Thoughts on Today’s Reading
The reading from Luke follows on the heels of the summary of John’s preaching of a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” and the claim that his proclamation, which sets the table for the arrival of Jesus, was what Isaiah promised centuries prior.
John’s preaching is harsh and perhaps surprising; it is jarring, particularly as an approach to the Christmas season; and it is challenging. His preaching of repentance is a direct assault on human living that in any way ignores the appropriate orientation of the believer (any believer) towards her neighbor.
Broadly speaking, then, John’s action-oriented fruits of repentance have to do with depriving our neighbor of what they need. Repentance here is not just (or perhaps even primarily) about the dialectic of faith and sin; rather it is about how we are living out the love of our neighbor.
The question which John’s advent, John’s preaching, and by extension our own, encourage us to ask is just this: “What, then, should we do?” How shall we respond to the Advent of the Messiah, which our preaching hails? What are the fruits of repentance, which we might bear? How can we meet the promise of the season, with real, meaningful expectation (cf. Luke 3:15)?