“Do The Good That Is Yours To do”
Isaiah 58:9b-12; Luke 3:7-16
I’ve always felt that the story of John the Baptist is an odd fit for Advent. It isn’t as if we have figures of John in our manger scenes- although I did add a John the Baptist figure in a manger scene one year for a Children’s sermon many moons ago😊 The kids were perplexed, and a few of them thought John was the Hagrid character from Harry Potter. Every year, however, in most cases, John’s story of calling for repentance, baptism, and a lifestyle change pops up as we draw nearer to Christmas.
After some name-calling, John instructs the crowds to “Bear fruits of repentance.” Those gathered in the crowd include tax collectors and soldiers. They all want to know how to bear such fruit and ask him, “What can we do?” His answer is slightly different for each group, but ultimately the same- “Do the good that is yours to do.” John’s call for folks to have repentance, or in Greek, Metanoia- meaning “to have a change of mind, a change of the inner person,” or literally to “turn around,” includes bearing fruits of justice and righteousness. Those fruits are also listed in our passage from Isaiah. When we bear the fruits of justice and righteousness, we become repairers of the breach. Let’s look at these passages to see what of God’s wisdom we can find.
Although John isn’t in our manger scenes, he remains vital in Jesus’ birth narrative. He does the good that is his to do. John prepares people for the arrival of the Messiah, explicitly telling the crowds to change their unjust practices and to be ready for one who comes to baptize with water and Spirit. What instructions does he give to the crowd?
To the general crowds, John says, “If you have two coats, give one to someone else. Share what you have with others in food.” Much like today, even in first-century lives, there were those with much and those with little. John called for a level playing field regarding clothing and food.
I often look for practical ways I can apply scripture to my life. As I read this line about coats on Friday, I remembered a few days prior when the deacons needed places to store their goodie bags for the Mobile Home Park across the street. I opened one of the closets in our office and saw a bunch of coats. I never saw Susan wearing any of them. So I asked her what the story was with all the coats. She said they were lost and found and had accumulated over the years. This passage gave me the idea to take all those coats and give them to our Severe Weather shelter guests. Thanks for the idea, John!
It is interesting to note that John did not outright condemn the tax collectors or the soldiers. Stories throughout this Gospel portray tax collectors responding to Jesus’ teachings and are counted among those saved and children of Abraham. Yet the common belief in those days was that Rome hired tax collectors to collect unfair amounts of money to fund the Pax Romana. They practiced bribery and extortion of people experiencing poverty. They betrayed Jewish ethical standards and could abuse their positions of power over the people. Yet, John didn’t exclude them from the possibility of redemption. John tells them how to repent and do the good that was theirs to do. He says, “Take no more than is due. Stop skimming off the top for your gain.”
Roman soldiers were another group not looked upon favorably by the people of God in those days. In the eyes of the people under the thumb of Roman oppression, soldiers were its servants. Many soldiers employed in and around Jerusalem were likely neither Roman nor Gentile but Jewish locals hired by King Herod. Their paychecks came from Rome, which made them complicit in their own people’s oppression. Once again, John does not exclude this hated group. It is apparent from their actions that their pay is not great. They have been using their position as soldiers to steal from others and make false accusations, which enabled them to seize possessions. He tells the soldiers, “Do not use your place of power as a soldier to take from others. Do not lie so that you can rob someone. Be satisfied with your pay.”
All those who were called vipers by John received paths to redemption. John simply gives them the good that is theirs to do.
All well and good for the crowds around John. But what about today? The world seems pretty broken and dark these days. Does doing good make a difference anymore? We may look around at the world we live in and be too daunted by the enormity of the world’s problems to feel like doing anything. Why bother to do the good that is yours to do? Part of the reason we may feel uninspired to follow through on doing good could be because of the model of change we believe in.
