Freedom, Oppression and the Power of the Children of God: An Advent Sermon

The Rev. Lynn Oldham Robinett
Assistant Rector

Take a minute right now and think about the image you have in your mind of John the Baptist. How do you picture him? If you're like me and you get your images from books and movies, then you may picture John with scraggly shoulder length hair, a full beard and mustache, and very dirty clothes. As I thought of his image while planning for this sermon, the image of another young man kept popping into my mind. Another young man named John with scraggly shoulder length hair, a full beard and mustache, and very dirty clothes. Most of you have probably seen his picture in the newspapers and on T.V. a lot this week. I'm talking of course of Marin County's most infamous son of the moment, John Walker. The 20 year old who was a member of the Taliban forces and whose actions and fate are the topic of many a conversation.

It's been incredible for me to think of this man who hails from the town in which I recently lived. Like many of you, I imagine, I have read everything in the newspaper that has been written in recent days about John Walker. I've read about how those who know him think of him as a quiet, sweet boy whose yearnings for faith led him to become a Muslim and later to study in the Middle East to deepen his knowledge and understanding of his faith. And we all know what happened next. His faith became perverted into a belief that there was only one true way of believing and that all who opposed that way should die. It's sad, but until John Walker entered the picture, I didn't think much about those who made up the Taliban. In my mind they were always members of an antiquated, fanatical sect of Islam that was so far removed from my life as to be the same as the "Evil Empire" in the movie Star Wars. Oppression was the name of their game, in the name of God, and many individuals who might be described as shy and sweet believed in it wholeheartedly.

I have no doubt that John Walker believed, and probably still believes in the righteousness and sanctity of the Taliban. But his beliefs come from a great misuse of the Koran. Rather than seeing their Holy Scripture as a way to guide and enlighten people and free them from their sins, the Taliban used it to oppress people into submission. As if God can be limited in such a way. The John found in the wilderness of Afghanistan may at first glance appear to me to be similar in appearance to how John the Baptist may have looked, but the similarities end with appearances. John the Baptist believed also in a new way of living, but it was a way of freedom, not oppression.

John was out in the desert baptizing people, offering them an opportunity for a renewed life. He told them only that the kingdom of heaven had drawn near, and that there was one coming after him who was much greater than he. He was waiting. He was there to proclaim God's glory for all who were willing. Yet he also wanted the people to know that he was not their Messiah. He was an arrow pointing the way. A beacon shining in the darkness, showing the path to the light. John was a witness to Jesus. He did not baptize people so that they might believe in his own great being, but so that they might be ready for the coming of the kingdom of heaven.

John lived his life in expectation of an event that was to happen in the future. He spent his entire life getting ready for one who came after him, and whose ministry he would not even see fulfilled. That future event was Jesus Christ. John's vision began with accountability, with the belief that all who wished to experience the kingdom of God had to hold themselves accountable for their way of life and their actions. John offered a cleansing of sins to those who asked for it, and a rebuke to those who refused, but that is as far as he went. The rest he believed would come later. And so he waited. He waited for the one who was yet to come.

Today is the second Sunday in Advent, and we too are in a season of expectation. We also are awaiting the birth of our savior. But how are we waiting? Are we waiting like John, alive and awake, proclaiming the joy of the future event about to occur? Or are we asleep, going through the motions of putting up a tree and shopping for gifts just waiting for the Christmas madness to go away? It's easy to dismiss John as being far different from ourselves because of his eccentric and disciplined lifestyle, but I believe then we miss the point. John was chosen by God before his birth, to prepare the path for Jesus. We also have been chosen by God, because God was present for our creation. Our parents may believe that they were the key instruments in our coming-to-being, but God played an even larger role, creating us to be God's creatures, filling our souls with God's spirit. John recognized this fact from birth. We though, I think, have a harder time with it. Often it is a lot easier for us to believe that we are products of our environment so that we only have to live up to our human expectations and not the ones God might have for us. Since we can't see God we can always claim that we don't know what God's expectations are. But I would venture that deep down we do. John did, and he also was a human being like us.

A few years ago, I received a newsletter that had the following excerpt from Nelson Mandela's inaugural address when he was sworn in as the President of South Africa. Some of you may have heard it before. If you haven't, close your eyes and listen.