All Are Welcome . . . Except Maybe John
December 5, 2004
Luke 3:4-10, 7:18-20 Ralph DiBiasio-Snyder
Introduction to the Scripture
You can't "do" Advent without John the Baptist. If Advent is a time of preparation, John is the quintessential "preparer" - the forerunner of Jesus Messiah, who, our passage says today, fulfilled Isaiah's message about "the voice of one crying in the wilderness."
The verses immediately preceding the reading say that John was preaching "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins," that is [read verses 4 through 10.]
. . . And he goes on to tell the tax collectors to be honest - unheard of in those days - and soldiers he said should be content with their wages - unheard of in any profession then or now.
We now skip a year, perhaps two, and see John in his last days. His message has landed him in jail. There he hears stories about Jesus whom he had so confidently declared to be the promised Messiah. And what he hears Jesus doing doesn't add up to what John thought Messiah should be doing, and he sends a message to Jesus. Listen for the voice of doubt. [Read verses 18-20]
I want to begin today with a great big Thank You to CBS, ABC, and NBC - those giants of the allegedly liberal media establishment who this week declined to air a commercial by our church, theUnited Church, of Christ - one of our two denominational affiliations. If you have missed that news, here's what happened. The UCC produced a 30-second commercial as part of the "God is Still Speaking" campaign to let others know who we are. It was funded by donations from individuals, and we started hearing about it early this fall. At that time they weren't sure if there was enough funding to air the ad in northeast Wisconsin. But there was hope that some air time could be bought. The commercial showed two burley-looking men standing in front of a church, and some people they allowed in, and others they turned away. Across the screen were the words, "Jesus didn't turn people away; Neither do we." The message was that we want to be a church where all people are welcome.
I had been feeling badly that we had not done a better job of letting you know about it, so you could look for it and be ready for visitors who might come to worship with us if they had caught the commercial. I was worried that with just a few commercials aired the whole thing might just be missed, as if it had never happened. But as I say, thanks to someone at the networks nearly everyone now has heard about this commercial that they said is "too controversial" for them to show the American people. We couldn't in a million years have paid for all the free advertizing we are receiving!
Take a hand poll - How many people have seen the UCC commercial that has caused such a stir? How many saw it as a broadcast commercial? How many saw it as part of a report about the controversy, or heard about it on radio, or in the paper?
As they say, God works in strange ways . . .
And these are strange days. Prime time programming has hit new lows - what grotesque, disgusting things WILL people do to win a pile of money? But at the same time we discover this week that it is just too controversial to say this: Jesus didn't turn people away. Neither do we.
Our nation is sadly and severely divided politically, racially, religiously, economically. You would think we should be trying to bridge those divides. And so it seems very strange that some people think that a church really shouldn't say right out loud, No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here. That's the second statement made in our commercial: No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.
Larry Hollon, who leads the national advertising effort for The United Methodist Church, said "The reasons given by the networks for rejecting this [commercial] should bring a chill to everyone who supports freedom of religious expression because they are saying that a fundamental tenet of Christian belief is politically unacceptable . . . " That fundamental tenet? All are loved by God, and therefore all are welcome.
Today after the service you can watch the commercial in room 201, and see what you think, and continuing this discussion if you would like. Let's leave the controversy aside for now, and look at those statements made in the commercial.
Jesus didn't turn people away. The poor heard him gladly, and Jesus welcomed them. Women were accepted as followers. Gentiles, despised Samaritans - even hated Romans - were not turned away. Tax collectors and left-wing radicals were numbered among his closest friends as well as salt-of-the-earth small business owners like Peter, James and John. Children too, and the sick and disabled. Jesus turned none of them away. Even lepers, that pitiable despised group of people who were quite literally cast out of society, came to Jesus, and he did not turn them away.
He had harsh things to say to the religious leaders - the self-righteous church-goers of the day. But they weren't turned away. The radical message of Jesus then and now is that all are welcome. All are invited to join in the joy and work of the people of God.
And that's one of the ideals that we as an individual church and we as the United Church, of Christ lift up and strive to make real. We often fail. We have a long way to go. Not all of God's children feel the welcome we want to extend to them. But that ideal is part of who we are.
We say in whatever way we can, No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.
Hold that thought a moment, and let's pull our friend John the Baptist back into this. My title is All Are Welcome . . . . Except Maybe John, John the Baptist, that is. We get a taste of his fiery preaching in the passage today, and we can understand why he spent most of his time alone in the wilderness. John, as great a prophet as he was, lacked in shall we say "people skills." Dale Carnegie perhaps could have done something with John, but not much. You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? says an angry John to the folks who came to hear him preach. (We here try not to greet visitors with that kind of zeal!) We know from other passages that he dressed strangely too, and dined on locusts that even dipped in honey must have been crunchy to say the least. Between how he looked and what he said, John just didn't have a lot of friends. Try as we might, he probably wouldn't be welcome here.
But you know what got John into trouble, really? He dressed funny, but people could overlook that. His message was harsh and stark: Repent and be baptized. But sometimes we like to hear that voice of certainty - if it's kept in general terms. Religious rhetoric - high sounding principles, generalized demands that we change our ways, repent! - that we can take!
But John got into trouble when he got specific. Repent and be baptized? Sure, we say . . . . Until John says what that means, really. "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise." What? Share my clothing, my food . . . ? If I have two coats, give one away? He goes on to tell the tax collectors and soldiers not to cheat and threaten people, thus cutting severely into their incomes. John got too specific, and slipped, as they say, from preaching to meddling!
Generalities in religion and morals are admired and popular. It's the specifics that offend us, because the specifics hit us where we live. That's what happened to John. And he eventually ended up in prison, and was executed for being way too specific about King Herod's sins.
And you know what? That is exactly what is so offensive to some about that commercial. All are welcome, we say, but of course doesn't everyone say that? Of course all are welcome . . . this is a church, isn't it? But the commercial visually gives the specifics of who the All are, and that's where the controversy begins. We see just who is welcome: old people, young people, middle-aged people, children people; disabled people; couples and single people; gay and lesbian people; men and women; whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians; straight people too! All are welcome.
It is an odd time when the message that God loves all people unconditionally is feared to be divisive.
It is a challenging time when the simple statement that this church of Jesus Christ welcomes all people no matter who they are or where they are on their life's journey is feared to be "too controversial."
We are about to celebrate the oldest and most sacred rite of our faith, Holy Communion. In word and in action; in the eating of the bread and the drinking of the cup; in gathering here in Jesus' name we say without apology, and without qualification: All are welcome. All are welcome. Even John. I guess.
God grant us courage to live out the ideals we profess. Amen.
