What Shall We Do?

Good morning family.

Y’all ready to get into this word today. Even though we are on Zoom today, I still plan to bring the energy for this message, so participate please participate in the chat field with comments as this will make it more engaging for everyone else

Alright, we are continuing in our sermon series on Luke in our sub series “The Space in between”. Today we're going to come from Luke chapter 3 verses 1 through 20. (the most important thing we are going to say will come from God’s Holy word, so we will read in its entirety.

Lord be with us in this sermon series help us to know you in between God us oh Lord. Amen.

Here we are almost a full month into 2022. And to much of our disappointment, 2022 doesn't seem to be much different than 2020 and 2021.

It seems like we're getting more of the same, and in some ways worse. Inflation; virus mutations that are surging in our communities; stock market crashing, and exhaustion from the same ol same ol.

Is there no hope [PAUSE]? Has God forgotten that nothing is fixed? [PAUSE] Does he even care? [PAUSE]

I love that tick tocker who jokes about hearing from God saying

God is that you? You said you coming back? Good cuz I'm ready to get out of here cuz these people have lost their mind.

Anybody out there identify with that? [PAUSE]

I think many of us feel similarly that the rest of the world is fallen and we deserve, and need to be taken up to heaven to escape their brokeness.

But since Jesus has not come back yet, we find ourselves stuck here in the in middle.

Stuck between God's promise to make all things new AND our current situation (which seems like everything is hopeless.) [PAUSE]

Which is why I titled this sermon “What Shall We Do?”

I got 3 points to help us understand this passage that would seem to have nothing but judgment for us, but in fact is filled with grace.

HIS Story

Who was John the Baptist?

Why was his ministry important?

Our Response

God’s Way

Context for this message I will mention accounts from Matthew, Mark, and John. When I do that I am just referring to those books in the bible combined called the gospels. Essentially they all tell the story of Jesus from 4 different perspectives.

HIS Story

The bible is HIS God’s grand redemptive story woven throughout the old testament and new testament about how he would reconcile His wayward creation back unto Him.

The story of “John the Baptist” is wedged in there with a significant part.

We learned in the last series “A Christmas Story” that John was Jesus's big cousin.

He was born to Elizabeth and Zacharias who were old in age but were very righteous and devoted followers of God waiting for the messiah.

And John's birth like Jesus’ was foretold to the parents with a very specific prophecy of what that child was going to do. [PAUSE]

Jesus was going to be “God with Us” and Our Savior, AND John was going to be his herald and announcer to prepare for the kingdom of God.

Now John probably would have been a drug baby.

That meant he probably would have gotten dragged to the temple because his parents were so righteous and active participants in the life of the temple.

Not only that, they would have reminded him of the extraordinary circumstances that he and his cousin were born into and the amazing prophecy given for each of them.

On top of that, the Holy Spirit of God would have been reminding him as this boy grew older of the calling on his life, because it says in chapter one that he was filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb.

Some of you with kids might be saying my kid was filled with something in the womb but I don't think it was the Holy Spirit of God. (I feel you. The parenting struggle is real) [PAUSE]

So John from birth was a special kid. Unfortunately, we don't have any other accounts of John's life prior to his call in the wilderness.

But eventually his ministry gets started around 30 something years of age

[SLOW] And this is where Luke picks up the story of John the Baptist.

In verses 1 and 2, Luke indicates numerous people of that time that give context to what the people of God were doing and the ruling authority of the land during that time.

To include the emperor of Rome, the governor's of Palestine, and the high priest Anas and Caiaphas. Which will show back up in Acts.

And it's this time period that Luke outlines for us and notes that this is when “the word of God” came to John in the wilderness.

Now that phrase “word of God” coming to John would have been important to note as this would signify and validated his calling as a prophet,

As this is the way prophets of the OT were validated.

But just because he was validated as a prophet doesn't mean he was going to be living a lavish lifestyle like you see today.

It was quite the opposite; he was living a very humble, righteous, and set apart life out in the wilderness.

In Mark's account we see that John was actually living in the wilderness wearing camel skin for clothes and eating locusts. (Yuck that sounds disgusting)

I don't know about you but that does not seem like the type of person who would be heralding or preparing the way for a King or a kingdom with very much treasure.

John wasn’t even the main guy, so why would a historian like Luke take time to highlight this insignificant forerunner.

Essentially just a cheerleader running out with the banner before the team runs out.

(But before bash cheerleader) like the cheerleader, John knew his mission and knew what he was called to do.

He knew he was to get the attention of the people and prepare them for what was about to happen.

He was to call God’s people back to God.

And he would do that by calling God’s people to REPENT. [PAUSE]

Its important to note, that in the Old Testament repentance was not a foreign concept and we see a call for repentance happening over and over and over again.

Repentance means to have sorrow for your sin and to turn away from it. [PAUSE]

In the OT the people hated the prophets for telling them they needed to repent. I mean, nobody likes hearing they are wrong especially when they like whatever they are doing.

BUT IF the people DID repent, it would usually be expressed and followed by sacrifices and sometimes cleansing.

The interesting thing about John the Baptist call to repentance was his “baptism of repentance”.

