Sermon Tone Analysis

Peace

When you think about peace, what do you think about?

What about the Peace of Christmas?

What images come to mind when you think about Christmas Peace?

What about Bible stories?

(the Christmas or Advent stories)

Most of us think about Luke 2… The birth of Jesus… shepherds in the fields… Angels proclaiming Peace on earth…

But… not Luke 3… Luke 3 is rarely thought of…

It’s the story of John the Baptist… the one “calling out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”

Can I tell you this — It’s the perfect text for Advent… because John’s cry is a cry for preparation… and Advent is a time for anticipation and preparation.

However, it may seem like an odd text for a week when we talk about Peace....

I mean, let’s face it… John the Baptist does not give us the image of peace we usually picture!

He’s a bit of a “wild man”… living in the wilderness… wearing strange clothes… eating really strange things… (his diet was not exactly what we would look for in a Christmas dinner!)… and crying out for people to “Repent!”

Seriously!

Look at how Mark describes him:

I can’t help it… when I read that description… when I think about John the Baptist, this is the image that comes to mind: (slide)

Ok, maybe this one.... (slide2) But still…

Does that look like a man that people would want to follow?!

When we think of Advent and Christmas peace, we usually picture babies who don’t cry and pastoral images of sheep with shepherds… not wild, loud calls for repentance!

It all seems like quite the opposite of peace, doesn’t it?!

Look at Luke 3.

Luke uses John the Baptist to paint a picture straight out of the Prophet Isaiah…

He describes a time when crooked paths are made straight… When rough places are made smooth…

It is a prophecy about John, but an image of the “day of the Lord” — a day longed for by the people — a day when all will be made right…

It is a day of Peace!

Peace come to the earth!

All the wrongs… all the troubles… all the strife… ended!

When we paint a picture of the birth of Christ… of Christmas… we tend to paint one of stillness… of quietness… of sleeping babies… quiet stables… and silent nights…

But… that’s not the picture John paints is it?

The picture of Peace that John paints is not one of silent babies and softly bleating sheep… it’s a picture of a hard, difficult journey of work and repentance… that ultimately leads to the peace of Christ…

It is the Kingdom of God impacting the Earth in unexpected ways!

— The Kingdom of God NEVER touches earth in EXPECTED and ACCEPTABLE ways!

Luke’s text here proves it…

I.

The narrative begins by contrasting two kingdoms — the kingdoms of the world and the Kingdom of God.

a. Luke sets the stage by describing the current kingdom and political powers at play.

Luke 3:1–2 (NRSV)

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,

2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

— The list includes the emperor, the governor, the appointed local rulers, and even the high priests of the day! (you do realize that the high priests at that time were appointed by Rome, not according to Jewish tradition, right?

It was a political position!)

These are the people Luke starts with…

Why?

Why does Luke mention them?

1 - for dating

2 - because political/kingdom power was the avenue through which people believed the Messiah come.

They thought peace on earth would come through the powers of the elite: through warfare… controlling the law and governing bodies… by taking over and regulating people into the Kingdom!

You see… They were God’s chosen people… therefore, if they were in control, the infidels could be dealt with… everything would be right!

Sound familiar?!?

They believed Christ would be a “warrior king” — like David!

b.

But Luke turns that idea completely upside down with one simple line...

Luke 3:2 (NRSV)

2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

— This seemingly small and insignificant line is an introduction to a very different kingdom God is creating.

(In it, Luke tells us)

i.

The Kingdom of God is not entering through a political center, but… from a wilderness place.

— You won’t find the Kingdom of God in politics… social justice… political correctness… or worldly peace… You only find the Kingdom of God in the wilderness!

ii.

The Kingdom of God is not entering through those in power, but… through a simple prophet with very little clout, and zero power.

— Both John the Baptist, and Jesus, were meaningless to the political world!

— And neither of them tried to work through it!

c.

The Kingdom of God is completely different than the Kingdoms of the world…

— The fact that Luke moves from the narrative of the birth of Christ and His childhood to this list of political leaders and powers highlights this contrast even more!

God’s Kingdom does not operate in the ways of the world… it operates very very differently!

2. It is into this New Kingdom, that John is baptizing people into.

a. Baptism would have been familiar to the Jews of John’s time.

They were already baptizing converts into Judaism…

— So, What was the problem with John’s baptism?

— John’s baptism was different.

b.

The radical part of John’s message wasn’t in the act of baptism… it was in what he was asking of them.

— He calles them “vipers” and tells them to “quit relying on your heritage”… Then he commands them to “Repent”…

— We cannot find Christ… we cannot experience the Peace of the Kingdom of God just because our family goes to church!

— We must repent!

Repent means - to completely change your heart and mind.

It means to take your life in a completely new direction.

i. John calls them to change their lives… to repent and take up citizenship in the Kingdom of God!

— look at what He tells them:

— Citizenship in the Kingdom of God was not dependent on family legacy or heritage… but on something completely different!

— The Kingdom of God demands a new way of life… a new family citizenship… one born of God, and not of man…

— They were to live differently than the world!

** We cannot reveal the Kingdom of God to the world if we look and act like the world!

ii.

Look at the list of those who were coming to John to be baptized: tax collectors and soldiers.

— tax collectors - controlled the economy… they were known to cheat people for personal gain.

John commands them to stop… to only take the salary that they were owed.

— Roman soldiers - the powerful arm of the Roman government… John commanded them to stop harassing and stealing from others… and instead to act in ways that humanized others… that lifted them up!

c.

Understanding the contrast between the kingdoms of earth and the Kingdom of God is important to understanding how God intends to bring Peace on earth.

— John’s baptism didn’t “save” the person… it “qualified” the person to meet the One who would.

— The work God called John to was one of preparation.

Luke 3:2 (NRSV)

2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

Look at his message:

d.

It’s a New Kingdom!

— They didn’t have to cross a desert… or jump through any religious hoops… they simply had to repent!