Hi everyone,
Welcome to worship for this 2nd Sunday of Advent, landing on December 7, 2025!
The bulletin for this service can be found here. You can use it to follow along with the service or just use the words on the screen. The sermon manuscript can be found in both the bulletin and on this page below the video.
For an enhanced online worship experience, you are invited to have a candle in your space, lit at the beginning of the service and then extinguished near the end after the sending hymn when the altar candles are extinguished. You are also welcome to participate in communion if you are comfortable, by having something small to eat and drink prepared for consumption. Further instruction will be given at the appropriate time.
May God’s unending hope and peace lead you the joy in seeing and feeling the love of Christ!
By the truth of your Word, O Lord, may our ears be opened to hear your voice. By the presence of your Spirit may our eyes learn to see you in the world. And by the power of your love, may our hearts soften to feel you, be led by you, and know you as our shepherd and guide, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
So I was late for my dentist appointment the other day, and let me tell ya, nothing stresses me out more. I got there safely, thankfully, but let’s just say I was trying to drive as, uh, efficiently as possible because I hate being late for anything. And whenever I’m as late as I was and feeling the stress that I was feeling, of course traffic would be especially bad, of course the roads would be especially congested, and of course all the other drivers would be especially slow, especially oblivious to how they’re in my way, and especially annoying as heck.
I know, I’m driving this giant beast of a car that isn’t really built for speed or defensive driving, so it’s not exactly conducive for effectively getting around traffic. And I understand that being late isn’t the end of the world so there’s no need to get as flustered as I was. And I admit that the only reason I was running late was because I remembered my appointment wrong and thought it was for 30 minutes after what it actually was for.
So all those people on the road in front of me, you know, those driving with due care and attention and maintaining appropriate speeds for the conditions, were doing nothing to help me get to my destination any quicker. And that is so typical, isn’t it? Like I totally knew that this would happen before I even started the car. I anticipated the abundance of these others that would appear on my way and in my way and just blocking my way. I almost expected to feel frustrated with those who will inevitably be completely unaware of my situation, my need to move quicker, my feelings around something that is totally my own fault.
Having said that, as I mentioned a few weeks ago I’m really a road rage monster or anything, but I’m actually very pleasant and courteous on the road. Like I would never yell expletives at anyone, not audibly at least. Nor would I make any rude gestures in their direction, not outside of my mind or in the sight line from my windows, anyway. I barely ever even honk my horn unless it is absolutely necessary to inform the other driver that where their car is and where my car is are about to be the same place. I can give a pretty mean side-eye though.
So while again I admit that it was my own fault for being late, while I cognitively know that the others on the road aren’t purposely getting in my way or intentionally inconveniencing me specifically, while I am fully aware that I’m subconsciously making this mountain out of a mole hill, I continue to hold the other drivers with contempt, I continue to feel frustrated with them, I continue to see them as lesser and not as good as me.
I know, this makes no logical sense. I even got to my destination at the exact time that my GPS said I would. So unless Google can magically predict that guy in front of me taking forever to wait for those pedestrians to cross the street before turning and getting out of my way, all those thoughts I had were really just in my head. I had no real quantifiable reason to feel that anger, indignation, and even offense at their very oblivious incompetence and complete ignorance around what a proper flow of traffic should look like. And while I said that I might not react in an outwardly obvious way, there are times when it takes my all to not just yell, “you brood of vipers! Who the heck taught you how to drive?”
I know, these aren’t the exact words of John the baptizer that we get in our gospel lesson for today, but I think he might understand those feelings of indignation that I just described. Not around being late or inconvenienced or having to navigate through heavy traffic in rainy and wet conditions, but around seeing the improper and possibly detrimental actions and attitudes of others. In understanding how certain situations are shaping out in ways that are less than ideal due to the fault of others. In predetermining outcomes and conclusions and labelling and pinpointing our enemy as those others.
I mean when we look at how the story is described to us, it doesn’t look like the Pharisees did anything to set John off the way he was set off. There was no reason for them to be called a brood of vipers. There was no reason for him to question their desire to be baptised. Nothing in this portion of the story, at least. But we can gather from the tidbits we get from the other stories and passages that maybe they aren’t the right kind of candidate for baptism that we, or apparently John, would have imagined or even expect.
And so, we might be able to understand John’s distaste. We might get his frustration. We might even want to join in on the finger-pointing, the scapegoating, the othering of those who aren’t like us, don’t see the world like us, or maybe even perceived to be harming us in some way. We might want to make them our enemies too.
John even qualifies his assertations and stereotypes of them by describing how they aren’t bearing good fruit in their actions and attitudes, how they assume that just because they’re Abraham’s descendants that they’re good, and how his baptism is about repentance and so they’re clearly not it.
Again, this passage doesn’t say much about what they did other than go to the river to be baptized, which was kind of the trend of the time. But we know enough about these Pharisees that we can fill in the blanks. We read enough about what they’re about to see that they’re just doing this for show and for the clicks and likes. We have enough evidence to draw from that we can confidently conclude that they’re religious hypocrites. They’re pompous, arrogant, and entitled. They think they’re better, smarter, and more worthy. They don’t fit the mold, they don’t get it right, they aren’t worthy of repentance. And they’d probably be bad drivers too, for crying out loud.
But then, doesn’t that kind of sound like us? Minus the bad driver part, of course.
John says that his baptism is for repentance, yes, and maybe the Pharisees aren’t a good fit for that. But John also acknowledges that there is a new thing coming. There is a new baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. There is a new way to see, to react, to be together in community with each other and God.
See, while John’s repentance was about changing the self to be better and more obedient to the law, this new baptism that is coming is about being changed by the Spirit.
While John’s baptism says, “do better,” this new baptism and says, “be made new.”
John’s wisdom says, “act right,” this new incarnate wisdom says “become righteous through grace.”
John’s philosophy was essentially to take a bath to scrub off some of dirt, but this new paradigm offers a transformation that removes the perception that you are defined by the dirt.
John knows the old ways and sees how the One who is to come will make them new.
John understands the expectations of righteousness but realises that the God with us is how we are truly transformed.
John gets the limitations of his baptism, and recognises that we need Jesus to save us.
See John exposes what is wrong. Jesus forgives it with grace and love.
John prepares the way. Jesus walks with us along the way.
John points out our brokenness. Jesus heals us and reconciles us.
John encourages repentance and a turning around in our actions and attitudes. Jesus changes us and leads us to peace.
A peace in belonging. A peace that brings us together in spite of difference and diversity and division. A peace that allows the wolf to live with the lamb, the calf to feed with the lion, the natural enemies to be together, relate to one another, and even drive on the same roads with each other.
This is the peace that is brought by Jesus. This is the peace we look forward to in this season that leads to Christmas. This is the peace that is for us all, calling us, reconciling us, and revealing to us how we all belong to this brood of vipers but the Christ child chooses to play with us anyway.
So on this 2nd Sunday of Advent, may this peace bring understanding over our assumptions. May this peace speak truth in our anger and frustration. May this peace transform us to listen, relate, and love. Thanks be to God. Amen.
