Advent2025 Waiting With Matthew 17

Day 17: Waiting for Fire and Spirit. Today we reflect on Matthew 3:11 – “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Join us this Advent as we sit with the waiting in the first 5 chapters of Matthew's Gospel.

Transcript

Hello my friends,

This is Mark Gludman,

Also known as Brother Frederick James,

Your friendly neighborhood monk in dogs.

Welcome to day 17 of Advent 2025,

Waiting with Matthew.

As we begin,

I invite you to take a deep slow breath in,

Let it fall gently out,

Feel your body settle into the moment,

Let the noise soften,

Let the pace of the day loosen its grip,

Allow your heart to rest in the stillness that Advent always invites.

As we ask God to open our ears,

Our minds and our hearts to what the Spirit might be saying to us today through Matthew's words in chapter 3 verse 11.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

So today we hear one of the most powerful and perhaps unsettling promises in the early pages of Matthew's Gospel.

He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Now remember these are John the Baptist words.

He's standing ankle-deep in the Jordan,

Calling people to repentance,

Awakening them to the kingdom's nearness.

He baptizes them with water,

Water that cleanses,

Water that washes away what no longer serves,

Water that signals a turning of the heart.

But even John knows his ministry is only the beginning,

A preparation,

Not a culmination.

It's a doorway,

Not a destination.

I baptize you with water,

He says,

But one coming after me.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

These words carry weight.

For ancient Israel the Spirit and fire are not gentle metaphors.

They're the very energies of God.

Spirit is God's breath,

God's wind,

God's life force moving in creation,

Moving through us.

Fire is God's purifying presence,

God's illumination,

God's power to transform what it touches.

Water invites change.

Fire catalyzes it and the Spirit sustains it.

John's saying the Messiah will not just wash the surface of your life.

No,

The Messiah will ignite the center of it.

And this is where Advent takes us deeper because Advent's not only about longing.

It's about readiness,

Readiness to receive God not just as comfort,

But as transformation.

Water baptism happens on the outside.

The Spirit and fire happen on the inside.

Water rinses.

Fire refines.

Water turns the heart toward God.

And fire burns away what prevents union with God.

When John speaks of fire,

He's speaking of the holy fire,

Not the fire that destroys,

But the fire that transfigures.

It's the same fire Moses saw in the burning bush.

Flame that burns,

But doesn't consume.

Flame that purifies,

But does not annihilate.

Flame that reveals the voice of God.

It's the same fire that filled the temple,

A sign of God's dwelling among the people.

It's the same fire that descended at Pentecost,

Not to destroy the disciples,

But to inflame them with courage,

Clarity,

And love.

So when John says the Messiah comes with spirit and fire,

He's telling us Christ comes to awaken,

To deepen,

To stretch,

Refine,

And enliven our very being.

This is not a gentle promise,

But it is a holy one.

We tend to imagine Advent as peaceful.

Candles,

Soft hymns,

Quiet prayer,

And yes,

Advent has silence.

It has tenderness.

It has contemplation.

But Advent is also a season of fire.

God is drawing near,

Not simply to console us,

But to kindle us.

Advent asks,

Are you ready for the God who transforms?

Are you ready for the spirit who breathes new life into old bones?

Are you ready for the fire that burns away illusions,

Deceptions,

And the smallness of your life?

The fire of Christ increases our capacity to love.

The fire of Christ awakens courage.

The fire of Christ purifies our desires so that they align with God's desires.

Advent prepares us not just for a holy birth,

But for a holy burning,

A burning that frees us.

One of the ancient teachings of the mystics is that sin is not fundamentally evil wanting,

But disordered wanting.

Desire in itself is good.

It's the engine of the soul.

But when desire gets twisted out of alignment,

It leads us away from God rather than toward God.

Fire untwists what has been bent.

Fire refines what has been muddied,

And fire burns away the false so the true may shine.

This is why the saints speak of the refiner's fire with reference,

Not as punishment,

But as liberation.

It is the fire that frees us from the things that keep us small.

It's the fire that releases the soul from patterns that imprison it.

