Saint Luke, 1360–64
Attributed to Master Theodoric
Prague
Attributed to Master Theodoric
Prague
Luke 3:1-22
Introduction: God Is on the Move ... The Time Is Now
The Bible is a book about a movements. To be more precise, it's a story of God's
movement. God is always the first mover,
whether we are talking about the work of creation or the work of re-creation/salvation.
The opening movement is clear.
God moves in Genesis 1 & 2 to create and establish beauty, order,
abundance, life, harmony in relationship, and the opportunity for us to dwell
with God. God's intention is for us to live in a creative, dynamic and open relationship where God is still and
always Lord, but where God also enables us to utilize and enjoy our God-given freedom and
power. Long before we encounter our "original" sin, "grace -God's presence in our lives - is even more 'original,' or fundamental, to our existence ... Grace prevails, if we allow it to." (Kevin O'Brien, The Ignatian Adventure, pg. 97).
Unfortunately, our spiritual parents chose not to remain in this
state of "original" grace.
They openly defied God's orders (Gen. 3). The effects of this original sin were
disastrous. All that we know to plague
us as humans was introduced by Adam and Eve's rebellion. Suspicion crept into our hearts and
minds. Rather than relating to each
other in openness and with a spirit of love and trust, we began to blame and
find grounds for accusation. Enmity was
introduced between ourselves (Adam against Eve) and between us and God's
creation (humanity vs. creation). Loving
trust gets replaced with fear. Living
in the confidence that we are God's beloved gets replaced with
shame. We go from feeling secure to
feeling vulnerable. We go - in short - from life to death.
We can call this the second - unfortunate - movement in the story
of the Bible. We can even label it
"our rebellion" - our movement away from God. We see this tragic truth play out immediately
after Adam and Eve's Fall. We don't just
merely make one bad decision. Our enmity
leads to open competition and the first murder (Gen. 4). Racism and divisions between our special
"clans" are introduced (Gen. 4-5).
Led now by greed instead of harmony, we exploit and abuse creation in
order to build our own towers of glory (Gen. 11). In all, we set ourselves in direct opposition
to God.
Though we were created by God to enjoy and find favor/life by
living in relationship (not just with God but with each other and with
creation), sin forces us into all out war. The Lord seems heartbroken and uncertain with
what to do, choosing first an attempt at re-creation through the Flood (Gen.
6). Thankfully, though, God turns from
divine retribution and begins seeking to reclaim and save us. In fact, the whole rest of the Bible can be
seen as God's passionate, loving attempt to rescue a wayward and beloved child.
God's Holy Agents
And just how will God rescue us?
Beginning in Genesis 12 we see God's means for reclaiming us and calling
us back into relationship with Him. The
Lord is going to use specific men and women to become his agents and prophets,
his voice to this lost world. First, it
is Abraham and his family. Later it will
be Moses and Miriam and Aaron. Then
Joshua. Then the Judges. Then - for a time - it will be the priests
whom God raises up to call God's people back to the Lord, followed by Israel's
first few kings. However, from the
start, using kings to draw God's people out of the world and back to God's ways is destined to fail. There
is too much temptation in the realms of power to return to that second movement. We are too prone to seek to be like gods and to seek our own comfort and satisfaction. We
are too prone to set ourselves in opposition to God's rule.
The Prophet
Consequently, God must raise up that other agent. God must use the prophet - the agent, the
voice, the chosen one whose voice will speak God's Word. The prophet will have to find a way to break
through our resistance and our high walls of pride and sin. The prophet will have to raise his voice as
an outsider - telling us to flee from our cities destined for destruction and
our lives headed for ruin. The Lord
wants to rescue us. The third movement
is salvation. But, we have to listen for
the prophet's voice.
