12-16-18 Grace-Tucson Sermon

Luke 3:7-18 [Advent 3]

Pastor Ron Koehler

Grace—Tucson, AZ

December 16, 2018

In the name of Jesus, our Savior, for whom we wait, dear friends, How many kids just cannot wait for Christmas? But it’s not just Christmas that we have trouble waiting for. And it’s not just kids that have difficulty waiting patiently. What about the totally-in-love engaged couple who respects God’s plan for marriage and intimacy? What about the person who has been told that she has a big surprise coming for her birthday? What about the aged Christian who is tired of this life and wants so badly to go to their Savior, not understanding their purpose in this world anymore?

There are lots of instances where we’re a little antsy for something to happen. We are anticipating, expecting, waiting.

In some cases, you may tell someone just what they need to know and you might even tell them what they need to do as they prepare for the thing they are looking forward to.

For example, if you are planning a big party in honor of a person, you may give instructions like, “Be ready to go at 4 o’clock; we’ll pick you up at the house…dress nicely…it will be an all-evening event,” and so on. You prep them and they wait expectantly because you’ve told them enough so that they know that you care about them and have planned something wonderful for them to enjoy.

You have a sense of how much your Savior loves you, don’t you? And you realize— right—that your Savior has something wonderful planned for you to enjoy when he comes again? If so, then you should be able to see the reasons for joy behind the words of John the Baptist in our lesson, even though they may appear on the surface to be less-than-joyful words! Although John doesn’t give all the details about the surprise of that last day and the glory and gift of heaven, his words offer JOY FOR PEOPLE WHO WAIT EXPECTANTLY because he tells us 1. WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW 2. WHAT WE ARE TO DO as we wait.

So, imagine that you are hiking out into the desert, out by the Jordan River to see this magnificent preacher named John—and you think you might want to be baptized too.

You get out there and you’re stunned as he starts yelling at you! He calls you a “viper”—a snake—and starts preaching law that burns your heart worse than the desert sun burns your skin! This isn’t quite what you expected! But the name-calling and the warning about the wrath of God that was on the way was absolutely necessary.

John the Baptist was called by God to prepare the people for Jesus’ coming to them.

And in order to prepare the hearts of the people, he had to warn them of the righteous judgment of Christ which falls upon the unbelieving person…the unrepentant sinner…the one who will not look to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. John knew that proper faith was not found in their hearts, that serious consideration of their sins and sincere repentance was needed before the holy God! Even before the crowds had seen Jesus once, John was already giving them a warning about Jesus’ Second Coming in Judgment.

You might think that those people wouldn’t have needed this kind of preaching. After all, they were very proud of being Jewish, God’s people. They took great pride in knowing that Abraham was in their family tree—the “Father of all believers” who received specific promises about the Savior. But you see, they took too much pride in that. Some, evidently, believed that being related to Abraham was enough to get them into heaven. But to God, that wasn’t going to cut it. He was looking for something other than impressive bloodlines.

And it wasn’t even enough that they people took an interest in John and his baptism.

The hearts of the people were not in tune with God’s. God wanted hearts that looked to him in faith. There was no hope for those who, despite their ancestry, chose to worship themselves, knowledge, or the world instead of God. It is no different for any of us who might try to depend on our parents’ faith…or our family’s history at the church…or a friendship with the pastor or something like that to gain us the love of God. So for a picture of the judgment that awaited rebellious souls such as these, John talks about the ax being already at the root of the trees. The ax of God’s judgment that would cut people off from him for eternity was poised and ready to swing with almighty force upon these people! How different a picture this is from the one painted in Psalm 1 that describes the righteous person as a tree planted by the streams of living water of God’s Word! That kind of tree, God says, bears fruit that reveals faith-filled hearts. You heard how John urged the people to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance (v.8).”

The law shows us that we have done wrong in God’s eyes. The gospel shows us the undeserved love of the holy God. John preached both law and gospel as we do today, but the big question then is the same as now—which do you use when?

Those people needed to know that God was serious about sin and the judgment of souls on the Last Day. So his messenger, John the Baptist, gave them, in vivid language, a warning—the law—to lead them to repentance and to a life that revealed real repentance! He told them other things that they needed to know. He said, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire (v.16-17).” He made it clear to those waiting expectantly for the Savior that he was not the Christ. John was a powerful preacher, but the Messiah would be far more powerful and use more than water on the people. The Savior would pour out faith through the Holy Spirit.

