Matthew 3: 7-12/ Where is YOUR Fruit?

Morning!

Greetings from Nicole.

Now, on to the ministry of John the Baptist.

In these verses, John offers a stern warning to the Pharisees and Sadducees that have come to hear him preach. He counsels that " You brood of vipers. Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." He then goes further in is warning proclaiming that "the ax is at the root and any tree that does not produce fruit will be thrown into the fire."

Now this is a rough word for the religious elite. And yet, John is communicating that he has grown tired of their static and wants to see THEIR FRUIT.

Now, I admit that the idea of "church leader" or "church elders" has become a bit ambiguous for me. Ain't that 'spose to be ALL OF US?

Moreover, as I keep on living, I myself am less and less inclined to beat up "church leaders" (though, yes I slip at times...sigh). What spawned my turn around, you ask: The recognition that folks are praying and cutting grass and sending cards and sitting beside hospital beds and writing checks and paying rent and feeding folks and bailing folks out of jail and counseling politicians and doing all manner of stuff that I have no knowledge of AND HAVE BEEN DOING SO FOR YEARS!!!...while I...me...Nicole...am in the bed sleep, chillin', surfin' on the Internet, tippin' around looking cute and doin' nothin'. So, i'm gon' try to be real careful about commenting on folks' public witness, when I don't know what all they do in private.

I was at the Hampton Minister's Conference in Hampton, Virginia this summer and shared the lunch table with a sister I didn't know. As it would happen, this sister was going on and on about the leadership on the platform mumblin' and insinuating stuff about who they were, how they lived etc.,. I REALLY wasn't interested in it and was glad I was away from the table for much of her diatribe.

So I then asked her had she attended any of the other sessions and she said " Oh, girl...uh... no... I'm not exactly...uh...registered..., but, I'm just here reaping in the overflow as she fiddled nervously with her shirt button. Now what was interesting is that she didn't have any problem complaining about the officiants of a conference that she snuck in to attend!!! And had those church leaders she was critical of been hard on the door about letting folks in, she wouldn't have been up in there "reapin" at all.

Again, I just mention this to have us be mindful of our criticisms while forgetting some of what the church elders have done for us in the past...sigh...a self rebuke indeed...

Anyway, in returning to the text, the text really got next to me. As an educator, I am equally challenged to think about MY TALK versus MY FRUIT. Am I working to educate and mentor good strong capable young people as a professor...or am I just feeling accomplished and running my classes like my students should be kissing my ring because I'm fabulous? And am I using my opportunity on panels and during presentations to sit swollen with self importance...or to bring a life-changing, life-affirming word to those I encounter?

Here, in this text, John reminds us that folks should be changed for the better for having met us---if we are to be of real use to the kingdom. He then describes Christ as "having a winnowing fork gathering the wheat unto himself and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Thus John's challenge to the Pharisees and Sadducees previews Christs ministry of healing, changing lives, embracing the marginalized, addressing sin in our lives and speaking truth to power.

So, the question remains: Are folks better off, changed, encouraged, empowered for having encountered YOU?

Be well today!

---Nicole