An Advent Reflection

What does it mean to sacrifice today?

Below is an Advent reflection I wrote for my church on Luke 3: 7-18. I'm sharing it here because these thoughts are not stuck to the walls of any religion.

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Luke Chapter 3, Verses 7-18

Translation courtesy of this site.

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing forkis in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

My Reflection

This is not an easy passage to chew, but it reminds us that God did not create just one human, and for good reason. Life is the daily challenge of living with other people, because this is what forces us into the refiner’s fire that brings us all closer to God. After all, being loved is easy. But loving ourselves and other people? This is no easy task, even when it is the people we love most.

To live in society requires sacrifice. This is what we teach our children when they learn to play together. But this passage prods me to ask, why do we force our children to learn these lessons? What Luke seems to be telling us here is that people who walk in God’s light and who sacrifice to a common good build high trust societies that allow everyone to flourish. It’s for this reason that, though it’s not exactly a meme these days, the idea of the city on a hill remains a powerful Christian idea. Trust is to the human heart what gravity is to the universe.

But what does it mean to sacrifice? This passage in Luke is a good reminder. In it, John does not ask people to make arbitrary sacrifices. He doesn’t tell the tax collector to take less time in the shower or the soldier to wear less expensive shoes. No, he tells them to sacrifice the instinct to grab for more within the roles they play in the world. John doesn’t tell these people to set themselves on fire to keep others warm. He also doesn’t say give up your job. Rather, he tells the tax collector, the soldier, and the crowd–each of us–to take responsibility for the role we each play in creating a fair, high trust society.

This is not easy work. There are no perfect people in any society, even in our best, highest trust societies. No human born should expect to love and live around perfect people. Instead, we have to see ourselves clearly and be willing to see other people clearly to truly love them, and to know the sacrifices we are each responsible for making to bring us all closer to each other and God.

As John says, “every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” To me, I hear in those harsh words the hard truth that failing to see ourselves and other people clearly will lead to disaster. We are not, after all, a community of paper dolls and we cannot live on rotting fruit. The fire of reality will burn away our foolish delusions, whether we like it or not. We go with God when we are brave enough to turn away from that easy path.

So, I invite you to join me to ask ourselves three questions today:

• What is the balance between love and sacrifice in your relationship with your family and community? Is it fair?

• What would a high-trust society look like where you live, and what do you need to take responsibility for to realize that vision?

• What foolish fruit is rotting in your life? Why?

God give us the strength to see people as they truly are, including ourselves, and to take responsibility for the role we play in building trust and seeking truth in our communities. Amen.