chaff

Calling Down Fire

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By Linda Rex

January 12, 2025, 1st Sunday in Epiphany | Baptism of the Lord—On this Sunday, having moved from the Christmas season into the season of Epiphany, we celebrate the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ. During Epiphany, we consider the revelation of who Jesus Christ is as the incarnate Son of God, present with us in our humanity, participating in our life here on earth. Jesus lived a truly human life as we do, with all its struggles and temptations. And he did not sin during the process, but remained in right relationship with his heavenly Father through it all.

As Jesus grew and matured into adulthood, he eventually came to the place where he was of the age and circumstance to obey his heavenly Father’s call to ministry. All the people were looking at John the Baptizer, and wondering if he was the Messiah. Instead, John pointed them to the young man, Jesus, who had been baptized by him in the Jordan River. The prophet told them that Jesus Christ was the one who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He said that Jesus would separate the wheat from the chaff, burning up the chaff with “unquenchable fire”. How did John know that Jesus was the Messiah? Because he personally witnessed the anointing of Jesus by the Spirit with the blessing of his heavenly Father (Luke 3:15–17, 21–22).

Those who heard John’s prophetic message that day may have had some pretty strong assumptions about what he meant by saying Jesus would burn up the chaff. For many of them, the chaff that needed burning up were their Roman oppressors, or the treasonous tax collectors, or the heretical Samaritans or Hellenists. It’s possible that they had in mind particular people, including King Herod, when they thought about the “bad” people that needed to be “burned up”.

Later in Jesus’ ministry, we read about a conversation Jesus had with two of his disciples, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Some disciples had gone to a village in Samaria to make travel arrangements for Jesus, but they were rejected by the people there. When James and John saw this, they asked Jesus, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them (Luke 9:54–55). They wanted Jesus to take care of the “chaff” then and there, and eliminate them.

But interestingly, the footnote shows what was added to the text later, that Jesus told them they did not realize what spirit they were of, and that he did not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save them. This is in full agreement with the teachings and ministry of Jesus. It is clear as we look at his life, that his purpose was not to slay all the “bad” people, but to save each and every one of us.

Keeping this in mind, we look at the New Testament passage for this Sunday, Acts 8:14–17. Here in Acts, we see that Jesus kept his promise to the disciples after his ascension back into heaven. The gospel message moved out from Jerusalem into Judea. The previously excluded Samaritans had come to faith in Jesus, and were being baptized. When the church in Jerusalem heard this, they sent John and Peter to go confirm that this was a genuine work of the Spirit. This was a new movement by the Spirit which challenged their beliefs regarding who was included in Christ. The irony here is that John, one of the “sons of thunder” who wanted to call down fire upon the Samaritans, went to Samaria to ensure that the “chaff” was indeed being burned up—but in a new way—by the fire of the Holy Spirit. As they prayed for the people and laid hands on them, God confirmed that this was indeed his Spirit at work in the Samaritans hearts and lives, bringing about repentance, faith, and transformation.

Jesus’ truly human life, lived by the Spirit in right relationship with his heavenly Father, acted as a crucible, burning away the dross of our sin, self, and surrender to Satan. Jesus turned our humanity back towards the Father. In his ascension, and in his sending of the Holy Spirit, Jesus enabled each and every one of us to participate by faith in his truly human life.

We participate by faith in all Jesus has forged into our humanity. We walk in the Spirit and not in our flesh. We grow in our knowledge of the Word and we follow Jesus Christ where he leads us. And as we trust in Christ and obey him, we experience transformation and renewal. The apostle Paul reminds us that we are “in Christ”, that we “grow up” in him, and that we are to “put on” Christ. The fire of God’s Holy Spirit continues to burn away all the chaff, restoring Christ’s life within as we respond in faith to his perfect work. We rest in Jesus, and trust that in his good time, he will finish what he has begun in us. And this is very good news!

Holy Trinity, thank you for the work you have done to clean away the dross that mars our humanity, and to forge in Christ, what it means for us to be truly human, in right relationship with you and others. May your Spirit continue to burn away what does not belong, and may we respond to your Spirit’s lead by obeying your Word and serving you faithfully. Amen.

“Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.”      Acts 8:14–17 NASB

“But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; …”       Isaiah 43: 1–3a (1–7) NASB

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Thrown into the Wind

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By Linda Rex

PEACE
December 8, 2019, 2nd Sunday of Advent—Years ago, I recall walking out my front door and looking down over the hill into the area below the house where the nearby creek ran down into the river bottom. We had a few acres on the flat land which my husband Ray would plant with soybeans or corn. He would harvest the crop and it would be used to feed our cattle. In the fall I would look out over the crest of the hill and see the dust rise as he ran the combine through the field to harvest the grain. Every year as I saw the corn stalks being relentlessly drawn into the harvester and the golden grain pouring into the hopper, I would be filled with a deep sense of gratitude and joy.

