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Showing posts from December, 2010

From These Stones

"But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. do not presume 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." Gospel of Matthew, 3:7-10 I heard this read as part of the gospel lesson reading today in church. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the annointed leaders of the local church, well positioned and politically involved, priviledged and sure of themselves. John the Baptist, this curious new phenom in the wilderness, was making waves as the real deal. Presumably as an act of c.y.a., the Pharisees and Sadducees ran out to check the John the Baptist experience off their list. John called them out.