He Who Comes

Read the rest at He Who Comes (1517.org)

Our text is an advent text, the announcement of the coming of the Lord by John the Baptist. The announcement, it seems, threw people into considerable consternation. So much so that they were led to cry out, “What then shall we do?” And John’s answer is direct and unequivocal: “Bear fruits that befit repentance...He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.” (Luke 3:8,11) “Right now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9). That’s the way it is when the Lord comes. 

In our day, when some seem to be alarmed about the apparent rebirth of nasty things like “the social gospel,” and similar movements, I suppose there might be some nervousness about the manner in which John the Baptist moves so immediately from the coming of the Lord to giving away your coat and sharing your food. We would much rather, I suppose, that he had spent more time in transition, explaining how the coming of the Lord means first of all that we should devote ourselves to the cultivation of our piety, or pointing out that the gospel really has to do only with man's relationship to God.