Luke 3: The Meaning and Fruits of Repentance ebc 5 3 09

I was reading an article by Gordon McDonald on repentance. I found his observations and outline helpful in shaping my sermon.

McDonald shares: "Growing up I used to watch the “The Lone Ranger”. It was a radio show before it came to TV. For, "Nowhere in those sterling pages of yesteryear can one find a greater champion of justice." That's the way the program used to start. "We turn again to those thrilling days when out of the past came the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver, for the Lone Ranger rides again." Memories? The one confounding thing, however, about every episode of "The Lone Ranger" was that at the conclusion, 27 minutes and 30 seconds into the episode, somebody would always ask the question: "Who was that man? Or * Who was that masked man?" Somebody else would say, "Why, didn't you know? He's the Lone Ranger!" That's the way it would end. All would look admiringly or in awe? Now as a young person, it confused me that here was someone whose life had been saved, whose money had been restored, whose ranch had been protected—their whole lives had hung in the balance—and yet all the way to the end they didn't have the slightest idea who that man was. Why hadn't they asked at the beginning of the program instead of the end?

"It occurs to me that an awful lot of people in the world at the time of the Jesus (and even today) were very anxious to benefit from what Messiah might do, but were not sure if they knew who he was or how to spot him should he make his appearance. The job of John the Baptizer was to come out of the wilderness and talk to people and to prepare them, so that when Messiah made his appearance, they would not only know who he was but be prepared to respond to what he said and called them to do."

* To see Christ, to know Christ, to obey Christ, demands preparation. You cannot see him if you are not prepared & the work of John the Baptist in his generation was the work of preparation, opening the hearts of those who would listen, so when the Lamb of God appeared, they would know who he was and how to respond appropriately. It’s not an exact comparison but this is what an interim does for a church who is seeking a pastor.

Very simply: Luke 3 reveals how people can be prepared to see and respond to Christ.
* The only way to see and respond to Christ is in an atmosphere of repentance.
In those first two or three verses there's a very interesting insight that gets you ready for the rest of the chapter. Luke lists a number of very important people, beginning with Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Philip, Herod, Annas, and Caiaphas—all the men of his day who were the biggies in the world, beginning with the emperor at Rome and then working down to the local situation. I hear Luke saying, "Here are the big men in their places doing their big things. And in the midst of all the things that the world thought to be important, that the world was admiring, at the very same time all that was going on, a word from God came to John in the wilderness. It would be like, in the days of Barack Obama, Rich Shawver was leading a van ministry. In the days of Vladamir Putin, Jan Ashwell ran a Necessity Pantry.

It's very important to recognize God is not always speaking to the people in the places that the world might consider to be significant. World history knows very little about Annas and Caiaphas and Philip and Herod and Pontius Pilate apart from how they took part in the life of Jesus Christ. Yet in that day, you would have thought those were the people worth following & listening to. But when God speaks to people, often he does it to different kinds of people in different kinds of places. God does not speak in the emperor's palace. He does not speak in the Temple of Jerusalem. He does not speak in the court of Herod. He goes out to the wilderness and he speaks to a common, uneducated, rather strange, eccentric-looking person called John, whose wardrobe & diet are suspect: camel’s hair & locusts. Same today?

And when John comes out of the wilderness having heard a word from God, the message is preparation.
The way to prepare, John says, beginning in Lk 3: 2-3, is, *"You must repent!" Not a popular message to share.
Repent/ repentance is very dramatic word. In Hebrew it’s a physical/ active/ passionate word. It speaks to the notion of people having been going in one direction changing radically to another direction. But it is not only physical in the sense of a change of direction, it is passionate in the sense that it exalts the notion of sorrow and regret, perhaps even tears, about the direction in which one is going. So it is a feeling that erupts from the heart, the innermost spirit, and leads to a total change of life: Prodigal Son

The Greek word for repentance is “metanoia” literally it means to change your mind & turn around.

Repent is frequently used by Jews re Gentiles: "You've got to change your former loyalties, your way of life, the things you're proud of, the values you've had. You've got to become like one of us. You've got to repent." No self-respecting Jew in John's time thought the word repent applied to them. Yet it was Jews to whom John spoke. It was to the religious people, the people who had their theology and their doctrine and their positions on all issues figured out. He says to them, "You have got to repent." That was John’s one message, and every day when he met 100s at the Jordan River, that was his message.

