Get Your Act Together

“You brood of vipers!” he says. You think everything is going to be good for you, that you are “saved?” That whole concept in the evangelical churches, are you saved? do you love Jesus? Do you have him in your heart - kind of thing.

Vipers are, for no better description, snakes. They have been around since the beginning, whether you believed in the Garden of Eden where snakes seem to have power, or the fact that 66 million years ago the earth was a happy home for snakes, because by digging holes in the soil and squirming in, they survived the colossal asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. In that massive disaster that killed off 76 per cent of all plant and animal life, snakes manage to survive because they knew how to dig down and hide in the underground. Plus, they didn’t need to have food every day.  Meanwhile since the earth’s earliest animals were wiped away, the sneaky, slimy, venomous, scary serpents danced around under the ground until they needed to rise and get a breath of fresh air. They slid around the earth’s soil for a break and settle in pleasant places, for them. Snakes, alas, are on every continent except Antarctica - where it’s just flat too cold. But as the earth became what it is today, there was the time snakes survived be they tree snakes, venomous vipers and cobras, pythons, and boas and surely those dangerous poison snakes that crawl into our yard when the weather gets hot. Of course, my husband has the venom to knock them dead, so they won’t by chance zap one of our dogs. Snakes are not friendly. It disturbs me when snake handlers in those funky faith people twist and turn their bodies to show that God believes in them more than the snake. But I don’t think that was ever the call of God, to mess with snakes.

God often called down to specific prophets recorded in the Old Testament. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah, a priest at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.  “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Then the lord touched his mouth and said “I have put my words in your mouth. Today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” There was no doubt what God intended to do using Jeremiah.

Then the Lord spoke through Hosea, a minor prophet, and told him to go marry a promiscuous woman and have children, So He did while God was irritated at Israel and was not going to show love to them any longer. But he did, in a way.

Then the word of the Lord came to minor prophet Joel to warn all people a natural disaster was in the works, one threatening their very existence, all to call his people back to himself. He sent an invasion of Locusts.

Most of know about Jonah. The word of the Lord came to him and told him to go preach against the wickedness of Nineveh. Jonah, instead, fled to a boat as the sea became rougher and rougher, frightening so, and he wouldn’t jump into the sea to stop it. The crew tried to throw him into the sea, but the God threw Jonah overboard so the sea would grow calm, and the other sailors would not drown. The result being the sailors decided the Lord was great.

The word of God also came to prophet Zephaniah, threatening to sweep away everything from the face of the earth. And then when angry as He could be, the word of God came to another minor prophet, Zechariah as well and insisted that, while almost everyone was corrupt, much like today, when people think they are Christians yet do evil things, his ancestors return to Him and then He would return to Zechariah. God has tried to get the attention of His people, of all people, for centuries. Few paid attentions.

And then we have John the Baptist who had chosen to live as simply, as basically as possible in the wilderness, not worrying about dressing fancy or militarily.  As best I can tell, it was John the Baptist who created the idea of baptism by water by dumping in a river.  He yelled out to the crowds that came to him for baptism that fleeing from the wrath to come was a waste of one’s energy. But on the other hand, getting baptized was a way, but not everything. In fact, men and women need to “bear fruits worthy of repentance”. In other words, ask for pardon, and turn one’s life around to do good things and help others.

Just because they all somehow came from the line of Abraham didn’t mean someone was automatically a good person. That wasn’t the key to open the door to eternity. It was all about the heart and soul, and how man treated man. If anyone was willing to be baptized with blessed water, to be cleansed of sin, to be willing to re-start his or her life and care about others who suffer and starve and are sick, then baptism had a purpose. The example would be sharing your coats, sharing your food, sharing your concern and love with those who suffer and have nothing. So impressed were many of them with the idea of baptism with John, that even Tax collectors came to be baptized, and soldiers, and those dealing with money who may have skimmed things off the top now and then. Getting baptized was not just cleaning up the past - it was controlling the future, so, hopefully, one didn’t return to the habits of old. Baptism came from the heart and soul of John the Baptist.

John’s task was to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, which would be God’s only Son. John knew this before it happened.  His prophecy was for the whole giant empire of the time - the reign of Tiberius Caesar. Apparently, John was already living in the wilderness. Why and how he got there, we don’t know. What drew him to such a stringent and lonely life, we don’t know. But I guess he was building strength and courage to be able to open the doors and gates and minds of people to get ready for the coming of the Messiah. Although probably many didn’t pay attention nor believe him, but the truth was that his message was for everyone, not just a chosen few who happened to be “religious.” John had to challenge not only the common people of God, but also the corrupt rulers who thought they were gods and answered to nobody but themselves. He lived to see God’s Son on earth and had the honor of baptizing Him in the waters of the Jordan. But it cost him his head. May we never forget that sacrifice.

 ~ Rev
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