In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins… (Luke 3:1-3)

The word of God came to a very specific person in a very particular time and place. Those details matter, just as the details and particularities of each and every one of our stories matter. God doesn’t wait for us to be ready.The word of God comes to us, here, today, in the 2nd term of the Trump administration, when Kathy Hochul was governor of New York, and Yaheil Curry was the Presiding Bishop. When we are preoccupied with too much to do, distracted by worries about how we will survive economic uncertainties and never-ending gun violence and the growing divide between political parties and what the future will hold. When we wonder, like the crowds who flocked to hear John the Baptist 2,000 years ago, “What, then, should we do?”
What should we do? This is a question from people who feel out of options, who are desperate for something to change, not people who are content with the status quo.

And John’s answer is repent. Repentance isn’t about making ourselves acceptable to God. It’s about accepting God’s unconditional love for us. It’s about believing God sent God’s Son to save us, because we cannot save ourselves.

In other words, stop living as though we have to save ourselves. Stop hoarding extra coats and extra food. Stop scheming to get more than your fair share. Share now. Be merciful now. Do justice now.

John tells the crowds, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I is coming…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). We have received that baptism. We live – and love – by the power of the Spirit, while the world tempts us to believe in our own power. With this baptism, we are called to join with John to proclaim the good news of the word of God.

Friends, joined with Christ in baptism, we remember that his mission is our mission:

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me
    because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
    to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and release to the prisoners. (Isaiah 61:1)

As we wait for the One who was and who is and who is to come, we bring the word of God to the people of today’s world who need to know their Savior has come.