"what Should We Do?"

“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!