Dangerous Stories

The Rev. Joseph Winston

January 10, 2010

3 15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were question-
L
UKE

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ing in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is
more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his
hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the
chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 And with many other words John ex-
horted the people and preached the good news to them. 19 But when John rebuked
Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil
things he had done, 20 Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
21
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized
and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon
him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son,
the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

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Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
We live in a world that is not safe for adults much less children. Yet, somehow
we must inform our little ones what the world wants to do to them. The method we
have traditionally warned our family about the way of the world is though stories.
We weave tales at appear on the surface to be nice and innocent but beneath there
is a current of terror waiting to be exposed.
You know the story about “Hansel and Gretel.” They are two small children
from a poor family where no one has enough to eat. Their father is a woodcutter
and it is his task to find a solution to the problem. One day he invites Hansel
and Gretel to go into the woods with him. Fearing for their lives, Hansel takes a
pocket full of pebbles with him. He then uses these tiny stones to find his way back
home after his father abandons the two of them in the woods. A second time, the
woodcutter takes his children to work but this time Hansel has no rocks. All that
he can find is a hard crust of bread. The trail of crumbs does not lead the children
home when their father leaves them to fend for themselves in the woods since
the animals have eaten every last morsel. Lost and hopeless, the children find a
gingerbread house. There the old woman captures the two children by luring them
inside with promises of food. Hansel is caged and Gretel becomes the woman’s
slave. Using their wits, they escape by killing the woman and taking her riches
back to their home where everyone lives happily ever after.
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3.

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 “Hansel and Gretel” is really trying to tell you that during the difficult times
of life parents sometime send their own children out into the dark woods to die.
Every once and a while, the tale turns around and the abandoned children save the
entire family. You realize that the first interpretation is true. You hear this story
repeated every year in the news when parents leave their own children all alone in
the cold world.
Then there is that other children’s story named, “Little Red Riding Hood.” It
is about a girl who takes a basket of goodies to her grandmother. On her way to
her grandmother’s house in the forest, she meets a wolf and tells him what she
plans to do. The wolf sees his opportunity. He rushes to granny’s house where he
captures the old lady and then eats her up. When the little girl finally arrives at her
grandmother’s house, the wolf takes advantage of the situation and he swallows
Little Red Riding Hood in a single bite.
This horrific tale nicely packaged up as “Little Red Riding Hood” reminds us
that there are wolves in this world that want to eat up girls. Unfortunately, you
know this fact. Far too often, terrible men take advantage of women and little
girls.
Tales that you might remember from your childhood are not the only stories
about dangerous situations that you know by heart. The Bible is full of accounts
on what the world wants from you. Israel’s oppression by Egypt reminds us that
the government will take advantage of you. Prophets like Amos tell you that un-
scrupulous people make their fortune by cheating others. Today’s Gospel lesson
gives you the cost of discipleship.

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 Evidently, this is a dangerous story that we would like to completely forget.
Look at the text before you in the “Celebrate” insert. Some committee somewhere
decided that you should not hear what happens with the Holy Spirit fills you (Luke
1:15). Missing from the assigned lesson for the day are verses eighteen, nineteen,
and twenty that say,

And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached
the good news to them. But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch
because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things
he had done, Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in
prison. (NRSV Luke 3:18-20)

You know what occurs when you leave out a key part of the story. It changes
what happens. Do not tell your audience about the father’s deliberate decision to
abandon his children in the woods and “Hansel and Gretel” turns into an account
of two lost children. Forget the wolf in “Red Riding Hood” and then you have a
nice tale of a girl helping out her grandmother. Omit John’s imprisonment and you
will not see what the world has in store for his cousin.
You have listened to the story that begins in Luke and continues in the “Acts of
the Apostles” so often that you know what is just around the corner. The powers
that be cannot stand Jesus or His message. They will take Him before Rome’s
local authority and charge Jesus three times with treason (Luke 23:2).
The world has never liked having anyone interfering with its version of the
story. It knows exactly how everything should happen. A few select people need

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to be at the top of the heap with the rest somewhere down at the bottom. Challenge
these basic assumptions and trouble occurs.
This happened to John. When he pointed out the problems with Herod’s mar-
riage, he paid with his life (Luke 3:19; 9:9). It did not matter how popular he was
(Luke 3:7). No one cared who his parents were (Luke 1:5).
Jesus did even more to upset the world. Start out with the fact that He as-
sociated with the enemy of the people. Rome’s awesome might needed financial
resources. One way to extract what the government requires is charging for the
privilege of living and working in the land. That was the Empire’s approach. They
used Jews to collect taxes from their fellow countrymen. The standard story is that
one does not deal with turncoats and if you do then you are punished. That did not
stop Jesus. Those people who aided and abetted the opposition were His friends.
He ate and drank with these men.
Next, Jesus had no regard for all the divisions that the world imposes on you.
In Christ’s day, women were second-class citizens and you also never associated
with the wrong sort of people. You know those bad attributes might rub off on you.
Jesus did not agree with what the world had to say. He talked with women that
walked the streets (Luke 7:37-50). He healed the sick and forgave sinners (Luke
7:22; 34). He gave them a new start in life, one where the boundaries between
people are completely erased. The world does not like to see this happen.
Up to this point in the story, Jesus is nothing more than a troublemaker. He
is only someone that needs to be dealt with through the proper use of persuasion.
What occurs next is the officially recorded charge against Him. Jesus pointed out

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to everyone who really is in charge of the world. It is not you nor I or even the
State. For this part in exposing the world’s story, He paid with His life. He knew
this would happen; it was part of the plan (Acts 2:23).
Sooner or later, everyone realizes what happens to those people who disagree
with the way of the world. They are killed. Frightened, we edit the stories that we
tell. Leave out a line here, skip a part from over there, and it does not take long
before we can justify complete silence on our part.
That is what has happened all over this country. Christians do not know the
story. We do not learn the Bible. We do not speak out against the powers of the
world. We do not share the Good News with others. What happens is just as pre-
dictable. The majority of this nation does not know God. No one has told them
about Jesus. You can hear it in just about every story we tell.
There is no way for you to stop the story that Jesus died for your sins from
spreading (Luke 3:8b). Listen to what you already know as true. Keeping John
the Baptizer in jail did not prevent Jesus from starting His ministry among us.
Finding Jesus guilty of treason did not stop the message. He continued to speak
the Word of forgiveness (Luke 23:34a). Killing Jesus on the cross did not diminish
the importance of His Word.
At Pentecost, God sent the Holy Spirit to the one hundred and twenty members
of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 1:15; 2:4). That is the same gift He gave to John
the Baptizer (Luke 1:15), Elizabeth (Luke 1:41), Zachariah (Luke 1:61), Simeon
(Luke 2:25), and Jesus (Luke 3:22). The Spirit moved these men and women into
the world. On Pentecost, God added about five thousand more believers (Acts

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4:4). From there they moved out into the land of Judea, into the Samaritans, and
finally to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
God gave you the same gift as all these others. At your baptism, God sent you
the Holy Spirit. Through thick and then, the Holy Spirit remains with you. God
is working through you so that His will may be done. He wants the message of
Christ’s life, death, and resurrection told to everyone so that they may live forever.
You know all the stories. You have heard them your entire life. They speak of
children who are not wanted. They tell of abuse. They make you want to cry for
you know the truth. The world will eat you up and then spit you out.
Christ has come to you and He has given you another story to tell. In His
account, everyone is loved and no one is hurt. That is the truth.
“The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”2

2
Philippians 4:7.