The fact that “Baptist” becomes John tag line, indicates that baptism was important to his ministry. This was his thing what he was known for.

Now because I love reading the Bible and I geek out a lot I wanted to find out where baptism came from. Like did John just make this thing up?

So I did some research, probably too much for this sermon, but I came across the HEBREW word called mikvah and I asked my Jewish neighbor (who is the musical director for all of the religious services at his Jewish synagogue). For some Jewish resources I could read.

Why is that important? Well Jesus and his cousin and their family were Jews. As Jews they would have known about and practiced many of the cleansing rituals, to include the “Mikvah”.

The "mikvahs" is modernly used for cleansing and purification,

BUT in the past the “mikvah” was important because it held an important element of conversion for becoming a Jewish believer both man and woman. (similar to baptism in Christianity)

It was used to testify and witness that they had abandoned their gentile identity to assume a Jewish identity.

In fact the Talmud (which contains jewish laws and beliefs) says as soon as the convert immerses and emerges from the mikvah he is like a Jew in every way no longer his old self. (sound familiar)

And it is with this understanding that John began to call people to repentance and baptism, which would be an immersion and emergence from water. [PAUSE]

As we look back at our passage, it would appear that John the Baptist is just an angry fire and brimstone preacher trashing every person that walked by not showing the love in any noticeable manner.

And some of you may feel validated that IF THEIR IS a God, this passage proves that he is unfair, unloving, and punishes his little creation.

But if you exam the passage more we see that John was creating a dichotomy of who we are and who God is.

Which brings us to our next point OUR RESPONSE

How do we?, A sinful, stubborn, broken in everyway people who have turned from God’s ways

Begin to have relationship with a perfect and Holy God again.

I mean we broke it off with him, ghosted him, and unsubscribed.

So now we need an agent and mechanism to restore this relationship that has been broken. [PAUSE]

As we continue lets look for clues for this solution and how we should respond, with big cuz, John the Baptist clapping back at the people, near the Jordan River.

So this wilderness of Judea where John the Baptist was preaching, was a rough and mountainous area, Near the Jordan river.

It included the cities of Bethany, Bethlehem, Jericho, and Jerusalem. Parts of Samaria.

So literally everyone was coming to hear this message. (everyone who listened that is.)

The religious elite, jews from nearby villages, gentiles who were not allowed to associate with the Jews, criminals, tax collectors, and soldiers.

And they were all asking What Shall We Do? [PAUSE]

They were all looking for a solution to their problem of sin.

They all felt some part of what they were doing was wrong.

They all felt this longing to correct their wrong, but everything they did to fix it just didn't seem to suffice.

And this was an amazing moment, a moment that the prophet Isaiah in verses 4-6 foretold about John’s role.

We see that as the people hear the message the playing field has been equaled and leveled.

From the crookedest cheats and the roughest thugs, to the pompous elites and all those in between. God salvation had come for them all. [PAUSE]

Its truly a miracle this group of people were called together, because their community like ours was based off of a superiority perception and hierarchy.

What I mean by that is we create these lines of separation to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.

So we look for a “quote on quote” SIN thats worse than ours, so we can justify that, yes everybody sins, BUT at least my sin is not that sin. [PAUSE]

Jesus gives us a parable about about this in Luke 18:9-14

Two men going up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed like: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, OR EVEN like that tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’

Jesus ends the parable by saying the tax collector went to his house right with God not the religious snob.

Then Jesus goes on to say, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Family we need to hear the cry in the wilderness and let GOD’s word expose our heart condition.

And hopefully recognize that we NEED Jesus more than we let on. [PAUSE]

[SLOW] It seems like every generation has one category of sin that should stand out on its own. For them it might have been the tax collector or the gentile.

For us it could be any number of “fill in the blank” communities of people.

You see you don't have to name it, to know in your heart which sin you think is worse than yours. [PAUSE]

[SLOW] Can we really be God’s people? when we are pointing our finger of judgment saying “I know we're all sinners but at least I'm not that kind of sinner”,

Pushing away the very people God has called unto him with grace and mercy.

No instead, we must become a people opening our hand welcoming in the outcast loving our neighbor and sharing with them the very same Grace that we've been given for our own sins. [PAUSE]

All of us fine ourselves in the same situation in need of a savior, in need of a solution for our sinful nature. [PAUSE]

John the Baptist said because we’ve all sinned, recognize your waywardness, repent, and be baptized.

But he also said this water baptism is only symbolic and the precursor for what they really needed.

Hence his statement in verse 16 which says I baptize you with water but there's one coming who's Greater that I and is going to baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. (smiling)

Huh! Come again say what? We not gone just blow past the fact you said he gone give us Fire!!! Excuse me but that sounds worse than water not better.

Thats like saying I will give you a nice gentle massage, but the one after me will break you in half with his deep tissue massage.

No thank you. (i will save that story for another sermon).

But when you think about it, water is seen as a temporary cleaning agent if you use soap. If not it just moves the dirt out the way for a moment. And its only surface level.

Fire on the other hand purifies its object from the inside out. It causes all impurities to rise to the surface and be scrapped off but what is left is pure and spotless.

