A Poem a Sunday

Advent III – C

December 16, 2018

St. Luke 3:7-18 - NRSV

7 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? 8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”

15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,[a] 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but 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[b] the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Footnotes:

1. Luke 3:15 Or the Christ
2. Luke 3:16 Or in

A Poem a Sunday

Advent III – C

What should we do?

Why should Nicene

be Truth for all time?

What if Arius

would have won?

We’d be confessing

Christ

as God’s

adopted Son.

Theism is dead.

It died with the

three-story-universe

and instead

we are evolving

from the

Ground of our Being

in which we live and move.

And yet, the Church

keeps its

three-story-universal

Creeds

and before

fourth-century dogma

bends her knees.

Why is ‘It’

Truth for all time?

At its day

it had its sway

but now?

We are caught

in dogmatic

cul-de-sacs

but God is calling

us out.

What should we do,

J. B.?

Remain in the Temple,

or follow you

into the wilderness

for re-formation

and encounters

with the wild

God never

confined by

Creeds

or

space

or

time?

What then should we do?

Copyright @2018 by Rev. Kenn Storck

May be used with permission

Contact:  kennstorck@gmail.com