Water, Fire and Humility

Water, Fire and Humility

And the crowds asked him [John the Baptist], ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptised, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptise 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 baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 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.’

So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Luke 3:10-18

Floods and wildfires, more frequent and intense, engulf the spectrum of life and the work of human hands - realities of a climate changing at an unprecedented rate; our mandate to work and take care of our home, this earth, overlooked; the boundaries that safeguard life carelessly ignored. 

And yet…water, sculpting and re-shaping the environment in which it flows, gives life to creation.

Spa Pool, Hamersley Gorge, Karijini National Park, WA 

Two thousand years ago, John the Baptizer ceremoniously washed those who crowded to him. Cleansed, and eager to show the fruit of repentance in their life, the sincere amongst them would re-shape their communities by living kindly and generously, honestly and justly.

John, humbly accepting his preparatory role, preceded the one who would not wash with water, but empower through tongues of fire. 

Multi-stemmed grass trees at Mt Cabre Bald, Barrington Tops National Park, NSW

Fire can be a catalyst for new life. Grass trees, their trunks and skirts scorched by a ravaging fire, flower profusely, providing nectar and seeds when other sources have been erased.

Christ, whose coming we celebrate, gifts God’s children with Spirit fire, purifying and refining from within. New life is birthed, new hope kindled, new purpose ignited - to live out, in humility, the kingdom of the living God where faith, hope and love, truth and justice flow.

Evelyn & Bob McDonald live in Newcastle, NSW and serve in their church and community. In the last three years they have published three books: ‘A Nature Lover’s Guide to Seeing God’, ‘Windows on Nature: Reflections on God’, and ‘Wonder – Journeys in Nature with God’ through which they share their nature photography, scientific writing, Biblical reflections and love of God and His creation. 

This devotional is part of a series of daily email devotionals for Advent 2024 reflecting on the life-giving, thirst quenching justice of Jesus we long to see flow across these lands. A justice overflowing with love and compassion, bringing forth hope, healing, nourishment and flourishing for all.

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