The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler[a] of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler[b] of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler[c] of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
Political Leaders: Footnotes in God's Salvation Story
This is the situation we are stepping into when we jump into the
third chapter of Luke. Humanity is
resisting God. New political powers and
leaders have established themselves by manipulation and power plays. At the top is Emperor Tiberius, the ruler of
the latest version of humanity's rebellious attempts to overthrow and overtake
God's rule as Lord of creation. Under
him are those men struggling to choke control and power out of Israel's
institutions: Pontius Pilate, Herod,
Philip, Lysanius from the political/military world and Annas and Caiaphas from the
religious establishment.
By our human perspective, these men were the "big
deals" of their day. They were the
men recorded in the annals of history, the men whose names are etched into
stone and captured in marble busts.
But, Luke, as one of those "other" voices seeking to
wake us back up to God's voice, does something beautiful and comic by putting
these men at the start of this Jesus story.
He is - as others have said - making us realize that the "big"
political leaders of the world are mere footnotes in God's bigger and deeper
movement of salvation. Though they
pretend to be at the center of everything (and though we often make the mistake
of thinking they are), they are ancillary to God's bigger drama. What a valuable reminder to us as Christians
as we move deeper into this already long election year!
the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
God's Salvation Movement: From the Margins
Since we are in rebellion against God, the work and word of our
salvation must come not from the city center or the central bank. It must come from the margins. God must speak from beyond the "powers
and principalities" that have become infected with sin and its effects.
Welcome, then, John the Bapstist, the son of Zecariah! The son of a priest who was once connected to
the establishment, but who also suffered marginalization, John the Baptist is
perfectly equipped to carry out this mission.
Luke, like the other gospel writers, wants us to see how John the Baptist is standing in the tradition of other prophets who
have come before him to speak truth to power and to proclaim God's saving word
over and above the false world of human progress that is actually leading to
death and choking out life from creation.
We are meant to see that John the Baptist shares a particular connection
with Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbe (1 Kings 17). Both men begin their ministry near the Jordan
out "in the wilderness". Both
men begin their ministry living in radical dependence upon God and a restored
harmony with creation (fed by Ravens/eating locusts and wild honey). Moreover, both men are charged with a radical
message of repentance - insisting that we in general and leaders in particular
turn from our hearts of rebellion and pride and open up our hearts, minds and
ears to hear God's rescuing word.
7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Desperate Times Call for Desparate Actions
In order to break through our defenses, John the Baptist must do
more than simply be a "good pastor" who preaches on Sunday mornings
and tries to fill up the pews. He must
come to afflict the comfortable, which is precisely what we see him doing in
the first words Luke has him speaking:
"You brood of vipers! ... every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire" (Lk. 3:7-9).
Each of us prefers to see ourselves in the best light we can and
to pretend that our situation surely isn't that bad. One of the ways we do this is by constantly
comparing ourselves to others and by creating class systems. We marginalize and label certain people as
"sinners" (or "terrorists") so we can feel
justified or safe. For John's audience,
they played this game by claiming their special position as God's people and as
God's favored nation. Since they were
the ancestors of Abraham, surely they couldn't be too bad, was their general thinking. Surely, they were on the right path. Such thinking needs to be immediately
undermined and challenged. So long as we
are content to rest in our human/cultural given identity, we are not truly free
to hear God's saving word.
More than Just Good, Church-going People
The implications of John the Baptist's harsh accusations should
hit us hard too. First of all, we must
be very careful since we are the good, church-going people of our own
community. Too often, we can begin to
rely upon our "religious identity" as proof that we are fine just the
way we are. One way to translate this
passage from Luke is to have it read as follows: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Actually start changing your
life. Don't say to yourselves, 'I am a
Presbyterian and have been a member since 1954'; for I tell you. God doesn't need your church affiliation and
membership. God needs you to cross out
of resting in your places of worldly establishment and comfort and to begin
living lives that truly are about bringing justice into this world, especially
to those who are "left out" and marginalized."
