“What Should We Do?”
Luke 3:1-18
For the past two weeks, we’ve looked at the events leading up to John the Baptist’s birth.
And then, Luke summarizes John’s childhood with these words: “The child grew up, becoming strong in character.
He was in the wilderness until he began his public ministry.”
Last week we spoke a bit about the importance of listening to God.
John must have spent much of his time doing this.
Some scholars believe that John lived in a community of Jewish priests and scribes just east of Jerusalem, on the Northwest shore of the Dead Sea.
This community had devoted themselves to preparing for the coming of the Messiah.
This group of people were called Essenes.
They understood themselves to be doing what Isaiah foretold, being a voice crying out: “In the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.”
It is believed that they produced the hundreds of documents we know as the Dead Sea Scrolls, which they then hid in caves while the Roman armies marched in their direction.
They fled when the Romans arrived, but the scrolls stayed hidden until the first scroll was found in 1946; it is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in recent history.
The Essenes practiced ritual bathing, called baptism, for purification.
They studied Scripture and sought to live holy and devout lives.
There are many similarities between what we know about John the Baptist and what we know about the Essenes.
There are also some fundamental key differences as well.
For example, the Essenes were an exclusive community that tried to separate themselves from everything they considered sinful.
Compare that with John the Baptist, who, Luke tells us, “went throughout the region of the Jordan River, calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins.
In Luke 3, we find crowds of people who felt alienated from God, including tax collectors and even soldiers, coming to be baptized by John.
This would have been unthinkable to the Essenes.
Many think that if John had been a part of the Essene community, he came to a fundamental difference of opinion with them about God’s mission and, thus, parted ways.
John was driven by the belief that God cares for sinners and wants to forgive and rescue them.
And so, John’s mission was to bring people to God, calling them to repent—to change their hearts and minds and actions—in preparation for the coming of Jesus.
The Essenes were focused on God’s judgment of sinners.
They believed that God wanted to separate Himself from sinners, and so it followed that they should separate themselves from sinners as well.
Why is this important, the difference between the first-century community of reclusive Jews and John the Baptist?
I think it’s essential because this difference still plays itself out today.
A question for us in the 21st Century is whether we—the Church—are a hospital for sinners or an exclusive club for saints.
I spoke with a young man last week who said, “I’m just so glad I found a group of people who are so open and accepting regardless of my mistakes.
I’m thankful that I’m accepted with open arms.”
He is making his way into our community through the food pantry.
I’m so thankful that we are a church that draws all people to Christ without distinction or judgment!
For we are all in the same boat, are we not?
We are all sinners in need of God’s grace, forgiveness, and unconditional love.
Just think of the people that Jesus called friends.
Think of the mindset of Jesus, Who, seeing a Samaritan woman who had been divorced five times and was now living with a man outside of wedlock, offered her living water and called her to be His first missionary to the Samaritans.
Or what about Jesus’ embrace of Zacchaeus, a tax collector, and sinner, with whom Jesus broke bread and proclaimed a son of Abraham?
Or the sinful woman in Luke 7 who wept at Jesus’ feet while He ate at the home of Simon the Pharisee.
These are just a few of the many examples of the folks Jesus loved and spent time with.
Malachi foretold of a day when God would send his messenger before him to prepare the way.
He said, “Return to me, and I will return to you.”
In Malachi, God said He would send Elijah before Him to “turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to their parents.”
This was John the Baptist’s call to prepare the way of the Lord by calling people back to God.
Listen to how Matthew describes John’s ministry:
“In those days, John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives!
Here comes the kingdom of heaven!’
He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.”
Luke summarizes John’s message with these words: “He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
The word repent literally means to think differently afterwards or to change your mind.
It’s about seeing things so differently that it leads to a change of our hearts and ultimately a change in our behavior.
You may know that the Greek word for sin in the New Testament means to “miss the mark.”
It was an archery term that used to describe an arrow that fell short of, or veered to the right or left of the target.
It means that there is a path we are created to follow, a target or standard we are meant to uphold, or an ideal way we are meant to live.
To sin is to waver from that path or fall short of that standard.
It doesn’t matter who we are, we all miss the mark at times in our lives.
We think, say, and do things we should not think, say or do.
We’ve all blown it when it comes to our relationships with others and with God.
