Will the real Messiah please stand up!

Summary

I have been resisting this passage. I’ve been resisting this passage because we’ve done repentance and I didn’t want to do it again. In fact, last weekend I was together with some friends and they asked about my next sermon, and I told them I had drawn John the Baptist again and then I actually said, “but I’m not doing repentance this time.” I thought maybe we would take this passage in a different direction- and there are a lot of directions to go. Because we have done repentance.

I’ve also been resisting this passage because I don’t want to talk about winnowing and unquenchable fire. And I’m guessing you might not either. These types of images trigger all kinds of unpleasant connections- for some of us they trigger church going experiences from our past, or unresolved questions we still hold about faith, and certainly fear-inducing messages we hear from Christianity throughout our culture. I would really rather not talk about that.