More than Just Good, Patriotic People
We also need to hear John the Baptist's words coming at us in
another way. Too often we are prone to
idolizing our nation and falling into a type of patriotism that we claim is
Christian, but is actually much more like the idolatry occurring in Jesus' day
about the Roman Empire. As sinful
people, we are particularly prone to mistaking earthly kingdoms for God's Kingdom. We almost can't help falling into this
trap. The Israelites did it time and
time again in the Old Testament, most particularly in their idolatry with their
leaders (Saul/Solomon) but also with the very idea of the greatness and
"preferred" place of their nation.
We know that the wider world was falling into this trap during
Jesus' time with the Roman Empire. The
statement "Jesus is Lord" at the heart of our faith is actually a
subversive, counter-cultural truth proclaimed against the other idea that was
out there and that people were being forced to say, "Caesar is
Lord." John the Baptist's audience
was in danger not only of falling into the habit of thinking they were safe
because they were good Jews. They were
also living in a culture that was begging people to give their faith and trust
and control over to a political body that promised to give them worldly
security and favor.
The connection is only too relevant for us living in the times
that we do and as citizens of the world's most powerful force. Even if the
popular spin today from some is to keep highlighting America's supposed decline into
weakness or vulnerability to outside threats, the truth is that a vast amount of wealth and power is still heavily invested and controlled by our nation.
And just as we must be always on the lookout of simply relying
upon our "religious" identity, we must also be equally vigorous in
falling into an unhealthy, idolatrous patriotism where we see ourselves as more
secure, more favored or more important than other people or other parts of the
world. Here, too, we can imagine John
the Baptist speaking to our current situation:
"You brood of vipers! Do not
say that just because you are an American that you have found God's favor. What God really cares about is not your
earthly citizenship. What God cares
about is whether or not you are living like you belong in God's Kingdom."
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
God's Kingdom, God's Ethics
So what kind of world does God long to recreate for us? If God doesn't want us to simply go along
with the dominant culture any more, how can we begin to live more in line with
God's desires for our world?
These are the next questions that John the Baptist addresses in
his sermon. He's
gotten his audience's attention. Now he gives him his ethics lesson.
What we
get here with John's teaching and ethics is our first taste of what we're going
to be hearing from Jesus. We are
beginning to hear God's re-imagining of how we are to live our lives in this
fallen world. Remember, God wants to
rescue us out of this world and bring us back into God's good plan for our new
life. Jesus called this next movement
from God "The Kingdom of God."
We will soon learn that the only way to gain entrance into this
"Kingdom of God" is through Jesus, by his saving and gracious
work. Still, there are ways we can begin
to prepare ourselves to enter into and live in this kingdom.
The essence of what John has to say is simply this: once you have repented and started anew,
start living a life that reflects God's original intent way back in Genesis 1
& 2. Live a fair and just life. Work against the forces of inequality that
are ever at play in our fallen world.
Don't exploit or take advantage of your neighbor, but go out of your way
to live in unity with one another. And
don't worry about your own image or your own bank account.
15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,[d]16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with[e] the Holy Spirit and fire.17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Hero Worship
Then, after sensing his audience was immediately falling back into their old habit of wanting
to classify and start a cult of personality by worshiping John the Baptist as a Messiah (we can't help but be idolaters!), John intentionally resists their
hero worship. No, he is not the Messiah. He's just a messenger. All God's messengers must heed this warning
continuously. We are not the
Savior. All we do is stand and point.
18 So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people. 19 But Herod the ruler,[f] who had been rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added to them all by shutting up John in prison.
Resistance
In our sickness, we cannot stand threats to the false identities
we have built up and secured through our efforts and our manipulation. So, we are not surprised at all to learn that
John the Baptist is immediately targeted and cast as an "enemy of the
state." Herod, one of those earlier
footnotes, has a big position, but like so many before him, he has a small and
wounded ego. Because his identity is not
rooted in his image as a child of God and because he has willfully created an
image as a powerful ruler who needs and demands respect, Herod sees John the
Baptist as a threat.
