October 21, 2001 - LESSON: Matthew 3.11-12, NRSV

SERMON TITLE: Fire and Water

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INTRODUCTION:

The story is told of the college sophomore who frets all semester "in anticipation of the notoriously difficult final exam in his ornithology class.

Having made what he regards as the ultimate effort, he is stunned when he walks into the classroom to take the exam. (1)

There is no blue book, no multiple-choice questions, no text booklet at all--just 25 pictures on the wall. And they are not photos of birds in resplendent color, but pictures of birds' feet. The test is to identify the birds.

"This is insane," the student protests. "It can't be done."

"It must be done," says the professor. "This is the final."

"I won't do it," the boy says. "I'm walking out."

"If you walk out, you fail the final."

"Go ahead and fail me," the boy says, heading for the door.

"Okay, you have failed. Tell me your name," the professor demands.

The boy rolls his pants up and takes his shoes off to reveal his feet: "You tell me!"

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  1. You tell me.
    1. The professor cannot tell him his name.
    2. The student really failed the test, but then so did the professor.

Remember the character Karnak, The Magnificent on the old Johnny Carson show.

Karnak, knows all, sees all, tells all.

There is one who knows and sees all, fortunately, God does not tell all.

  1. God is constantly attempting to communicate with human beings.
    1. John the Baptist is God's spokesperson seeking to prepare the way for the Messiah.
    2. This requires the communication of very important and pertinent information.

MAIN BODY:

  1. In Matthew 3.7-12, John the Baptist is speaking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
    1. In the first part of his address to them he warned them of the necessity of producing fruit worthy of repentance. He spoke of trees and an axe and fire.

7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees. coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit worthy of repentance. 9Do 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. 10Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

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  1. Now John becomes much more specific in attempting to communicate what the future is going to bring to the leaders who stand before him.
    1. Again this is directed primarily towards the people standing before him, the Pharisees and the Saddles, religious leaders.
    2. In a broader sense it is directed towards all who are listening.
      1. It is a personal relationship.
      2. It is a shared responsibility.

The old expression is certainly valid, What is good for the goose is good for the gander, or vice versa.

    1. So what is it that is so important that John seeking to communicate?
  1. One is coming who is more powerful than I am.
    1. John has the power of persuasion, but not of miracle.
    2. John comes with human power aided by the divine, but not the divine.
    3. John has the power of conviction, but not the power to convict.
  2. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
    1. I am glad that it is reported in this way.
      1. The presence and work of the Holy Spirit has been somewhat neglected.
      2. But notice important the Holy Spirit is for every facet of our spiritual lives.

John 14:26 (NRSVA) 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Romans 5:5 (NRSVA) 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Romans 15:13 (NRSVA) 13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Romans 15:16 (NRSVA) 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:14 through 1 Corinthians 2:16 (NRSVA) 14Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. 16"For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:4 through 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NRSVA) 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Ephesians 1:13 (NRSVA) 13In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;

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Titus 3:3 through Titus 3:8 (NRSVA) 3For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. 4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is sure. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.

Sometimes we may feel like Dr. James Dobson's young son who had escaped from the house. Dr. Dobson tells of looking for his young son and finding him hanging from the tailgate of a truck. He was not able to go up or come down. Hanging there, Dr. Dobson overheard his son saying, "Will someone please help this child?"

  1. there is no doubt that we are in need of help.
  2. We cannot do what needs to be done internally or externally on our own.
  3. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to help us.

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    1. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to help us endure the fire.

T. S. Eliot, from The Four Quartets, Little Gidding IV

The dove descending breaks the air
With flame of incandescent terror
Of which the tongues declare
The one discharge from sin and error.
The only hope or else despair
Lies in the choice of pyre of pyre-
To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Who then devised the torment? Love.
Love is the unfamiliar Name
Behind the hands that wove
The intolerable shirt of flame
Which human power cannot remove.
We only live, only suspire (breathe, draw in a breath)
Consumed by either fire or fire.

      1. The fire of trial and tribulation.

The Pastor's day had a terrible beginning. The alarm didn't go off on time. He cut himself shaving. He had trouble starting his car. Then he was pulled over for speeding.

He jumped out of the car, slammed the door and snarled at the officer: "Go ahead and write me a ticket! Everything else has gone wrong so far today."

"I know how you feel," the officer said. "I used to have days like that before I became a Christian." (2)

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        1. Thomas Paine wrote, during the American Revolution: "These are time times that try men's souls."
        2. We are tried at all times and in every way.
        3. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to help us become educated and sensitive individuals who come to recognize trials so that we may, avoid them or endure them.
        4. We so often turn out to be our own worst enemy.

In 1971 Earth Day Pogo cartoon written by Walt Kelly, Porkypine and Pogo are walking through a maze of trash. In the final panel Pogo says: Yep, Son, We have met the enemy and he is us.

It not only applies to Earth Day, We truly are our own worst enemy.

      1. The second use of fire is the fire which is the reward of the unrighteous.
        1. 12aHis winnowing fork is in his hand,
        2. 12bhe will clear his threshing floor
        3. 12c(He)will gather his wheat into the granary;
        4. 12dThe chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Peter expresses it so well in 1 Peter 1:3-9, (NRSVA) 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so that the genuineness of your faith--being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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CONCLUSION:

  1. This is a message that we ought to hear with great apprehension and great gladness.
    1. The apprehension because we are either chaff or grain.
    2. We determine by our own response to God.

One of my favorite stories is the English fable of the Three Little Pigs

First one made a house of straw.

Second made a house of sticks

Third made a house of bricks.

The ending of the story of the Three Little Pigs depends on your sensitivity to the original or the current politically correct one.

    1. We have a choice to think and act like pig number one, number two, or number three.
    2. This choice is ours.
  1. Let us use the resources that God has provided us to build for eternity. Amen!

    1. The Life You've Always Wanted (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 209-210, Quoted in Homiletics, October 3, 1999, Virtual Values, Used with permission.

    2. Rev. Fred Brunsting in Funny Things Happen

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