Sermon on Luke 3:7-18

Text: John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.
14 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.”
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is 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 fire. 17 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.” 18 And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

If you go to the bookstore or watch television or look on the internet, you will find many different experts telling you how to do something. Look how many different places will teach you how to cook various dishes. There are places that can teach you how to use your computer to its fullest potential. You can learn how to do taxidermy. This morning, as we continue our look at Luke 3, John the Baptist is going to teach us something, something of far greater value than anything I have mentioned so far. JOHN SHOWS WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE FOR CHRIST. He does so 1. By His Preaching and 2. By His Example.

John was at the height of his popularity in our text. People were streaming out to hear him and to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. With that being the case, you might wonder why he would address the crowds coming out to him by saying, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” (Verse 7) He called them a bunch of snakes. John, having lived in the desert, would have been well acquainted with these animals. They were tricky, often looking like dead branches lying there. Once they bit you, they would often hang on. This is how John addressed the crowds coming out to him. Hardly the way to win friends and influence people!

John was especially talking to the religious leaders of the day. They were misleading the people into thinking that, by the way they lived their lives and by the fact that they were of the chosen nation of Israel, they would be saved. We see that from the fact that he said to them, “Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’” (Verse 8)

Yet, John addressed the people like this for a reason. He was, using the law, trying to get the people to see that they were not as perfect as they liked to think that they were. They needed to see that they could not save themselves, no matter how hard they might have tried. They were lost and condemned, despite their outward appearances.

Living for Christ sometimes means that we too must stand up for what is right in our world today. It means calling something that is wrong, a sin. This flies in the face of all that you hear today. Everyone tries to be politically correct and not to offend anyone. We would never want to hurt anyone’s self-esteem. So, we tiptoe around sensitive topics, hoping that no one asks our opinion of what is going on. Yet, living for Christ means that his will and his Word is so important to us, that we cannot bear to see it besmirched. We are upset when people are living contrary to what God’s Word so clearly says. We are willing to even face a little ire when we tell others that what they are doing is wrong.

Yet, this preaching isn’t only for all those “bad” people out there. We, too, having heard the Word of God, come in repentance and want our lives to give glory to God. We see this attitude in the three groups of people who came to John with this question, “What should we do then?” First, John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” (Verse 11) In other words, John is saying that, if you see someone in need, you help them out, as best you can. Christian love will motivate to help others.

The second group that came to John were tax collectors. They also wanted to know what they should do. John replied, “Don’t collect any more than you are required to.” (Verse 13) These men worked for the Roman government and collected taxes for a certain area. The way that they made their living was to tack on an amount which would be theirs. You can see how this would be a temptation to add on more and more, and because of this, the tax collectors were hated. John told them that they were not to take more than they needed.

The third group that came were some soldiers. They wanted to know what they should do. John told them, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely — be content with your pay.” (Verse 14) Because the Roman soldiers were there as an occupying force, some of them would make up for a meager salary by extorting money from the people by force or by blackmailing them. John said that true repentance would show itself by how they lived their lives.

We, also, as Christians, want to live our lives in repentance. Repentance is not only feeling sorry for our sins. That is a part of it, to be sure. Repentance is also trusting that Jesus paid for all our sins and then, with his help, to live lives that give glory to him. We call these our good works. We know that, in every situation in our lives, there are temptations to do what is wrong. If I am an employee, there is the temptation to only work or work hard when the boss is looking. If I am a husband or wife, there is the temptation to be loving only as long as I feel my needs are being met. If I am a parent, there is the temptation to say cruel things to my children, and just expect that they will forgive me. If I am a child, there is the temptation to talk back to my parents or to make fun of them, when they are not around. Sometimes, the person that needs the most preaching to is the person that looks back at us in the mirror every morning. When I have failed to live as God would have me live, I need to have the law preached to me, as well. Then, having been assured of the forgiveness of our sins, we will want to live for Christ. This is the first thing that John shows us this morning.

The second way that John shows us how to live for Christ is by his example. As I stated earlier, John was at the height of his popularity at the moment. As a matter of fact, we read in verse 15, “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah.” When the people heard the forceful way that John was preaching and how he was completely different from anyone else they had ever heard, they started to debate among themselves, if John might possibly be the one that was promised to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

John quickly dispelled this thought, pointing away from himself and pointing to the one who would come. John pointed away from himself, by showing that he was unworthy of even untying the thongs of the sandals of the one who would come after him. This was the task for the lowliest slave in the household. They would take off the shoes of those who were traveling through all the dirt and dust. What a demeaning job! Yet, John says that he was not even worthy of doing this for the one who would come.

John pointed away from himself by saying, “I baptize you with water . . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Verse 16) This is not to say that there was no value in John’s baptism. Yet, John realized the power of the one who would come after him. It was because of him that John’s baptism had value. John quickly pointed away from himself and pointed to Christ. In verse 18, we read that “With many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.” In other words, John preached the gospel to them. So often, we think of John as only one who harshly spoke to the people. This is the way that he got the people ready for the coming Savior. Sometimes, we forget that John also preached the gospel. It was John, who said to his disciples as Jesus walked past, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) John, by his example, shows us what it means to live for Christ. Without Christ, John realized he was nothing. With Christ, he had everything.

This is something that we can all be reminded of again and again. Sometimes, we fool ourselves into thinking that we are better than we really are. We catch ourselves thinking that we are good people all on our own. Besides that, our family was one of the founding members of this congregation. We almost get to the point of thinking that God owes us something for how good we are. Sometimes this is exaggerated when someone comes up to us and compliments us on how wonderful we are. This is not to say that we do these things for the praise that we can get. We may, legitimately, be doing them for God’s glory. Yet, there is that part of us that likes to pat itself on the back.

May we learn from John’s example about how to live for Christ. We point away from ourselves. We point to Christ, who has done everything for our salvation. Without him, we would have been lost forever. All those times that we yielded to the temptations we spoke of earlier would have stood in testimony against us. Our sins would have condemned us to an eternity of punishment in hell. However, Jesus did come to the earth to be our Savior. He did everything for us, so that we would be saved. He came to the earth and during his thirty-three years here, he perfectly fulfilled his Father’s will in our place. Then, he was that Lamb of God, who did come to take away the sins of the world by being the ultimate Sacrifice for our sins. His blood was poured out so that our sins would be washed away.

In addition, Jesus has baptized with the Spirit and with fire. We have been baptized with the Spirit. We see evidence of this in the fact that we have been brought to faith, for it is the Holy Spirit who creates faith. We, also, have been baptized with fire. This fire is a cleansing or purifying fire, as is used to get rid of the impurities in gold. We have had a new man created in us that wants to live to God’s glory. It delights in doing things God’s way. This is none of our doing. It is all ours because of Jesus Christ.

As Christians, we realize that without Christ, we are nothing. With him, we have everything. Living for Christ means that we point away from ourselves, and we point to Christ as the reason we are anything and have our hope of eternal life.

John shows us what it means to live for Christ. He showed that by his preaching. We can show it by testifying to others. We also show it by preaching to ourselves. John also has shown us how to live for Christ by his example of pointing away from himself and pointing to Christ. We show our love for Christ in the same way. As we get ready for this Christmas season and all the gifts that are exchanged, may God help us to give ourselves as living gifts to him. May we live for Christ, who has given everything to us. Amen.