Another picture told them something else they should know. After the oxen trampled the grain from the field, the farmer would take the pitchfork and toss the grain and straw to separate them. Then he’d take a shovel or a basket, scoop it up and toss it in the air. The heavier grain would fall back into the shovel or basket and the lighter straw pieces or chaff would be blown away by the wind. The good grain was then separated

from the chaff and could be taken into the barn. That is what the righteous Judge Jesus will do with people. The worthless chaff—those who reject him—will be separated and blown away into hell with divine judgment. The good grain—those with faith in Christ—will be brought into heaven.

What those people needed to know is what we need to know. Jesus will come as the Judge of all people. Because of our sins—whatever and however many they are—we need to repent and appeal to God’s mercy and forgiveness in Christ. A Christian then wants to live in a way that shows that repentance and gratefulness to God. And finally, we need to know that when the Day we WAIT EXPECTANTLY FOR comes, it will be a final judgment for all eternity— all unbelievers will be blown away into the fires of hell and all believers will be gathered into the JOY of heaven.

When we consider the things John the Baptist tells us, what brings us joy is that, even though there is sorrow over sins when we repent, we are confident that we are forgiven through Jesus! What brings us joy is that, even though the Last Day will hold terror for many, it will be the day we are brought home to heaven with God. So it is with JOY THAT WE WAIT EXPECTANTLY for our Savior to come.

I think the obvious question for all who hear John the Baptist’s preaching about repentance and the return of Christ at the End is, “What should we do then?”

Because those first listeners bothered to stick around and ask that question, you know that they were concerned about their sin, as I hope you are. They assumed responsibility. They wanted practical instruction on how to live this repentance and faith. Isn’t that what you and I want also?

John, although he preached against sin, didn’t suggest that you could work yourself out from underneath God’s judgment and the looming threat of eternal separation from God. Remember, God’s job for John was to point to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He obviously points to Jesus when he tells them of the One more powerful than him who would send the Holy Spirit. He wanted the people to know that the Savior would bring forgiveness and life. John was a faithful messenger of both the Law and the Gospel. Repentance and turning to the Coming Christ for forgiveness and salvation was the #1 message of John. Living that faith FOLLOWED the love given to them by Jesus—and to us as well. It is JOY over Christ’s forgiveness and love that prompts us to live for him.

So, back to “What should we do then” to express our JOY and our love for Jesus?

Let’s look again at what John told them: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

Love, compassion, unselfishness, caring, mercy—that is what is behind the instructions John gave. This is true: God looks at us showing love to others as our JOYFUL response to the love we have received from Christ. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus would later say as he summarized God’s expectation for us (Matthew 22:39). As we prepare to meet our Lord when he comes, this kind of love is our way of life—it is a way we express the JOY we have in Christ.

Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. You notice that John didn’t tell them to stop being tax collectors; he told them to simply act like God’s people on the job! Not many of us work for the IRS, but the principle is the same for us: don’t be greedy, don’t steal or cheat people, be fair and honest. Christians find JOY in their everyday work as they go about it this way.

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.” Not many of us are military or paramilitary, like police, but some of you are. You can see how God would be unhappy if Christians in those positions of governmental authority took bribes or falsely accused others or were malcontents. The rest of us easily see the principles which apply to us as well: don’t cheat others, blaspheme or slander, or wallow in discontentment. Again, it is not a burden, but a JOY for Christians to live this way as they await their Savior.

The people crowded around John were waiting expectantly, it says. As they did, they wanted to know how to prepare, how to live for God. They had questions.

The message of a hairy, grasshopper-eating, camel-cloth-wearing, fiery preacher in the desert of Jesus’ day is EXACTLY the message you and I need to take to heart this very day and every day we draw breath on this earth.

It is a message that brings us JOY because we know that as we repent of our sins, we are assured of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus.

His words bring JOY because, though he tells us how to live for God as we wait for Jesus to come, we don’t view it as burden or the measure by which we’ll be judged as far as getting into heaven is concerned. No, we understand that living a life like he describes reflects Jesus’ love for us and expresses just how much we appreciate the salvation he will soon bring us!

Because of the faith we have by the power of the Holy Spirit, you and I hear John the Baptist’s preaching and we find that there is JOY FOR PEOPLE WHO WAIT EXPECTANTLY for Jesus. May that JOY be yours as you wait to celebrate the Savior’s coming at Christmas and as you wait for him to come again with your salvation! Amen.

Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.