The Citizen, 2019-01-03, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 3, 2019.
By Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector
St. Pauls Trinity Anglican,
Wingham; Trinity Anglican
Blyth; St. John’s Anglican,
Brussels
“You brood of vipers.” Well now,
isn’t that a great opening line for an
article right around the holidays?
Doesn’t seem to fit with our 21st
century Advent/Christmas culture,
does it? Calling people a clan of
nasty poisonous snakes was one way
for John the Baptist to get the
attention of the crowd in Luke 3: 7-
18. I wonder if it was because John
was so eccentric, so unusual, that the
crowd accepted this from him and so
was drawn into his message. In no
uncertain terms, John is giving his
audience a really good dressing
down, ending with threats of
unquenchable fire. John is seriously
calling these folks to task – and they
were listening!
In those days, there was a sense of
expectation in the air: the
expectation of a Messiah, a Saviour
King to save God’s chosen people
from the oppression of the Roman
occupation. The people wanted
another king like David to save
them, to bring them back to that
golden era.
This was a time when various
prophets did roam the land. We
know this because even Jesus in his
time warned about following false
prophets.
This baptizing, locust-eating,
camel hair-clad desert dweller must
have had an air of legitimacy about
him. His listeners sensed the Spirit
of God within him and in his
message because they asked John,
“Is it you? Are you our Messiah?
Our Saviour?” John tells them no.
He was the messenger, telling them
to get ready for the Messiah’s
coming, and to do so, they needed to
make, well, what amounted to a
mental and spiritual u-turn.
Ok, so there it is! The Christ-is-
coming message of Advent in this
scripture reading. That’s why we
hear this repent-or-die talk at this
time of year. It’s not comfortable to
hear this kind of talk, but a prophet’s
message seldom is a comfortable
one! Generally speaking, the role of
the true prophet is to warn and bring
God’s message to the fore, to be the
mover and shaker!
It was a role John was very good
at! Luke says he preached like this
all the time. And this exhortation
was the good news? So how is the
need to make a spiritual attitude-
adjustment good news?
Well, it is only within the last half
century or so, since western
commercialization took over the real
meaning of Christmas, that the
period traditionally known as
Advent changed in its focus. Advent
was always a time of getting ready
for the coming of Jesus into our
midst by looking at those things
within us that can be transformed
and forgiven with God’s love.
Advent always was a time of
preparing oneself spiritually for the
coming of the Messiah; a time of
repentant self-reflection.
The anniversary of the birth of the
Saviour is our annual reminder of
that three-fold message of
Christianity; God came to earth in
human form as a man called Jesus to
show us the way back to God; that
God’s Spirit remains with us, and
Jesus will come again. And in
preparation for meeting our Lord at
Christmas, we ask forgiveness; kind
of a spiritual cleansing for those
things that keep us from God. That’s
what sin is, after all; those things we
do that stop us from being at one
with our Creator.
So this inner soul searching and
cleansing kind of makes sense if you
think about it for a bit.
Here’s an analogy: when we have
a special visitor coming to our home,
or even the church, we make things
ready. We look over the space with
fresh eyes and we see where we need
to clean, tidy, throw stuff away, even
re-decorate, and depending on the
situation, maybe even a full scale
renovation is in order.
That was essentially John the
Baptist’s message: look within
yourselves and your lifestyle and
ask, “is this how the people of God
should be living their lives”? Not
exactly? Well, then, cleanse
yourselves in mind, body and spirit
so as to be ready for the Messiah’s
coming, the Saviour’s coming.
John had a special message for the
people of Abraham, as Luke calls
them. Just because you call
yourselves children of Abraham,
God’s chosen people, don’t think
you have special status with God, or
are safe from God’s judgment. Being
born into the church family or
pledging membership into the
church won’t save you. Essentially
John’s message is, “You need to
walk the talk”.
It got their attention; they
recognized the need to repent within
themselves, because many came
forward for baptism and asked John:
“What then should we do?” And he
told them quite plainly! Do you have
more than you need? Then share
with those who don’t have enough,
take care of those who have less.
The tax collectors too wanted
direction. They were hired by the
Roman authorities to gather the
Roman Empire’s taxes from the
Jews, and they were notorious for
topping up the tax and pocketing the
extra. John tells them: ‘Don’t cheat,
be fair and honest in your dealings.”
The soldiers wanted his advice.
Now, they were more like
mercenaries; hired guns, you could
say, and the pay rate wasn’t just what
they thought it should be, so they
augmented their wages by stealing
from those they enforced.
John tells them to stop stealing,
don’t force people or abuse your
power or authority to get what you
want. Instead, be satisfied with your
wages, with what you received. Be
satisfied with your life!
Now there’s a message that still
speaks to us in the 21st century!
Even with all we have, how many
people do you know who really feel
satisfied with their lives?
John’s message was a primer for
THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS.
OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Brussels:
St. Ambrose
Saturday
6:00 p.m.
17 Flora Street
Wingham:
Sacred Heart
Sunday
9:00 a.m.
220 Carling Terrace
Listowel:
St. Joseph’s
Sunday
11:00 a.m.
1025 Wallace Avenue N.
huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com
519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn
Note: No Sunday School or midweek Heirborn / Youth
during Christmas school break
Sun. Jan. 6, 10:30 a.m.
Pastor Phil,
“Teach Us to Pray”(Mt. 6:5-15)
5 p.m. Potluck,
6 p.m. Prayer Summit (family-friendly)
Fri. Jan. 4 - Church Family Skating 7 p.m.
at North Huron Complex, Wingham
Sat. Jan. 5 — Men’s Breakfast 7:30-9:00 a.m.
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Worship & Sunday School - 9:30 am (*New time)
Coffee & Snacks following the service
We invite you to join our church family in:
OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm
blythunited@tcc.on.ca
Special Speaker: Angie Lannin
Accessible
Sunday, January 6
Worship Service at 11:00 am
Blyth United Church
Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, January 6
at 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship
Everyone Welcome!
The Regional Ministry of Hope
BLYTH BRUSSELS
Trinity Anglican Church St. John’s Anglican Church
9:15 am 11:15 am
MINISTRY OFFICE
519-357-4883
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector
email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca
The Regional Ministry of Hope
BRUSSELS
United Church
Worship and Sunday School
Sunday, January 6
at 9:30 am
Worship leader, Angie Lannin
All are Welcome
From the Minister’s Study
John the Baptist, the role of the true prophet
Continued on page 17