My father always wanted to leave early in the morning, very early in the morning to get our road trip started. At about 4:30 am he would awaken us kids, carry us to the car and pile us onto the back seat which was filled with sleeping bags. No worries about seat belts then. It was all very exciting to be on the road as we gradually woke up and realized that the adventure we had been dreaming about was finally under way.
Now travelling with kids I have come to realize more and more is not always easy. There were three of us in the back seat and there were always issues. We would jockey for position and enough room and it would not take long for an argument to break out. We really knew how to push each other’s buttons and those of our parents and there were moments when things would get tense, threats of pulling the car over and the like. If you have been there you know what I mean. It was all worth it, there were always great memories created but it also got me thinking about family or other disagreements.
Pushing other people’s buttons can be a bit of past time for many of us can’t it? There are many different personality types and ways to view the world but the actions of others, sometimes no matter how petty can really get on our nerves. Maybe none of this applies to you but there seems to be a long list of aggravating offenses: How another person drives, how they use a cell phone in a restaurant, how they speak to their children or the children to the adults, the music they listen to, how they eat a meal, how messy or tidy they are the list goes on and on of the things that can get on our nerves about other people and all the mistakes they make.
Related to this, it can be so annoying to have someone point out our faults as well. It can really cut us to the core and awaken a deeper anger than we ever realized was there or how strong it could be. Some people seem to revel in pointing out the errors of others don’t you find. John the Baptizer seems to have been one such person. He made an art of it. He seemed to live with the motto: the truth hurts.
Early in the gospels we hear the voice of John the Baptizer shouting to the religious leaders of the day: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our ancestor; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
He didn’t seem to care if he offended, didn’t seem to care if he pushed buttons. He had a message to preach and did not worry if he stepped on any toes. John went to the no nonsense business management school and he paid for it dearly.
I am quite fascinated by John the Baptizer. His job was to prepare the way for the Christ and so we often pay little attention to him. He was not the star but merely the set-up guy. He had a job to do and he did it and then seemed to get out of the way. But when we dig a little deeper we discover that there was more to it than that.
John the Baptiser set up shop way out in the wilderness. We often picture him as some street corner evangelist shouting at all who pass by but it seems that he was different than that. He was hunkered down in the desert, away from all the trappings of life, away from the hustle of city life, away from the temple and the religious expectations. He went out into the middle of nowhere, put out his shingle and started to preach. He had a message of inviting, urging, telling, confronting people to repent, to turn around, to rethink, to renew, to re-examine priorities, to consider the relationship with God and humanity. He was not gentle about it but he chose to be in the wilderness and shout his message to the rocks if no one else was to hear it. But clearly people came in droves. They were seeking something. What exactly? New wisdom? New philosophy? New teaching? Perhaps but it seemed to go so much deeper than that. He was pushing people’s buttons but they knew that he was telling a truth. That indeed they did need to repent or turn around and rethink their connection with God. And it went deeper still; to realize that God loved them completely, deeply and beyond the bounds of this life. If you break it down it was a three part process offered by John: repent, accept God’s love and then now live as if you believe it.
For the Bible tells us that the crowds listening to his sermons on repentance asked him: What then should we do? Perhaps it was a challenging question to John: if you have all the answers then what are we supposed to do? We follow the words of the Holy Scriptures already and you are telling us it is not enough so what are we supposed to do? John was not one to back down of course, he had a ready answer. He said: live as if you truly believe that God loves you. Don’t just say the words and mumble the correct responses. No, truly live them: Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise. Even tax collectors asked what they should do: Collect no more than the amount prescribed to you. Soldiers were told do not exhort money from anyone by threats or false accusations, and be satisfied with their wages.
As we heard in the passage today it did not stop there for if Herod asked, what should I do? John said: you should not marry your brother’s wife, it is wrong. John did not back down. Perhaps it seemed so obvious to him, to prepare for the coming of God walking amongst us, the Messiah, the Christ, then repent (or turn around), accept God’s love and then live as if you believe it. It applied to all people and it got John killed. Beheaded even for telling people what they actually already knew deep down to be the truth.
Pushing buttons I described it as earlier but it is really about having something pointed out to us that we realize is true but we will do all in our power to not admit it or ignore it or run from it. There are of course lots of other ways to describe it: Accepting our errors. Admitting reality. No longer hiding from the truth. Naming our sins. Affirming that we have made many mistakes. That our insecurities in life need to be healed. That there are skeletons in our closet. That we put on a brave face to the world but actually there is a self-loathing within us. That we continue to put so many things in priority above love of God and love of neighbour. That we are much more anxious inside than we want to admit. All of these things and so many others John pointed out and so many people hated him for it. He pushed buttons, he poked and prodded in places many would have preferred for him to leave alone. But he was not just about pointing out other’s errors in fact he offered a solution: repent, accept God’s love and live as if you believe it.
If John the Baptizer were to walk in this morning what might the say to us today? Would we want to hear it? What would he say about how we treat the environment or our societal obsession with money and possessions or the common denial of God amongst us or the poverty level in a rich nation or well you can think of a few others as well where John would not hold back and simply name the societal and individual sins.
All of us here know where our own wilderness lies and also why we often do not want to go there. It can be a scary place where we face head on those things that we have carefully pushed down and pushed away. It is filled with those things that are like a weight upon our shoulders that are burdens and concerns bigger than we ever want to admit. But somehow we are curious about a baptizer who beckons even shouts way out in that wilderness. We are drawn in and drawn closer to hear what he has to say. His message touches something deep within us for it is a message to truly feed our soul. It might push our buttons and we may push him aside or even arrest him and even kill him like Herod and Herodias and Salome. But we are people of faith in resurrection and we know that John’s voice, just as Jesus revealed at that first Easter, did not end at his death. John’s voice continues to be heard and invites us to repent, accept God’s love and live as if we believe it.
So if you are going on a road trip with a canvas tent this year or just taking a little more time out to ponder the depth and meaning and purpose of life, notice where your buttons get pushed. What is it saying to you? Where do you need to be drawn closer to repentance, acceptance of God’s love and transcendence as this knowledge transforms you? Repent, accept God’s love and live as if you believe it.