Luke 3:7-18
Third Sunday in Advent
Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke Sunday, December 15, 2024
“Good News Brings Good Fruit”
“You are not a cotton-headed ninny muggins.” That’s how the elf supervisor tries to console Buddy the Elf. If you haven’t seen the movie Elf (which is now 21 years old, so I don’t think I need to be too worried about spoilers), a brief explanation. Buddy is not an elf, he’s a human but hasn’t realized it. The elves make toys with incredible speed and precision. Buddy does not. In his frustration, Buddy calls himself by that insult, and the whole happy elf workshop comes to a sudden silence. It’s obvious that cotton-headed ninny muggins is just not the kind of language that is acceptable at the North Pole.
Sometimes it feels like Christmas spirit is based on that sort of an expectation. There are certain things you just don’t talk about and there are certain ways you just don’t act, at least at Christmas time. As a result, everyone can be happy and busy and unbothered by anything other than fun and festivities. If that’s the case, it is striking when someone steps out of line, says something wrong, or does something unexpected. And maybe it is so jarring that it feels like the whole room goes quiet and stares and just doesn’t know what to do.
Do you suppose anyone felt that way when John the Baptist spoke? Luke 3 introduces John as the fulfillment of prophecy. He is the voice Isaiah spoke of, crying out in the wilderness about making a level, straight path for the Lord. And then the Gospel of Luke follows him out into the area near the river, and the first thing that we hear John say is, “You offspring of vipers”! If that would happen in 2024, there would have to be someone nearby saying, “You shouldn’t say that. That’s mean.” There is no doubt that people can be mean. They can say things with an unkind heart and an unkind spirit. That’s not what John was doing.
John was preaching a baptism of repentance. John was showing people what it meant to prepare the way for the Lord, what it meant to lower down mountains and raise up valleys. And it did not mean some superficial action or some surface-level claim. The Jews couldn’t say, “We’re Jews, so everything is OK between us and God.” John expects the people to say this. He expects them to make a claim to being Abraham’s children as if that is the thing that will make them ready to meet the King. And he dismisses their claim. If God wants children of Abraham, he can make children of Abraham out of the stones. God does not want that. He wants repentance. Repentance calls for looking at ourselves and finding the wrong, finding the evil, finding the impure. Repentance says, “I want to put that behind me.” Repentance says that I am not worthy, just like John later says. Repentance says that I deserve to be cut down like a dead tree that is good for nothing but firewood.
For some who came to John at the Jordan, their visit was just for show. They did not have repentance in their hearts. They did not listen to his message. They were nothing more than hypocrites.
Unfortunately, that’s a place we can easily find ourselves. Sure, we come to church so much more frequently than just Christmas and Easter (unlike some people we know), but we don’t always listen. We don’t always take to heart what is said. Sometimes we’re more interested in the latest gossip or seeing how everyone looks. Sometimes we just want people to see how Christian we look. We don’t really consider our sinfulness. We started this service by talking about joy, but joy seems quite absent from this account and from John’s words, and from Christmas preparations that are nothing more than telling us how bad we are. Not only does John talk about throwing the trees into the fire, he talks later about cleaning out a threshing floor and throwing all the chaff, all the unusable parts of the wheat plant, into the fire. And just in case we didn’t connect that talk to the ultimate, hellish consequence of sin, John reminds us that this fire is unquenchable. No, there’s not much joy in these words.
But there is certainly joy in the message of John. The last verse of our text summarizes John’s message like this: Then with many other words, he appealed to them and was preaching good news to the people.
In the proper context, repentance is not bad news. It is good news. This is news that ultimately points to the Savior. The people were asking John if he was the Christ, the Messiah, the one whom God had promised to send. He was not the Christ. He was pointing to the Christ. He was not the Promised One. That one was even greater, far greater than John. That one would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. That one was the judge of all people. But that one was also and is also the Savior of all people. That’s why John is not even worthy to untie his sandals.
And that is why some people took to heart the message John was preaching in the wilderness. There was a contingent that had come out to John only for the outward appearance, but others paid careful attention to his message. They heard not only about repentance but also about forgiveness. They heard the good news of a Savior. They heard the good news of his power and his love. They did not expect to behave well enough to earn forgiveness. They did not assume that they could fix their own lives. They heard the good news and became fruitful trees. But they still needed some guidance.
Luke tells us about the crowds, about tax collectors, and about soldiers all coming to John the Baptist and asking, “What should we do?” And the answer for each one who asked depended on their situation. It depended on their relationships. It depended on the position into which God had called them. Those God had blessed with food and clothing could serve their neighbors by sharing. The tax collectors who were notorious for overcharging and taking advantage could be honest and even-handed. The soldiers who had the power of force could avoid using it for personal gain and could demonstrate contentment. There is no hint in these conversations that the questions were dishonest or forced. They give no impression that these are begrudging actions. These were all people who had come to John and heard about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. They rejoiced to learn that the Savior was coming and they gladly looked for ways to show love in their lives. Unlike the dead trees fit only for firewood, these were trees bearing fruit. These were Christians empowered by the good news to bear good fruit.
And that is what you are, too.
You have come to know that a real Christmas results in great joy. You have learned what the apostle means when he says that you can rejoice always because the Lord is near. You have learned what the prophet Zephaniah rejoiced to see from a distance, the fact that God rejoices over his people and that he has removed his judgment from you. And so you have come out to the banks of the Jordan River to listen to John tell about the Christ and his power and his love. You know how the prophecies connect to the little baby born in Bethlehem who as an adult would come to John for baptism even though he had no sins of his own to confess. You know how he would die like a criminal even though he had committed not a single offence.
That good news brings great joy—joy that transcends and overcomes suffering and challenging circumstances. And that great joy leads to good fruit. You don’t need to ask John the Baptist, but you can go to the Scriptures. You can ask Christian friends and leaders and pastors. You can think about your relationships and your callings, and you can consider how you might best serve others. And you have some templates from the Baptizer’s words: be generous. Don’t take advantage of others. Use power to serve others, not lord it over them. Bear these fruits of repentance willingly, thankfully, and joyfully.
There are plenty of forces and people and worries and concerns that could threaten your Christmas joy. But you have a reason to rejoice always. Your Lord is near. He will gather his wheat into his barn. He has forgiven your sins. He has empowered your good works. That’s the good news we hear from the man who first calls the crowds offspring of vipers. That’s the good news that brings good fruit. That good news is what gives us a real Christmas and real Christmas joy.
The Text: Luke 3:7–18 (EHV)
7So John kept saying to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Therefore produce fruits in keeping with repentance! Do not even think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ because I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. 9Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10The crowds began to ask him, “What should we do then?”
11He answered them, “Whoever has two shirts should share with the person who has none, and whoever has food should do the same.”
12Tax collectors also came to be baptized. They said, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13To them he said, “Collect no more than what you were authorized to.”
14Soldiers were also asking him, “And what should we do?”
He told them, “Do not extort money from anyone by force or false accusation. Be satisfied with your wages.”
15The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Christ. 16John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But someone mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
17His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
18Then with many other words, he appealed to them and was preaching good news to the people.