Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

You heard the one about the preacher who stood before the congregation and announced, “I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.” The congregation answered, “Tell us the good news first!” To which the preacher responded, “Jesus is coming very soon.” The congregation answered, “That’s great news for us people, but what then is the bad news?” The preacher declared, “Jesus is coming, and, Man o Man is he peaved!” This joke is enough to give anyone pause to consider one’s own status before God.

Last week we heard the prophet Malachi prophesy,

Indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? (Malachi 3:1b-2)

Today we hear a different prophet from a different time, strike a more positive note.

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall fear disaster no more. (Zephaniah 3:14-15)

I used to think that statements like this were promises that there would no longer be disasters. Then I realized that was wrong. Then I decided it meant if I were a good boy the disasters would not come at me. Then I realized that wasn’t true. Then I decided that such declarations were nonsense. Finally, I read the text. “You shall fear disaster no more.” Oh, now I get it! I won’t fear disaster. My life will no longer be dominated by my fear and the constant anxiety that something could (read: probably will) go wrong.
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The song we sang from Isaiah sounds similar.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 12:6)

But by the time we get to John the Baptizer we hear a more foreboding message.

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Luke 3:7)

Coming from the high plains of Texas where grass fires are common, this picture makes me think of the rattlesnakes that move through the fields when they catch fire. If you are running too, watch your step: the snakes are on the run also!

Then we hear Paul’s words to the Philippians.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:4-5)

So which one is it? Doom and gloom or joy and celebration? Jesus is coming but, Man, he is angry!

The answer seems to lie in the heart of the one who faces the question. It seems that we human beings stand constantly under the threat of judgment. It doesn’t take much to evoke such conditions. Students are taking finals. They worry about their grades which are judgments about their status in school and perhaps about their future status in society.

Other examples could include employees living in these uncertain economic times and face the prospect of job loss. It takes powerful reasoning to avoid the thought that the loss of a job is a judgment against one’s being. Athletes go out on the field wondering whether they will catch that pass or run the ball to the goal line. Or in baseball, will they strike out or will they hit a home run?

Is it any wonder that in our worst historical periods we suspect that disaster is a judgment, a condemnation from God? Such anxiety can run high, making it very difficult not to succumb to its power. It is the anxiety of life that brings us to temptation, the temptation to live in terms of self-preservation without regard to the well-being of others.

But the proclamation from John the Baptizer warns against such a fateful disposition. In one paragraph John paints the existential position of those who trust in God and are coming to know God as the promised and promising One. John asks, the crowd, “Who warned you to flee the wrath to come.” (Luke 3:7) But John seems to be concerned with the people’s thinking that as long as they belong to the right group, they are safe from judgment. They see themselves as children of Abraham, an elite class who can expect special treatment. John scoffs at such thinking, saying that God can make children of Abraham from the stones. They are a dime a dozen.

John then declares the ethical standards by which judgment comes our way. It won’t matter if you are a Rice graduate or a UT graduate, or Baylor graduate or an Aggie. Here is what matters: that you clothe the naked, that civil workers do their work properly and that soldiers defend their people and not prey on them. John is preaching to a diverse group, none of whom can claim elite status before God.

Now here is the evangelical point. We have no status before God as Jew or Gentile, as rich or poor, as male or female, homosexual or heterosexual. We will be judged by our love of God and neighbor. That is why faith proclaims the one thing that is needed, and that one thing is the gift of the Spirit, the only force that can drive us to relinquish our self-serving anxiety by trusting in the God who is in our midst.

One who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Luke 3:16b)

Dear congregation, Jesus is coming and, oh, how he loves. His is a love that soothes the neighbor’s suffering and confounds those who ignore the plight of the world.

We will not be saved by our good works, but we continue to live under the demand that we produce good works that are worthy of our turning to God. The freedom that comes to us in faith is a freedom from the anxiety that resides in our fear of judgment—Jesus is coming! That freedom comes in the spontaneous response to the proclamation that God is already near. Judgment will not be according to pedigree, but according to the example set forth in the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. It is in Jesus that we can take heart, have hope and know the joy of life intended from the beginning.

This is what Paul means when he writes from his hard imprisonment to the Christians living in Philippi.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Amen.