Advent Devotional by Charles Smith

Matthew 3:1-12

7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruit worthy of repentance. ….Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

A new season of Advent is upon us. A season in which we wait with expectation for the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, who comes in wrath and throws the carcasses of trees into the fire. The One who holds his winnowing-fork in his hand and burns refuse and chaff in an unquenchable fire. Wait, what? Wrath? Unquenchable fire? That’s not in the Charlie Brown special.

I turned to our High School students for guidance. “Out of the mouths of babes…” and all that (don’t tell them I said that). I asked them for insights on a few questions I had.

Question: Brood of vipers is a harsh way to greet people right? “Who warned you to flee?!” is quite the introduction. Why would they even come to John?

Students: They’re coming to repent; they don’t want to live that way anymore.

Question: John says baptism by fire is next, by one who is far greater than he is. He already seems pretty mad at them (again, vipers). Hearing that has to make them afraid of the fire to come right?

Students: Is fire always a bad thing? Like a wildfire: it can be devastating, but if it’s controlled and contained, it can also burn away dead and decaying things. If it’s the Holy Spirit coming with the fire, that’s a good sign.

Question: What about the wheat and the chaff? Separating good people and bad people and throwing bad people into an unquenchable fire isn’t very Christmas-y.

Students: Maybe the wheat can mean the parts of ourselves that help us grow and flourish and the chaff could be the parts of ourselves that choke away hope and cause us to wither.

I like these perspectives. Yes, fire can be a good thing, a renewing thing. When we truly repent, God shows us what needs to be scorched from our lives, the chaff, the husks that suffocate us and inhibit us from being the people God calls us to be. Through fire, the Holy Spirit purifies us and offers renewed life, free of decay.

This Advent, may we turn this unquenchable fire inward, lighting our threshing-floors, helping us see what brings joy to our lives, and what needs to be winnowed. A ceaseless fire, like the eternal flame atop the WWI Memorial, can be a beacon of hope and a sign of peace to come. Let us bask in the glow of this unquenchable fire, this continual renewing, and bear fruit worthy of repentance.

Charles Smith