Zephaniah 3:14-20
Luke 3:7-18
Have you considered how many changes you have encountered
throughout your life? Do you like it when things change? Are you a “go with the
flow” kind of person or do you try to keep things the same at all cost? I have
a mantra that life experiences have taught me; it is “you never know what is
next.” Change is a given. We can have many different reactions to it. We can
fear change, we can look forward to change, we can deny change and we can
accept it.
Think about the change that happens when a caterpillar turns
into a butterfly. How does the metamorphosis happen? The change that a
caterpillar encounters is as natural and miraculous as childbirth. We can't
really stop it from happening and it is bigger than us. What would happen if
the caterpillar said, “No, I want to stay a caterpillar all of my life. I don’t
want to become a butterfly?” What would happen if a baby who was going to be
born into the world tried to stop the birth process and said “No, I will stay
in my mom’s womb forever?” The changes that happen in birth and in a
metamorphosis do not usually get stopped. And if you think about it why would
we want to stop these changes?
When we hear the prophet Zephaniah say “Fear not, God is in
our midst,” he is talking about something much bigger than us. It is a
metamorphosis kind of change that God’s very presence evokes. You see God’s
righteousness is being born in our midst every time shame is transformed into
new life or oppression is transformed into freedom.
John the Baptist also teaches about transformation. In
today’s gospel he is trying to let people know that being baptized by the Holy
Spirit is not just about being immersed in water. John is talking about the
transformative changes that happen when the Spirit sweeps the “threshing
floors” of our lives so that we can be transformed into children of God. He
talks about the winnowing fork. Do you know what that is? I had to look it up
myself because I didn't know how wheat is harvested.
One part of the process in harvesting wheat is winnowing.
The wheat is lifted up either by a fork or in a basket and the air blows
through so that the “good fruit” of the wheat is sifted out of the dirt and husks.
This process is similar to what can happen to us when we encounter the
transformative love of God. The good fruits of our lives can be harvested.
John is teaching the people that he preached to and is
teaching us today about what happens to our hearts when we are baptized in the
Spirit. A metamorphosis-like change will transform our hearts so that God’s
purpose will become our purpose. The spirit blows through us winnowing out the
good fruit of our lives leaving the husks and dirt of fear and hatred to be
discarded and put on the fire.
Both Zephaniah and John are giving us good news about how
God’s presence evokes transformation and new life. But with these changes, that
are bigger than us, comes experiences that can be painful and even frightening.
God’s ways are not our ways. God’s presence winnows out sin and evil so that righteousness
prevails. God’s righteousness is, according to theologian Deborah Block, “the
humble ethic of living toward others in just and loving relationships.”
It is tempting to be like a caterpillar that doesn't want to
become a butterfly. We can get weighed down with fear. We never know what is
next. Sometimes what is next can seem to us to be unbearable. The good news is
God is with us. God is in our midst. God changes fear into joy and transforms
death or loss of any kind into new life. Transformations do not happen
instantly. Our part is to just be open and allow God in our midst to cleanse
and purify us.
People often naively believe that stepping into God’s kindom
is like stepping into a spiritual utopia filled with no problems or worries. To
the contrary, stepping foot into the kindom as a follower of Christ leads to
transformation.
The Spirit sweeps the threshing floor of our hearts often.
God does not overpower us rather God offers us a love that miraculously births
us into a place of growth and change. The pain in childbirth and the struggle
that a caterpillar encounters as it comes out of the cocoon are images of the
similar changes our hearts encounter when we open them to the transformative
love of God.
We encounter pain and a need to let go of the dirt and the
husks that try to keep us in a place of fear, shame and oppression. But what
comes next is well worth the pain and the letting go. What
comes next is God’s purpose becomes our purpose and we begin living toward
others in just and loving relationships. Fear will become joy and the oppressed
will be set free as we live into God’s transformative presence. What kind of
changes have you encountered lately? Have you experienced any pain or
struggles? Could that be the Spirit sweeping the threshing floor of your
heart? If so, hear the words of
Zephaniah, “Fear not for God is in our midst.”
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