'Sadd' shoes

Matthew 3:7-12

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 axe 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.

‘I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with^* the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

     I feel like I am wearing the shoes of the Pharisees and Sadducees today. I mean, they were not evil people were they?  Did they intentionally lie, live bad lives? Did they not take comfort in the fact that God loved them even if that concept was perhaps a bit different than mine and even though they only believed it pertained to them?

     I am not such a bad person myself. How about you? I profess to be committed to the Lord. I try to live a life that shows peace and love to all. The truth is though I am a bit lazy, perhaps complacent. I would be happy if life just rolled along and that is especially true when I have no 9 to 5 job to attend to. Yes, complacent seems a good word. Were those people that I have often referred to as the religious elite any different than me?  I am quite content  to let all the business and plans fall to others and I will 'acquiesce' and follow along. I have exerted no energy and made no real effort to communicate a plan I see or wish to partake in. Perhaps I am the one that is part of that 'brood of vipers'. Who am I to presume I have I have Jesus and that it requires little action on my part. Am I not the one who had said "inaction is in fact action"? The passive aggressive nature of some people annoyed me to no end. Perhaps I am the one who needs to look in a mirror and repent.

     I am not called to be a spectator. I am called to be an active participant. That means communication, action and love. All three. We are all brothers and sisters and this perhaps is most important with ones with whom we share the most intimate details of our lives. Moving forward, how will I ( or you ) repent?