WWJtBD

Have most of you seen the bracelets and mementos that say WWJD? I don’t think they’re quite the rage they were a few years ago, but they’re still around. Young people, mostly, wore them as bracelets or necklaces. Usually they are strung with beads or small blocks with the letters WWJD. As I understand it, part of the point is to be obscure. The point is to provoke someone into asking what the letters stand for so that you can respond. The letters WWJD stand for What Would Jesus Do. So the bracelet or necklace is both a statement of faith and a source of evangelism. It is a statement by the wearer that she seeks in her own life to understand and presumably follow what Jesus would do in any situation. But it is also an invitation to talk about Jesus and Jesus’ will with others and to share a commitment to the Christian faith. At least that’s the theory. I am reminded of the MIA bracelets that were popular when I was in junior high school during the Viet Nam war. They were as much a fad as they were symbols of any particular conviction in the midst of a war that was very distant for most of us. And yet, in both cases, the end result was good, wasn’t it? Even if both were mostly fads, thank God some fads are based on compassion for the victims of war or on a commitment to Christian moral decision-making and evangelism.

WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? I don’t have a WWJD bracelet. And although overall I think anything that gets young people (or old people) thinking about and talking about Jesus is a good thing, I really don’t think that’s the best question to be asking as we go through life—"What would Jesus do?" So I propose we all really turn pop culture on its ear and start wearing bracelets that say WWJtBD.

WWJtBD. "In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea. This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’" We call him John the Baptist, but we really should think of him as John the Baptizer. Because it is what he did that is so very important. Not who he was, but what he did. John baptized as a part of his ministry to prepare a way for the Lord. To bring the Lord into the hearts and lives of the people. Jesus is the Son of God. Though it is always good to be mindful of the Son of God and his will for us, we are not called in our lives to be the Son of God. We are called to know the Son of God and make him known. We are called to prepare the way of the Lord in our own hearts and in the world around us. The ministry of John the Baptizer is our ministry. John the Baptizer is our model. The question we should be continually asking ourselves is: What Would John the Baptist Do? WWJtBD.

What is your image of John? Have you ever considered that he might be a model for how we should live? Perhaps your visual image of John is like mine. Wild unkempt hair. Probably a bit dirty from all that camping in the wilderness. Bone thin from eating only grasshoppers—even if it was grasshoppers with honey. Some sort of shapeless, hairy shirt or tunic roughly clasped at the waist by a leather belt. This is who I am encouraging you to emulate? Well, yes. But remember, it is what he did, not what he looked like, that is crucial.

What would John the Baptizer do? One thing he might do, I suppose, is wear a provocative bracelet. A bracelet that would serve as a constant reminder to the wearer that the Lord is coming. And a bracelet that would provoke questions and conversation to help spread that message as far and wide as humanly possible. The Son of God is coming. A bracelet, maybe, that says WWJtBD.  Or just "Advent".

But what else would John the Baptizer do today to prepare the way of the Lord?

What would John the Baptizer say, for example, if he happened to show up at the Bangor Mall during the next few weeks? What would John the Baptizer do if faced with Christmas shopping? Would he stand up in the food court and shout out, "You brood of vipers! Bear fruit worthy of repentance!" Maybe. But more likely I think he would challenge all of us to really consider what we purchase and why. Do the gifts we purchase and give help bring Jesus and the Kingdom of God closer? Do they help prepare a place in a human heart for the love of Christ to be born? Do they honor the blessedness of God’s presence in creation? Some gifts do. Some don’t. The ministry of John the Baptist is to prepare a way for Christ so that he may be made known in the world. As you consider each gift purchase, ask yourself, "What would John the Baptizer do?"

What would John the Baptizer wear if he were invited to your office Christmas party? Or to your family Christmas dinner? I’ve always imagined that John smelled rather unpleasant. Most people who live outside in the wilderness or on the street do smell when they come into an enclosed space. Would John show up at the bank Christmas party smelly in his unwashed hair shirt? And would he demand locusts and honey for hors d’oeuvres instead of Brie and crackers? Maybe… But if we are to follow his model in the midst of our own social and family traditions, what are we to do? I cannot know, of course, why John dressed how he dressed and ate what he ate, but his practices made him recognizable as someone who took his religion, his faith, very seriously. His choices were the choices of a man whose loyalty to God’s kingdom was more important than conformity to social expectation or even, presumably, family tradition. And, whether or not John intended it, his hair shirt and Spartan diet were about more than just his own personal relationship with God. By the example of his life he witnessed to others about the importance of the presence of God. The depth of John’s conviction was a witness to others. To see someone else who takes his faith very sincerely and very seriously is very compelling, very inspiring. Every time I see or speak with Mormon missionary boys (and I’m surprised how often that happens in Brewer, Maine), I am inspired—not to become a Mormon—but to take my own faith more seriously. Their dress, their activities, their dedication all witness to the depth of their commitment to their faith. And when their commitment opens a way for the deepening of faith in others, they are doing what John the Baptist did.

We, too, can be such witnesses in our world. At our office parties. In our family gatherings. If we choose to honor God first over any and all other expectations. So when you consider what to wear, what to eat, how much to drink at your office party, ask yourself, "What would John the Baptist do?" Do my appearance and actions speak of the primary importance of God in my life? Remember that your appearance and actions may open the way for Jesus to come into the lives of others. When you find yourself in any conversation this season that ignores or subverts the miraculous wonder of the birth of Emmanuel, and you must decide whether and how to join in that conversation, ask yourself, "What would John the Baptizer do?" And when you face the decision of whether or not to come to church on Christmas Eve or to do whatever else it is you have always done or are expected to do, ask yourself, "What would John the Baptist do?"

Finally, as I sought to prepare a sermon for this Second Sunday in Advent, a Sunday that is particularly focused on the ministry of John the Baptizer, I asked myself, "If John were to preach this day, from this pulpit, what would he say?" I think he would say "Repent." To me and to you, he would say, "Repent." Do not presume that there is any other way that Christ may find room in your hearts. Repent. Repent of everything you have done or left undone, large or small, that is offensive to God. Cleanse yourselves of all evil, arrogance, indifference, and envy and turn anew towards God. Repent. For the kingdom of heaven has come near indeed. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight. Clear away the rank growth of sin that blocks Jesus’ entry into your life.

Repent. To prepare a way for the Lord to enter into our own lives, we must heed John’s entreaty to repent. Yet we must also proclaim his message of repentance to others, to do as he did in seeking to bring the kingdom of heaven to the people of his day.

If we had a bracelet or a necklace, we could wear it year round. Not just on this John the Baptist Sunday. If we had a bracelet it would serve to remind us every day, all the time, in all of the choices we face, to ask ourselves, WWJtBD?

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