Doing God's work will lead to deep resistance from the
established powers actively working against God. We know that our deepest battle isn't with
politicians or with "flesh and blood." Sin is a spiritual reality that is housed in
institutions and powers like political and economic systems, but sin can also
into our hearts and minds so that we become threatened by God's Word. We feel challenged by the work of the Spirit
in the world, and if we are not careful, we will seek to do away with God's
messenger.
The Baptism of Jesus
Jesus' Baptism & Our Baptism: One Final Way to See What God Is Up to
I won't spend much time on this because I'll lift it up more in
worship on Sunday, but the final two verses of our passage give us
one other great way to see who God is and how God is trying to speak into our
life.
Jesus is baptized by John, and in Jesus' baptism we receive some
of the most important affirmations we need to hear. We just saw how Herod was not able
to rest in his identity as a child of God.
He is living into his false or fallen identity. Here, though, we see Jesus beautifully
modeling what it looks like and means to return to our original state of
grace: that of God's beloved child.
In Jesus' baptism, we see God bestowing absolute favor and love
upon His son. We must remember that by
grace this same reality now extends to us through Jesus Christ. In Christ, God looks upon you and says in no
uncertain terms, "You are my son/daughter; you are beloved. With you I am well pleased." (In Christ, in other words, we are returned
to our original condition).
Alan Storey does a beautiful job of explaining just how key this
realization/truth is to our being able to live for Christ when he writes:
"Love casts out fear, therefore the second thing God is
determined we realize is: 'You are
favored.' In other words, we are graced,
i.e. - un-deservedly and un-reservedly loved.
We live in a world however, where some people are valued more than
others. This is the great lie. The Divine wants all to know that our lives
are priceless. We are set free from our
fear the moment we accept that we are favored, priceless and held in Love. We are invited to trust that nothing can
separate us from this Love, because we live and move and have our being in Love
- Divine Love. Jesus teaches us that the
ultimate authority in the universe (heaven) is a Loving Parent - a Loving Parent
who we do not need to fear and a Loving Parent who we do not need to impress in
order to love us." (com.org.za, "Conversations with God", July
31, 2016).
Postscript: God's Wrath
A lot of times I get questions about God's wrath or anger in the
Bible. God's fierceness comes up in this
passage, when we hear about "the wrath to come" and about how Jesus
himself will be bringing a "winnowing fork" to divide the wheat and
the chaff - throwing the chaff into the "unquenchable fire".
People don't like to think of God as an angry
God, and we can all understand why. But I was reminded in reading in Eugene Peterson's Five Smooth
Stones book that we often fail to see the good connection between God's personal love for us and his consuming fire that responds to seeing us being harmed or living a self-destructive life.
From our perspective, we often dwell upon the
ungodly aspects of fear and anger.
Perhaps we had to deal with a parent lashing out in anger in a way that
was hurtful. Or, we've all known those
who seem to "blow their top" because they are actually dealing with
their own deeper issues and insecurities.
God's anger is not like this.
God's anger and fierce emotion derives not out of insecurity or a
hot-headedness that seeks to control.
God's anger is rooted in love, and we must always remember that God is
not an indifferent being. God is
relational has a passionate, consuming love for us. This is why the prophets in the Old Testament
often speak about God as a spurned lover, suffering heartache in watching his
beloved go chasing after "less-wild lovers". We would be appalled and disheartened if we
saw a husband not feeling any sense of anger if he were watching his wife fall
into an unhealthy relationship or vice versa. The same
goes for parents. We understand and even
see it as a healthy thing when a parent feels a great pain and even anger when
she sees that her child is being seduced into a life that will lead to a type
of imprisonment, perhaps even death.
This is godly anger. It is the
passion that so desires us to come out of our sickness and death that it will
do all that it can to win us back.
God loves us enough to fight for us. God loves us enough to not just sit there and
watch us remain in prison.
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