Let me explain. In his book You Are Changing the World: Whether You Like It Or Not and his subsequent TED talk, author David La Motte (No relation to Anne) talks about two models most folks believe in when it comes to being able to change things in the world. The first is the Hero Model. Think of all the movies you’ve ever seen where some insurmountable evil exists, and then a Sylvester Stallone Rambo or Arnold Schwarzenegger Robot human or Gal Gadot Wonder Woman or Millie Bobbie Brown as 11 with her super psychic powers steps in and saves the day. The world improves only as the hero steps in and does amazingly good things. Our role in that model is to watch and clap at the appropriate time. This model sets up unrealistic expectations regarding change. Let someone else make a difference, and unless an ultimate hero comes to save the day and change the world, there isn’t much we can do. So why bother? According to LaMotte, there are few examples of the hero model effecting change in the real world.
LaMotte discusses the second model for change, the “Movement Model.” In this model, people come together over an issue and work on improving it. He uses the story of Rosa Parks as an example of this kind of change model. We think of Rosa Parks as more of a hero model because of how her story is often told- she who, after a long day’s work, did not get up out of her bus seat so that a white man could sit down, and her heroic stance eventually changed the world.
The reality is that her story fits much better into the Movement model for change. Before that day on the bus, Miss Parks had been part of a coalition for 12 years that advocated for changes in bus transport in Montgomery, Alabama. She, in fact, was an office secretary for the organization that worked for change with the unjust, racist policies on the bus system. A coalition of others, whose names are not mentioned in Rosa’s story, came together and worked for change so that people of color didn’t have to move for white folks. Rosa’s group also worked to get black drivers into black neighborhoods, as many white drivers would take a black person’s fare and then make them get back off the bus to go in through the back door. The white drivers would take off as the Black patrons headed to that back door.
It took more than one person’s heroic actions to bring about justice. It took a movement. Each person in that movement was behind the scenes of Rosa’s protest. Each one in that movement did the good that was theirs to do, and the world we live in oriented itself a bit more toward justice.
You and I are part of a movement meant to change the world. That movement began with the people of God, who wrote down their history of following and worshiping God. That movement called its followers to share bread, provide housing for the impoverished, and share coats with others. The call to do the good that is ours to do goes back thousands of years. Our world improves when we follow this call, and God draws near and blesses us.
The Isaiah passage tells us if we remove the yoke from among us (If we lift the burden of oppression placed on others) if we offer our food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then our light shall rise in the darkness, and our gloom becomes like the noonday. The Lord will guide us continually and satisfy our needs. We shall be like a watered garden, like a water spring whose waters never fail. Our ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; We shall raise the foundations of many generations, be called the repairer of the breach, and the restorers of streets to live in. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me! When we do the good that is ours to do, it has a ripple effect. That good emanates out back towards us. Goodness, justice and God’s blessings come back to us.
I often use this passage from Isaiah when I have the privilege of blessing a house for a Habitat family as they move into their forever home. Those of us who have been on Habitat work sites are literally repairers of the breach and restorers of the streets in which to live.
You and I are part of this ancient movement- a spiritual and social movement perfected by the person, life, and work of Jesus Christ. That movement continues as we live out our faith today, doing the good that is ours to do. That, people of faith, is our calling. In discussing this calling, Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”
What good are we called to do? Those opportunities often present themselves right in front of us. However, if you’d like a project and some direction, Marilyn Wright’s Random Acts of Kindness group awaits. Get inspired. Do good. Don’t get caught up waiting for a hero to change things. Don’t give up because of the enormity of the world’s problems.
I’ll close with this poem, written by Rev. Sara Speed, entitled “Harvest.”
Maybe none of it matters. Maybe you can’t make a difference.
Or maybe that watermelon seed you spit out over the summer will grow into a green orb full of sticky sweet fruit. Maybe the rain will nourish it.
Maybe your mother’s hands will pull it from the vine, slice it into wedges,
and place it on the dining room table.
Maybe the neighbors will come over and chomp into that soft pink fruit,
juicy water running down their chins.
Maybe you will laugh at the shared experience at this garden-grown communion,
and maybe the stars will shine brighter that night.
People say the problems of the world are too big to make a difference,
but surely those people have forgotten the fruit that grows from one little seed.
This Advent, remember that you have good to do. Your good efforts, though they seem modest, are part of a movement that began long ago and brings real change to this world. With God’s help, our acts of faith plant those seeds of justice, making a difference. Alleluia! Amen.
