January 1: The First Sunday after Christmas Day
As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. –Luke 3:15-18
In case the people listening to John’s preaching had any doubts as to whether John was The One, John tells them, “Look, Guys, The One who is coming? I’m not even worthy to bend over and unfasten his sandal!” He tells them that his baptism is just water, but the Christ will baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Throughout Scripture fire represents judgment and refinement. Jesus’s baptism judges you in the sense that you emerge refined and acceptable. He removes all your dross (everything foreign, base, and impure), and gives you His purity in exchange. When you by faith embrace Christ, you can be no purer.
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply.
The flame shall not hurt thee, I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit purifies and empowers. The Spirit opens your eyes to the gospel and gives you the ability the to repent. If you’re like me, you want to do better. You want to live righteously. You want to do justice and mercy. Well, you want to want to, right? This is the good news for us: baptism by the Holy Spirit and with fire means you are changed from the inside out. It’s not your work. It’s His.
Sometimes I’m tempted to despair because I see my sinfulness. I know the emotional and relational baggage I carry around, and I think, “When? When is God going to change me?” Friends, it’s happening right now. NOW the ax is laid at the root. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and He is clearing the threshing floor. He is right now taking that big pitchfork, tossing the wheat up into the air, and letting the chaff blow away.
The winnowing fork that John is talking about is the same as the one in our day. It’s not some futuristic, final days tool He’s going to whip out later on after you and I are dead. The winnowing fork is the preaching of the Gospel. Whenever the gospel is preached, Christ is purifying you by the Holy Spirit.
When you sit in church on Sunday morning and you hear me entreat God to make my faltering words work on us, this is exactly what we are asking for. We are asking Him to use the good news of Christ to separate us from the impurities of our sin nature. We are asking Him to make us into people who call good what He calls good, to call true what He calls true, to want what He wants, to love what is lovely, and to hate what He hates.
Let’s face it. We treat our participation in corporate worship cavalierly. The preacher stands in the pulpit and says that hearing the Gospel by faith will change our lives, and we wink at each other like someone just mentioned Santa Claus coming down the chimney. We’re hard core materialists who believe that acacia rigidula, Doctor Phil’s or Joel’s latest book, and a five day a week yoga plan will accomplish more change in our lives than Christ’s coming to baptize with the Spirit and with fire. But even in this, we are wrong. Even in this we need Christ to purify us and grant us faith to believe that what He has promised, He has accomplished on our behalf, and He is changing us now.
And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
As with Gladness Men of Old
Angels from the Realms of Glory
Good Christian Men, Rejoice
NEW YEAR’S DAY WORSHIP SERVICE
We will have worship at the usual time (10:30) on January 1, but there will be no Sunday school that day.
MEN’S PRAYER BREAKFAST/GODLY MANHOOD AND HUSBANDRY
The next Men’s Prayer Breakfast is Saturday, January 7. The reading will be pages 67-89. We have more books available if you need one.
Visitors are always welcome!