Apart from those religious communities who still farm by hand, in modern America today when we read about harvesting crops, we no longer think in terms of threshing by crushing the shell of the grain and then throwing it into the air to remove the chaff. During John the Baptizer’s day, this was how it was done, so when he used farming metaphors in his preaching, he touched the hearts and minds of those people who were familiar with this process.

Removing the chaff from the grain meant removing that part of it which was inedible. When we eat corn on the cob, we are essentially removing the edible part of the grain from the part which is inedible. When I handed a dried ear of corn to our cousin’s horse Goldbrick, he would grab it, and then slowly remove each kernel off the cob with his teeth.

In the case of wheat, barley, or oats—which is more to the point—this means removing the tough exterior casing which holds the grain on the stalk. This part of the plant is more easily blown away, while the heavier grain falls to the ground and is gathered together, collected and stored. The chaff and stalks of the grain were often used as fuel, hence John’s reference to burning.

When the Jewish religious leaders came to the Jordan River where John was baptizing the multitudes, it is not real clear what their motive was for coming. What they were told was that just because their bloodline was Jewish, they would not automatically be included in the kingdom of God. According to John, they needed more than just an appearance of religiosity—they needed a change of heart and mind that would be expressed by a change of behavior.

John pointed out that the house of religious cards the Pharisees and Sadducees had built was about to be brought completely down. No longer were Gentiles going to be excluded from table fellowship, but any person’s right relationship with God would no longer be determined by lineage or performance but solely by faith in Christ. This would require a genuine change of heart and mind—a metanoia or repentance—in everyone. All needed to repent and be baptized.

What Jesus did in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension by taking on our humanity and restoring it was a complete game changer. The seed which was Christ was buried in the ground and in three days arose, bringing us all as a harvest of new life into the presence of the Father. As the firstfruit of all humanity, Christ arose into glory and sent the Holy Spirit so each and every person may participate in the divine life and love.

Jesus is the one who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Holy Spirit blows like the wind, calling us to faith in Christ and turning our hearts back to the Father. The wind of the Spirit blows in and over us, not to sweep us away, but to remove those things which keep us from being truly and solely who we are in Jesus Christ. God allows the experiences of life to toss us into the air so that God is able to, by the Spirit, blow away the chaff, burn the refuse, and harvest each precious grain.

The way God works to reap of harvest of righteousness in us is so much like what Jesus went through. We are often brought to or led by the Spirit into places where we may experience crushing and brokenness—not to harm us, but so God is able to renew, restore, and rebuild us into the new humanity of Christ. The path to resurrection Jesus clearly showed is the path through the cross and the grave.

When God goes to work by his Spirit, to form us more completely into the image of Christ, we may find ourselves struggling to cooperate. Today’s culture seems to be addicted to painkillers—in other words, rather than feeling our pain, or dealing with our issues, or working out our difficult relationships, it’s as if we’d rather just take a pill. Or we may try to find some other way to escape or anesthetize our feelings or ignore the truth about what is really happening. What if the best thing I could do would be to deal with what’s right in front of me now, in this moment, with my hand in Jesus’ hand, trusting in Abba’s perfect love, giving and receiving forgiveness, and accepting the grace of God?

Matthew quotes John the Baptizer as saying that Jesus “will thoroughly clear His threshing floor”. In Word Studies in the New Testament, Marvin Vincent says that the obsolete word “throughly” was used in the Rev. rather than the word “thoroughly”, in order to express how a farmer would start at one end of the threshing floor and carefully work his way across so that no kernel of grain was missed. I like this way of saying it, because in many ways, that is what Jesus is doing. He has made sure no one is left out of God’s eternal plan—while at the same time he has made room for our freedom to resist his love and grace. In Christ we are all included—by faith each one of us may freely participate in the finished work of Christ.

One day the earth will be filled with God’s adopted children who truly know their Lord and are fully known and loved by him. To know God, and be fully known by him and fully loved by him, is what we were created for. This divine communion is what God always meant for us to be included in. By the Spirit, we have a real participation in God’s love and life, as we trust in the finished work of Christ, the divine Seed, the Word of God who stood in our place on our behalf.

God’s judgment on evil, sin, and death is that they are to have no place in our human existence any longer. In Christ, they are defeated foes which one day will be cast into the “lake of fire” and consumed. God’s passionate love for his adopted children leaves no room for anything which may mar the beauty and grace of our oneness with him.

The Spirit calls to us to let go of all that chaff and allow the divine wind to blow it all way and to bring a harvest of God’s righteousness in each of us. As we continue to live each day in the already/not yet of God’s kingdom, turning away from ourselves and turning to Christ, we can experience a deep sense of gratitude and joy in God’s presence, rejoicing with him in his bountiful harvest of golden seed, of bringing many adopted children into his kingdom.

Dear Abba, thank you for your careful attention to your divine crop, for the Seed of eternal life you planted in your Son Jesus and are working to harvest even now in each of us. Grant us each the grace to repent and believe, to turn from ourselves and to trust solely in Jesus Christ. Baptize us anew with your Holy Spirit and fire that we may fully reflect your glory and love, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.

“They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, | For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord | As the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:9 NASB

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:10-12 NASB

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