The Rule of Arrogance

The Rule of Arrogance

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 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. 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." [Luke 3: 10-20]

“So, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.” Here endeth the reading! If this is the “good news” we shudder to think what the bad news may be. But of course, like the people who fled Jerusalem and all the surrounding countryside to hear John preach, we already know what the bad news looks like. We see it, hear it and live it every day.

For John and his followers, it was what they at the time called “The Rule of Arrogance.” According to Richard Swanson [Provoking the Gospel of Luke, p 68] this is what the people of Israel called life under Roman Rule. It included, as John goes on to say, the attachment to and hoarding of wealth and possessions, collecting more than required by Roman appointed tax collectors, and extortion, bullying and even death by Roman soldiers.

John calls all to repent – a technical term meaning quite simply to turn one’s life around. It implies a kind of withdrawal from the dominant culture and re-turning to “the Way of he Lord.” It suggests that we all do as John has done – return to the wilderness where, over forty years, the people of God learned that for life in the greater community to flourish, those with more food and clothing than necessary must share it with others who do not. For Jewish faith, poverty is a sign of greed, something which the Lord does not approve. Tax collectors were considered traitors working for Rome. How amazing that they come to John to repent and be baptized! He says they can join the resistance to the Rule of Arrogance and still collect the tax, but to do no more than the Roman’s tell you to do. Not a thing more. Even more amazing is that soldiers come to John. He tells those who “carry disruptive power in their weapons and social position something very simple, ‘Do not use your power to injure.’” [Swanson p 67-68]

That is, as we await the coming of one who is “more powerful than I,” says John, we need to turn back or re-turn to ethical behavior. This, along with the teaching of the “one whose sandal I cannot untie” will bring the Rule of Arrogance to a halt. Not revolution. Not a return to a monarchy. As we turn back to the Way of the Lord we hasten the arrival of the One who will baptize you with Spirit and Fire – with holy Wind and Fire – to refine us and purify us once again.

Buried amongst the eschatological rhetoric of John’s preaching is a warning: Do not presume your religious heritage, whatever it may be, will protect you from the “wrath to come.” Do not say, “But we are sons and daughters of Abraham,” or “We are followers of Christ, or Buddha, or Socrates, or Zeus!” Just as God formed a people in the wilderness long ago, our God is able from mere stones to raise up a new people. God has done it before. God can do it again, and now is the time to let yourself turn and be made such a new people.

For Luke, the power of God, already enacted in the miraculous births of John the Baptist and of

Jesus, here serves to remind the people that they exist only as a direct result of God’s will. Forgetting this can only lead to even more Rule of Arrogance and a world that destroys itself with “unquenchable fire.” Today, even the forests themselves issue such a warning.

Amidst all the shopping for gifts, wrapping of gifts, lights strung every-which-where, the holly, jolly tunes of the season, baking of cookies and all the activities that typically mark the Advent Season comes John’s good news, which can sound like bad news, until one embraces it, lives it and discovers what truly good good news it is. All this turning will be hard work. But it is the kind of work that will turn the world right-side-up once again.

Luke reminds us at the end that this turning of our lives comes with a cost: “So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.” It turns out that John the Baptist and Jesus have one more experience in common. Both are rejected for their proclamation. The One whose coming Advent anticipates is also the One the world and the Rule of Arrogance continues to reject.

Bad news, bad news comes to us where we sleep

Turn, turn, turn again

Sayin' that this world of ours is in trouble deep

Turn, turn to the Son and the Wind

Walk with Jesus wherever you may be

Turn, turn, turn again

May he find good fruit growing on your tree

Turn,  turn to the Son and the Wind

Walk with Jesus wherever you may go

Turn, turn, turn again

Bear good fruit with the seeds that he sows

Turn, turn to the Son and the Wind

My ax is set to the root of your tree

Turn, turn, turn again

Turn back to me and let yourself be free

Turn, turn to the Son and the Rain

“And it's a hard, and it's a hard,

it's a hard, it's a hard

And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall”

Good news, good news comes to us today

Turn, turn, turn again

Jesus is coming to lead us in The Way

Turn, turn to the Son and the Wind

What should do we as we wait for him to come

Turn, turn, turn again

Share what you have with those who have none

Turn, turn to the Son and the Wind

-Anon Two Sisters, Paul Clayton, Bob Dylan for the tune and structure of Percy’s Song

Walk With Jesus

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