John, ‘the Baptist’ as he is called, is a celebrity preacher in 1st Century Palestine. He is on a speaking tour into all the country around the Jordan (Luke 3:3). People are making an effort to see him. In order to see John in those days you can’t just hop the TTC or catch a ride. You have to walk, by and large, and you have to walk and long way; you probably have to take at least one day off work.
Picture this scenario with me. Pick some famous person you want to see; they are coming near Toronto – maybe a couple of hours away - and you have been given free tickets. (Who might that be?) You take time off work or cancel your plans for the day to go see them. Now imagine that they are a celebrity preacher. Major Danielle Strickland of The Salvation Army was recently named one of the most influential Christian speakers. Imagine she comes to town. Big crowds come to see her and not just Salvationists but all kinds of us. Let’s say we get a bus full of people and we all take the day off kettles to hear her. She has this great ministry of telling us to turn to God, to repent of our sins. We are among hundreds or thousands of others who take the time and make the effort to come to see her. And when we get there she says (cf. vv.7-9), “All of you who have come to see me… you are a bunch of snakes, why are you here!?" (Can you imagine?) "Who told you, you could be saved!? You need to start acting like Christians! And don’t tell me you’ve been a Christian since you were six or you had this life changing moment when you were eleven or your great grandmother was saved through William Booth himself on the streets of London 100 plus years ago. Don’t tell me you don’t need saving because you are already a child of God. I tell you the truth God can raise up children from these rocks here if he wants to; if you say you are His children you need to start acting like it!”[1] Can you imagine? How would you feel? What would you think?
This is what it would be like for people in our text today who have made this effort to go hear John in the desert; he addresses the crowds in much the same way, telling them that if they think they are children of Abraham, they’re really not unless they start acting like children of Abraham. In today’s colloquial vernacular, many who went to the desert may have ‘thought they were saved’ but John says, are you so sure about that? This is quite a greeting!
It is effective though.[2] Luke records voices seeking salvation in the disparate crowd calling out to him, “what should we do then?!” (v.10). John tells them, in essence, if you think you are saved, and if you really are a part of the ‘Kingdom to Come’, then, Verse 11, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
How many people here have two shirts – or more? How many people in our world have none? How many people here will eat today? How many people in our world won’t? Now I know most of us here are good at sharing with our friends who need food, clothing, and other items – individually and through The Salvation Army. I know there are many people here who would give the shirt right off their own back to someone in need. John, the Baptist, says that that is because you are a part of the Kingdom of God. I love it when we study the Gospel of Luke in Advent because Luke, like the Army's spiritual grandfather John Wesley, is crystal clear in presenting the Gospel as a social justice gospel: Christians will not acquire and hoard wealth while others are in need.[3] The Baptist says, quite the opposite, “produce acts in keeping with repentance” (v.7).
Picture this scenario with me. Pick some famous person you want to see; they are coming near Toronto – maybe a couple of hours away - and you have been given free tickets. (Who might that be?) You take time off work or cancel your plans for the day to go see them. Now imagine that they are a celebrity preacher. Major Danielle Strickland of The Salvation Army was recently named one of the most influential Christian speakers. Imagine she comes to town. Big crowds come to see her and not just Salvationists but all kinds of us. Let’s say we get a bus full of people and we all take the day off kettles to hear her. She has this great ministry of telling us to turn to God, to repent of our sins. We are among hundreds or thousands of others who take the time and make the effort to come to see her. And when we get there she says (cf. vv.7-9), “All of you who have come to see me… you are a bunch of snakes, why are you here!?" (Can you imagine?) "Who told you, you could be saved!? You need to start acting like Christians! And don’t tell me you’ve been a Christian since you were six or you had this life changing moment when you were eleven or your great grandmother was saved through William Booth himself on the streets of London 100 plus years ago. Don’t tell me you don’t need saving because you are already a child of God. I tell you the truth God can raise up children from these rocks here if he wants to; if you say you are His children you need to start acting like it!”[1] Can you imagine? How would you feel? What would you think?
This is what it would be like for people in our text today who have made this effort to go hear John in the desert; he addresses the crowds in much the same way, telling them that if they think they are children of Abraham, they’re really not unless they start acting like children of Abraham. In today’s colloquial vernacular, many who went to the desert may have ‘thought they were saved’ but John says, are you so sure about that? This is quite a greeting!
It is effective though.[2] Luke records voices seeking salvation in the disparate crowd calling out to him, “what should we do then?!” (v.10). John tells them, in essence, if you think you are saved, and if you really are a part of the ‘Kingdom to Come’, then, Verse 11, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
How many people here have two shirts – or more? How many people in our world have none? How many people here will eat today? How many people in our world won’t? Now I know most of us here are good at sharing with our friends who need food, clothing, and other items – individually and through The Salvation Army. I know there are many people here who would give the shirt right off their own back to someone in need. John, the Baptist, says that that is because you are a part of the Kingdom of God. I love it when we study the Gospel of Luke in Advent because Luke, like the Army's spiritual grandfather John Wesley, is crystal clear in presenting the Gospel as a social justice gospel: Christians will not acquire and hoard wealth while others are in need.[3] The Baptist says, quite the opposite, “produce acts in keeping with repentance” (v.7).
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