Dancing in the Rubble

What if the harsh words of prophets aren't meant to condemn us, but to liberate us? This powerful reflection on Matthew 3:1-12 reimagines John the Baptist's urgent call to repentance not as judgment, but as an invitation to transformation. The image of the axe at the root of the trees becomes a symbol of divine love clearing away what no longer serves us—dead systems, empty rituals, and structures that divide rather than unite. We're challenged to see that the institutions and ways of doing things that are crumbling around us aren't signs of God's abandonment, but evidence that God refuses to give up on us. Like a skilled gardener pruning for new growth, God is making space for something beautiful to emerge. The sermon connects this to Isaiah's peaceable kingdom, where natural enemies discover new ways of being together—not through force, but through transformed relationships. We're invited to stop propping up what needs to fall and start building what needs to rise, measuring our faith communities not by size or budget, but by depth of connection and lives transformed. This is a call to dance in the clearings left behind, to become bridge builders in our communities, and to recognize that our vulnerabilities might be exactly what qualifies us for kingdom work.