But pastor, the text says that we could be burned up like chaff, doesn't that prove that God is a mean god.

No. You will be burned up and thrown out by your own futile efforts, IF you DENY the transformative power, AND free gift of the Holy Spirit.

But if you accept the Holy Spirit into your life, submitting to God’s ways, YOU WILL be made new into something more precious than gold. [PAUSE]

So when we are baptized by Jesus, it becomes our acknowledgement to have our lives invaded by the creator of the universe.

And to let the world know I’m no longer who we once were identified as, BUT we’ve been made new. [PAUSE]

John also wanted them to understand that this was not just going to be a check box process (o go down in the water, #sinforgiven, go on with my life),

No they needed to bear fruits with their change.

Which leads to our Final point GODs WAY

God’s way IS NOT for us to come out of the waters of baptism, try really hard, and never hit the mark.

I dont know about you but every since I became a Christian, I have struggled to do what he Jesus says. Anybody else.. Just me.. Im the only sinner. (Its cool shame the devil tell the truth).

Its like I try to be a “good person”, I have given a hope loves bag to the homeless, I give a tithe, i come to church every sunday.

But I still have unforgiveness in my heart if you mess with my family, I still have to have spiritual horse blinders on so my eyes dont wander to far to the left or to the right, i still have words that come out of my mouth are not alway pure and holy.

And the more I try to do this in my own strength the more frustrated I get when I can't do it. [PAUSE]

Have you ever seen a baby trying to get food or bottle to their mouth but they haven't quite figured out their fine motor skills yet, that level of determination and frustration that I often walk out my Christian faith in my own strength.

Bearing good fruit cannot be done in our own strength, nor can I will myself into being a good Jesus follower.

No matter how much I say I know I trust I follow Jesus. I will fail over and over and over again in our strength .

God would be cruel IF He just sat and watched us struggle like that each and every day trying to get the bottle up to our mouths.

BUT HIS WAY IS TO do what he has always done and send the solution to us, instead of waiting for us to figure it out. [PAUSE]

He gave us illustrations with sending Abraham into a land he do not know to become an inheritance.

Joseph being sent into imprisonment for something he didn't do in order to save his people and others.

Moses being sent into Egypt to save the ungrateful Israel who did not want to serve God.

And Jesus was sent into the world to save a people who rejected God and his way.

Jesus was sent to us to bring healing to her sick, sent to break free the chains of injustice and captivity, sent to us too provide for the poor.

And in true God’s way fashion we are sent into the world to proclaim THIS good news. [PAUSE]

I understand, talking about the good news with family members, friends, coworkers, and random people in the street might not make you a lot of friends, might even make you somewhat of an outcast and rejected.

But as a follower of Jesus you've been called and commanded to go out and tell others the good news.

To prepare the way for Jesus's, thats our mission to help others to know, trust, and follow Him.

To let others know that although they have been paying wages of death with their life choices; GOD has freely given them LIFE, because of his grace and mercy.

It's good news because they didn't have to earn it. Our presentation and our practices does not give us the salvation that we desire. It's merely an outworking of receiving the free gift from God.

God call IS NOT to abandon and jump on the rescue boat to heaven with our prideful righteousness in hand looking down on those we have left.

NO!, HE calls us to recognize our own shortcomings, to recognize we are no better than anyone else,

To call those who are lost; who are hurting; who are broken back to God our only savior.

And to do it with love and mercy and Grace that we've been shown. [PAUSE] (thats our call)

As you can see at the end of our text John the Baptist continues to proclaim this message of repentance and it gets him thrown in jail by Herod.

And I love how the text points out vs 19, that among all the evil that Herod had done he added this “wicked” deed on top of it.

In other words putting the man of God in prison was the cherry on top of his wicked deeds.

And if you cont. read Mark's account you find out that John was beheaded in that prison by Herod and it might seem that John wasn't rewarded for doing what God told him. That it didn't pay off. That it was pointless.

But if you continue reading Luke's account chapter 7 vs28 Jesus gives this lengthy speech about John the Baptist impact and he says "among those born of women there is no one greater than John"

What a compliment. Our Lord and savior just gave John the highest praise.

In addition, we learn in the beatitudes that those who are persecuted for Jesus's sake their reward is great in heaven. So I can't imagine what John the Baptist reward was.

But maybe you say I can't be John the Baptist, I didn't have a prophecy said about me when I was born,

In fact they said I was a mistake, my family didn't want me.

Or maybe you say the choices you’ve made have disqualified you from attempting to do anything for God.

Let me encourage you. YOUR NOT damaged goods in fact you're a valuable member of the kingdom of God.

Because in that same chapter and verse of 7:28, that talks about how great John the Baptist was, the rest of that very same verse says "YET (circle that star that, it highlights a contrast) he who is the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

You ARE NOT an insignificant part of the body, but the very person God wants to use to exemplify his grace and extend his solution to the rest of the world.

Family our time that we are currently in should not be a time of trying to figure out how to escape the repetitive nonsense we see and have seen in 2020 through 2022.

But in fact it is a call to respond to God’s word and prepare the way for others to come to know, trust, and follow him.

You have a choice today will respond.

Let's pray.