Winnowing Wind

Luke 3:7-18

Sounds like good news doesn't it? "The ax lying at the root…" "you brook of vipers!," well it is the Good News. This sermon was a two part sermon in part because some were exiting and entering as we had our blood drive before during and after the service. That way there was a better chance for someone to catch one of the two.

The first was about John's baptisms. We know that baptisms were not started by the followers of Christ, which is evident here as John is baptizing people in the Jordan before Jesus starts his earthly ministry. John is preparing the way for Jesus, but others were also baptizing for multiple of reasons, but John foreshadows what our Christian Baptism would become. For John preached that his baptism with water was a sign of repentance (turning to God) for the Kingdom of God in near. The Christian Baptism becomes not only a sign of repentance, but unifying with Christ's resurrection. Now those that were being baptized on this day were turning to God and asked the profit John, "What then should we do?" and John answers very specifically. It is not a simply an answer like, love God, lover everyone and be good. It is specific and financial in nature. The first it to everyone and it says one should share what they have extra and the second two ask people who are in positions of power to not use it for their own benefit. In contemporary society it would not be simply about sharing your coat and your food, but through the church we are able to fulfill this way of sharing what we have as "extra." We never feel it is "extra" but when we pledge we are demonstrating our commitment to follow Jesus, that we give priority to turning to God.

After John had given this stewardship sermon to those gathered and noticed that they were contemplating he may be the Messiah, he tells of Jesus coming. The Good News. Jesus is coming with a winnowing fork to clear the threshing floor gathering the wheat and burning the chaff. This does not sound like the Jesus I learned about in Sunday School. John does say the ax sits at the base of the tree and I do there will be a judgment for those that do not repent, and Psalm One uses this metaphor of wheat and chaff to refer to separate individuals, good and wicked. However, John reference to the ax was to those that presupposed that they were part of the chosen because their ancestor was Abraham. John is not referring to simply the chaff and wheat, but that Jesus is coming to do the threshing with fork in hand. To understand you must know that each grain has chaff that must be removed. Today we have breed our crops to make it easy and have machines, but in the days of John and Jesus, the farmer would have to toss the grains in the air on a windy day. The movement and the wind would separate the chaff from the wheat on each individual grain. Thus Jesus comes and works on each of us individually as we all have chaff that needs to be removed. This is the Good News because Jesus will work on us, with the help of the Holy Spirit (Ruach/Wind). Each of us we repent and receive our baptism of water, but it is Jesus who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit (wind) and fire. A baptism that is actually working that Jesus does on us each individually.