Thank God that Jesus came into this world in order to give us freedom from sin.
Jesus came to offer us forgiveness and new life.
And John’s mission was to help those listening to him be ready for Jesus to come.
And Advent is an opportunity for spiritual preparation as we get ready to celebrate Jesus’ first coming, and ready ourselves for His final return.
Remember God’s invitation in Malachi as He spoke of sending a messenger before Him: “Return to me and I will return to you.”
If we, as 21st Century Americans were standing near the Jordan River listening to John preach, what do you think he would say to us?
What would he say to our polarized society?
What message would he bring to our materialistic world?
In our often shallow, superficial and self-absorbed society, how would John challenge us?
Of what might he call us to repent?
“Change your hearts and lives,” John is saying, “Here comes the kingdom of God.”
Then John goes on saying to the entire crowd: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John didn’t sugar coat his preaching.
And his passion, conviction and harsh words were meant to shake up the crowd.
With the Holy Spirit working through him, it had the desired effect.
It led the crowd to ask, “What should we do then?”
In essence, they were asking, “what does the fruit of repentance actually look like?”
And John responded, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
“Even tax collectors came to be baptized.
‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘what should we do?’”
John replied, “Don’t collect any more than you are required to.’
Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’
He replied, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.’”
John’s answers are interesting aren’t they?
Notice that John defines the fruit of repentance in terms of what we do for others.
Remember that the Greek word translated as “repent” involves changed hearts and minds leading to changed actions.
And so, John goes straight to the bottom line: Our repentance will be assessed by what we do, the fruit we bear, and not just what we claim to believe or feel in our hearts.
Jesus says something similar in His Sermon on the Mount when He says that not everyone who calls out “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father.
Another thing that is interesting about what John says is that the fruit of repentance, the evidence that our hearts are spiritually preparing for the kingdom and the coming of Christ, have to do with material goods and compassion.
John says, “Don’t rip people off, don’t gouge people, don’t overcharge people.”
To the Roman soldiers who have come to be baptized, John says: “Don’t cheat and harass people but be content with what you have.”
Let’s stop here for a moment and think about this remarkable image of despised Roman occupiers and their collaborators, the hated tax collectors, responding to the call to repentance and receiving baptism, right alongside the Jewish people of Judea who were living under that occupation.
Knowing that John’s message was focused on greed and the abuse of power and called the people to be generous and compassionate, what do you think John would say if he were preaching here in Red Bank today?
Would he call us to show the fruits of our repentance, of transformed minds and hearts, through acts of service, compassion and generosity to those who do not have enough?
(pause)
Faith in Christ affects every aspect of our lives, including how we view one another and our obligations to one another and the world.
Isn’t that awesome?
Jesus gives us a reason to live and a reason for treating one another with love, mercy and compassion.
He helps free us from ourselves and the grip of materialism and greed.
We all have opportunities all around us to be the ordinary saints of God that John calls us to be.
What if we went from this church looking for opportunities to be honest, kind, hardworking, generous and compassionate?
Think of where we are at.
We are just a couple weeks away from Christmas, but are living in a nation and a world constantly afraid that the next random act of violence will happen around our street corner.
And because of this fear, we change how we live and, at times, even risk forgetting who we are.
And when we do that, evil and violence win.
So, what would happen if we pledge that in light of the dangerous world we live in we will redouble our efforts to be honest and kind, compassionate and hardworking, helping to meet the needs of those around us, reaching out to help those who struggle, and in all these ways witness to our faith that Jesus’ life, death and Resurrection does make a difference in the lives of those who believe.
I think that what would happen is that we would have not only a much better world but also a more vibrant church, one on fire with the expectation that
“all flesh will see the salvation of God.”
I know all this can seem like small potatoes when the whole world feels at times like its falling apart.
But I think that is part of John’s message—and Jesus’ witness—that because God has promised to redeem all creation, we are free—here and now—to help take care of the little corner of the world where we find ourselves.
There are no small acts of kindness, but rather different and contagious—acts of both random and intentional kindness and compassion that really do make a difference in the world, especially when they are done through our faith that in Jesus God has come to us offer us forgiveness, grace, mercy and salvation.
We will accept it?
Have we accepted it?
And if so, are what are we doing about it?
