That’s not a
custom I’m used to hearing in December, probably because I tend to think that
it’s just too cold to have much fun getting married with snow on the
ground. Yet I have family members who
did just that, and I bet that their horns honked merrily too.
Can you imagine
if your life right now amidst all the bustle and hustle of Christmas
preparations would have you so filled with joy that you just had to honk your
horn? Imagine driving all the way back
from Edmonton or Westlock or Fort MacMurray honking as you went to celebrate
getting that last Christmas present or jumping into your car to drive around
the block to let your neighbors know that the Christmas Cake was done, or the
tree was trimmed. No?
All too often
we live timid lives that are afraid to let go, bust loose, shake a bell, bang
on a pot or pan. And I can’t say that
John’s speech to his people is one that I would feel happy to hear. I can just imagine the complaint if I stood
here, shook my finger and called you a bunch of dirty rattlesnakes. Somehow, I
can’t imagine it going down well. Good
thing it’s not my style!
John pulled no
punches and yet his teaching was described as ‘good news’. Go figure!
I think it was because he recognized that everyone had a feeling that
something was not quite right with their lives.
That they were living with secret shames or guilts or burdens that
weighed them down. They knew that they
were not living honest healthy lives, they had difficult relationships with
others, and that they were caught up in the fear that they would go hungry if
they didn’t hoard what they could at every opportunity.
John told them
that there was no need to fear. There
was only the need to reconnect with God.
The sense of shame or brokenness was what they saw as sin, a word we
find challenging in today’s society of positive thinking. Yet hear what our Song of Faith says around
sin:
Made
in the image of God,
we
yearn for the fulfillment that is life in
God.
Yet
we choose to turn away from God.
We
surrender ourselves to sin,
a disposition
revealed in selfishness, cowardice, or apathy.
Becoming bound and complacent
in a web of false
desires and wrong choices,
we bring harm to
ourselves and others.
This brokenness in human life and community
is an outcome of sin.
Yet evil does not—cannot—
undermine or overcome the love of God.
We are all imperfect humans. The good news as John saw it, was that there
was an opportunity for us all to reconnect with God, to let go of our guilt and
shame, and come into a dance with our creator.
The good news is that John saw it as an easy situation to remedy, and
something that everyone could do.
Everyone, not just the religious people who know all the right answers
and have memorized a bible verse for every occasion, or the people who are
always doing great things for the world, like Mother Theresa or Ghandi. The average people. The people that no one expected. The greedy misers who were accumulating stuff. The hated collaborators who were seen as
despicable traitors to their own people, and even the soldiers who were not
part of the community, but part of the system that was oppressing people in
daily annoyances and bullying. The
outsiders, the poor, the ones who had given up hope that they could ever
measure up.
The solution was simple:
Share what extra you have, even when it may seem insignificant. Even if you only have two coats, that is
something to rejoice about, and something you can be generous with. Share that you need extra if you don’t have
any coat at all. If you don’t tell
someone you need a coat, how will they know who to share that coat with? Sharing who you are, what you need and what
you have extra of. Simple. Don’t share if you don’t have abundance. The person with one coat is not told to give
it away.
Care. Care about
what your neighbor is going through.
Listen to their challenges, and don’t shame them for not having the
‘right’ faith or the ‘right’ solution to their problems. Give them a prayer shawl, perhaps, or at least
pray for them, but shovel their walks and bring them soup if that’s a
need. Be the shoulder they can cry on
without judgement or advice.
Last but not least, be fair. Don’t cheat your neighbor, your friend, or
your community. This seems easy at first
but what about those of us who cheat on our income tax, for example, or the
speed limit? Maybe we aren’t all
employees at Money Mart, but it could very well be that some of those extra
rolls of tape follow us home from the office on a regular basis. Or if someone undercharges us for groceries,
we pocket the extra and sneer at the person who miscalculated.
Rejoice and be glad, for it is a very simple thing to let
go of our shame and recognize God loves us even with our flaws. That is certainly news worth honking our
horns for!