It's the fire that purifies the heart so that it can finally hold God fully.

Advent fire is always a summon to deeper freedom.

And John doesn't say we'll be baptized in fire alone.

He says we'll be baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire.

The Spirit is how God dwells within us.

The Spirit is how God breathes in us,

Prays in us,

Moves in us,

Transforms us from the inside out.

Water washes the outside.

Spirit animates the inside and fire transfigures the whole.

And the Spirit is not chaotic or aggressive.

It's not a whirlwind that's tearing things apart.

The Spirit is the breath that brings order from chaos,

The breath that hovered over the waters in Genesis,

The breath that turns dust into humanity and the breath that animates and resurrects.

So Spirit and fire together are perfectly balanced.

Fire refines and Spirit sustains.

Fire purifies and Spirit fills.

Fire liberates and Spirit empowers.

This is the baptism the Messiah brings.

It's a union of purification and renewal,

Emptying and filling,

Releasing and empowering.

And so we come to the heart of Advent's invitation today.

Are you willing to be changed,

Not casually,

Not superficially,

Not in ways that leave you fundamentally the same,

But deeply,

Completely,

Wholly,

At the level of Spirit and desire?

This kind of change requires openness,

Surrender,

Truthfulness,

Even courage.

Fire can't enter a heart that's tightly locked and the Spirit won't force its way into a life that resists movement.

So Advent asks us gently,

Where have you become resistant to change?

Where have you become attached to old ways of thinking?

Where do you fear the fire?

Because you fear letting go.

Where do you fear the Spirit?

Because you fear being led someplace new.

These are Advent questions not to shame us,

But to awaken us.

Because Christ is coming with gifts we cannot yet imagine.

Not gifts of comfort alone,

But gifts of transformation.

And perhaps one of the most beautiful truths of this verse is this,

The fire Christ brings does not destroy,

It heals.

Too often we imagine divine fire as wrath,

But divine fire is love at full heat.

Love intense enough to burn away what harms us.

Fierce enough to release us from bondage.

Radiant enough to illuminate our truth and strong enough to reshape us into the likeness of God.

The fire is safe because God is safe.

The fire is holy because God is holy.

This fire is transformative because God is love.

So Advent calls us to wait,

Not just for a child in a manger,

But for a fire that frees.

So today hear John's message as promise,

Not threat.

Hear it as invitation,

Not warning.

Hear it as gift,

Not burden.

Christ comes with the Spirit that fills and the fire that frees.

And Advent prepares us for both the tenderness of God and the transformation of God.

The quiet coming and the burning love.

Let your heart today whisper,

I am ready for your fire.

I am ready for your spirit.

I am ready for your coming.

So as we take a deep breath in and out,

We prepare to rise from our time together as we pray.

Holy God,

You come to us with the fullness of your spirit and the fire of your love.

You do not leave us as we are,

But draw us deeper into freedom,

Truth and compassion.

Kindling us the fire that purifies without harming.

Ignite in us the courage to release what no longer leads to life.

Fill us with your spirit that we may live with renewed clarity,

Strength and love.

Let your coming awaken us.

Let your presence transform us and let your fire refine us until all that remains is what is true,

What is holy and what is of you.

Come,

Holy Spirit.

Come,

Holy fire.

Come,

Lord Jesus.

Maranatha.

Amen.

So as you go into your day,

Friend,

May you feel the gentle rising of God's spirit within you,

Breathing new life into all that's grown weary.

May the holy fire of Christ refine your heart with courage,

Freedom and radiant love.

And may you welcome the God who transforms,

Trusting that every flame is held in mercy and every breath is filled with grace.

And may that grace,

Peace and love carry you,

Buoy you and go with you today and every day,

Every step you take.

Amen.

Grace,

My friends,

Until tomorrow,

May God's peace be with you.

Reviews

Thank you for another enlightening message! 💝🌅🙏

Grace and peace✝️
Thank you for your delivery of this powerful message🙏🏻 come Holy Spirit!

Grace & peace to you too. 🙏🏾