to make things better for us, even at the expense of our neighbors. We want there to be justice in our land, and equality, and community, but we don’t really want to get too involved and risk rocking the boat for such things.
We’re always making compromises.
Yet the true prophets—like John the Baptist—are out there in the wilderness, calling us to repentance, calling us to a whole new way of living, to create a whole new world for ourselves and for all of humanity.
To many, they seem weird, or wild, or even just plain wrong.
What do you think?
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