HELLO!

“(John the Baptist) said, You brood of vipers…Bear fruit (vegetables?) worthy of repentance.” Matthew 3:7,8

The other day I found a few items at a thrift store I really liked. Even though I have plenty of shirts, pants, shoes, hats, I purchased these three shirts and took them home. Immediately, upon entering the house, before I said HELLO! to Kim, whom I had not seen since 6 am, I went to my closet to find three shirts to give away. Why? In my mindset, in my brain, there is now a firm conviction, if we make room for one thing, we need to remove something else, so what is new (to me) can be vetted, appreciated, revealed. Otherwise, every new thing I find becomes just another shiny object that finds its way to the back of my closet.

I recall a sermon preached on John the Baptist, at a church in Washington DC, I was there for a preaching seminar. Ched reflected on the iconic John the Baptist. He looked out at we liberal mainline clergy and asked, “why do you suppose a preacher like John would attract such a following?” According to our sensibilities such a crank would be left alone, calling people “You Brood of Vipers”. How judgemental! And yet, people arrived in droves. And he wasn’t like our modern-day evangelicals, blaming the easy targets they like to mock, no, John was looking at us, square in the eye and calling us out. John demanded change, in us.

In Jesus’ day, like our day, like every time and place, there was a feeling of unease, a sense of expectation but also frustration. To open up space in our hearts and minds we need to shed some of the distractions, temptations, obsessions, that occupy so much of our thoughts and feelings. If we spend everyday, all day, pondering how to keep up with others, be what the world says we are, we miss the deeper reality that the Gospels reveal, relationship with our neighbour, our God. Life is fragile, often broken and very short. Time is precious. So filling our souls with clutter, scratching itches that only require more scratching, and climbing that greasy pole of “enough” can be a endless source of emptiness. BUT, there is Good News, very, very good news. God is present, near, here, now. And the invitation to repent, change, embrace, engage, and accept, can lead to new life. I have seen this, in others, in myself, in the churches I serve. And it is what makes ministry so fulfilling.

Peace, Kevin

PS Today I was handing out hats, in addition to the coffee at Margaret’s House. There were also butternut squash and other vegetables given out. Photo 1) taken by Cathy Belanger. Photo 2) altered by my brother Scott.