“A Hard Message of Change”
Luke 3:7-9
A sermon for 1/3/21
Pastor John Bright
Luke 3 “7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
How many of you are hoping 2021 is nothing like 2020?
So often, we want the circumstances to change – get better – to make us happy… but what about the change within you and me that is needed? When it’s me that needs to change, I want it to be as easy as possible. You, too?
Have you ever noticed those ads for weight loss supplements? They say something like, “no exercise or special diets” or “the pounds and inches just melt away while you sleep.” YEAH…RIGHT! I found some New Year’s resolutions like that:
• “I was going to quit all my bad habits this year – then I realized nobody like a quitter.”
• “This year I will stop procrastinating. Or maybe next year.”
• “This year I will start saving money for a rainy day – that way I can order on line and stay dry.”
• “After thinking about all my bad habits I need to give up – I resolved to give up thinking about them.” 😊
We are back in Luke this week after looking at the cast of characters on the Night of Nativity. Chapter 2 follows Jesus as a child. He is named and circumcised on the eighth day. After 40 days, he is taken to the Temple in Jerusalem where Simeon and Anna proclaim the infant to be the Savior. At age 12, Jesus returns to the Temple and astounds the religious teachers with His wisdom.
In Chapter 3, we find a grown-up John the Baptizer – “3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” Verses 1-2 place John’s ministry at 28-29 AD. Luke also gives us the clear picture of John as the fulfillment of God’s promise in Isaiah 40. In the Jewish tradition, we find that baptism is a form of ritual cleansing – most often the cleaning of hands and feet. When it involves full body immersion, called mikveh in Hebrew, the best place is the “living water” that can be found in a river. This Hebrew word also has the meaning of waiting/preparation. This helps us to understand why Jews would come from the towns and villages to a deserted place along the Jordan River for “a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”
John begins with a warning – v. 7
“Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
In this desert region, snakes lived in holes in the ground. If a fire broke out, the rising temperatures of the ground would alert the snakes to flee. When John compares them to these snakes, he is not referring to a brush fire in the wilderness. Can I be really clear here – he was warning them that each of them could end up in hell! “9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Today, it may be unpopular, but we still need to give a warning.
Let me share part of an article I found at the GotQuestions.org website:
“It is interesting that a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than believe in the existence of hell. According to the Bible, though, hell is just as real as heaven. The Bible clearly and explicitly teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). The just punishment for that sin is death (Romans 6:23). Since all of our sin is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4), and since God is an infinite and eternal Being, the punishment for sin, death, must also be infinite and eternal. Hell is this infinite and eternal death which we have earned because of our sin.”
“The punishment of the wicked dead in hell is described throughout Scripture as “eternal fire” (Matthew 25:41), “unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12), “shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2), a place where “the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:44-49), a place of “torment” and “fire” (Luke 16:23-24), “everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a place where “the smoke of torment rises forever and ever” (Revelation 14:10-11), and a “lake of burning sulfur” where the wicked are “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).”
https://www.gotquestions.org/hell-real-eternal.html
Since hell is real, with every warning we need to share the way of escape. Listen to what John told those Jews 2000 years ago – “16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Jesus died on the cross of Calvary – remember that everyone has a choice because of that sacrifice of Ultimate Love. You can choose to accept the gift of Eternal Life or you can choose eternity in the fires of hell. Have you realized this choice is before you? Paul gave this message to the Church at Corinth – “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2
Then what? Change – like we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
John tells them what change looks like – v. 8-9
“8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
They did not understand what this “fruit worthy of repentance” would be, so they asked for practical application in their lives: “10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”
So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
John makes sure they know that it takes more than a baptism… do we treat salvation the same way? Can a person today be saved and look just like the rest of the world?
John specifically mentions generosity as an essential mark of the changed life. The sharing of clothing and food was mentioned throughout the Old Testament as proper ethical behavior. It showed that the person’s life was in line with the Commandments of God. (Does that sound old fashioned?) Jesus told the rich young ruler to go and sell all he had (Matt. 19). I always ask the same question – do you have the stuff or does it have you? If you have extra… why not share?
In the Gospels, the tax collectors were often lumped in the sinners – they were despised. They were allowed to collect more tax money than they passed up to the next level. In Luke 19, we meet a head tax collector – Zacchaeus. He has gotten rich collecting more than he had to pass along. After spending time with Jesus, he offers to give half his goods to the poor and pay back 4 times what he has swindled. The instruction from John to the tax collectors is simple – you get a slice of the pie so take no more.
Finally, he addresses the soldiers – probably Jewish soldier. Herod would have had soldiers that worked with the Romans. There were also Roman soldiers that were converting to Judaism or at least participated in the life of the synagogue. In Matthew 8, a centurion seeks out Jesus to heal his daughter. So we can’t be sure – but all soldiers in that day were capable of extorting money by intimidation or threatening to make a false accusation. Rather than letting the desire for more money drive them, John tells them to content with what they have – good advice to everyone… even us today.
Does it matter how we treat others? Really?
Can we claim Christ as our Savoir and not love others?
This is an ongoing quest in the Church – how do we answer the question of loving others when we have been loved with so great a love through Christ and His precious blood shed in love for us. For over a hundred years into the journey of what was called Methodism, the preachers who spread out across the continent of America carried a book containing the Standard Sermons of John Wesley. One of these sermons, The Marks of the New Birth, explained the change that should be seen in the life of a Christian. Here is brief quote from that sermon: “It is so to love God, who hath thus loved you, as you never did love any creature: so that ye are constrained to love all men as yourselves; with a love not only ever burning in your hearts, but flaming out in all your actions and conversations, and making your whole life one ‘labour of love’, one continued obedience to those commands, ‘Be ye merciful, as God is merciful;’ ‘Be ye holy, as I the Lord am holy;’ ‘Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’”
If you spouse constantly told you, “I love you”, but never showed love – which would you believe?
If we tell God, “I love you”, but do not follow His commands and do not show love to our neighbors – which will He believe?
Today, each of you received a brochure about forming Discipleship Bands here at the church. Inside there is a short description – “A discipleship band is a group of 3-5 people who read together, pray together and meet together to become the love of God for one another and the world.” This is what John Wesley was talking about – being love – in words and actions. All the other ways we need to be Christians in 2021 will flow out of the deepening, growing relationships we form with one another.
You could resolve to lose some weight this year.
You could resolve to watch less tv and read more this year.
You could resolve to care less about social media this year.
Those are all good resolutions, but will they make sure we are seen as followers of Jesus Christ in this crazy, mixed up world… no.
When we can sow the Love of God into our homes, our communities, our workplaces and schools - then they will know whose we are – and want what they see rather than just what they hear. That’s the change we need… they need… God wants… Jesus died for. Amen.