You can hear them: "John don't you know anything else?" "No, I'm going to keep preaching this, day after day: Repent, repent, repent. Because repentance is the only way that you people will be prepared to see and respond to the Lamb of God." Like the old minister who kept preaching the same sermon week after week. Outcry, anger, petition: “When you obey this one, I’ll move on...”

John’s message: The only way a woman or a man today can see and respond to Christ is in the atmosphere and climate of repentance. It is only when men and women like you and me begin to break through the hardness in our hearts and see our sinful nature that we are able to be prepared to see Christ.

Repentance is more than a one-time act. * Repentance is a lifestyle. It is a way of living. To put it in more poetic words, it is the process of becoming soft before the Spirit of God, allowing the Spirit of God to move in our lives so we can see who we are and what we’re becoming. Old hymn says it well:
"Prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, take and seal it." Repentance involves: awareness & openness to God in receiving Jesus, but it must become a way of life.

Notice how Luke illustrates the message of repentance in Lk. 3: 5- 6 when he goes back to Isaiah 40. There the writer, looking forward to the days when Jerusalem would be comforted, says, "The comfort will come when the king comes, and when the king comes you must prepare the way. You must level the mountains. You must fill up the valleys. Straighten the crooked roads."

There's drama here. There's the picture of people frantically preparing, so that when the king comes they will be ready to see him, and he will be comfortable among them. Repentance is like filling the valleys of our lives & leveling the mountains of our lives and straightening the crookedness that sin has caused. Isaiah looks forward to the great theme that John will preach in preparation for the coming of Jesus

In Lk. 3: 8 John, * "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." In other words, my daily life should reflect an attitude of repentance. You can’t be sorry for your sin if you just keep on living like you were before. That’s a Hypocrite: someone who says one thing but doesn’t live it out in his life. We mistake emotion for motion. We feel guilty but we don’t begin to live a lifestyle of grace & share acts of love.

Look at Lk. 3:10. As John preaches, the people ask: * "What shall we do?" Three times Lk. 3: 10-14:
That same question is repeated six times in the NT: Acts 2:37: Peter preaching at Pentecost ends his sermon, and the crowd cries out, "What shall we do?" Peter: “Repent and be baptized. In Acts 13, the Philippian jailer says: "What must I do to be saved?" Paul to Jesus, “What do you want me to do?
Have you ever expressed this question to God?: “God, what do you want me to do to show I love you?”

John: "Those of you who have two tunics/coats, share one. If you've got food; share it." Then John addresses two of the most despised groups in first century Jewish culture: Tax collectors & Roman Soldiers.

Three brief observations about John's answers?
-To the crowd he talked about food and clothing.
-To the tax collectors he said, "Don't collect any more money than you have coming to you."
-To the soldiers he said, "Don't intimidate and exploit people, and be content with your wages."

* First observation: When John talked to people about repentance, the very first thing he talked about was stewardship: people's money and their possessions, the stuff they thought they owned.
Money is a tough topic when you know people and one you often avoid if you don’t know people…
John is bold: The first thing he says when he gets people engaged in his message is money. Smart? John, you shouldn't do that. Send them a letter or a fund-raising email, but don't talk about money the first thing. John says, "The fruits of repentance begin to emerge when you give God control of your possessions and your money." Point: Truly repentant people are generous people, who give & share.
Is it possible to truly repent and it not affect what you do with your stuff and your money? John: No!
John: if you got clothes, share them. If you have food, share it. If you have money, give it.
It’s like the old joke of the guy who was being baptized who pulled wallet out and held it up above the water… the minister saw it and said, “Let’s try this: wallet and all.” “All to Jesus, I surrender…”

* Second observation: This paragraph suggests to me that the man or woman who sees Christ is becoming a sensitive person to the needy people around him. The multitude, in order to give their coat & their food away, had to know who needed it. The tax collectors had to know whether people were hurting or not. The soldiers had to be sensitive to the line between doing their job and exploiting people.

I see in our passage John saying that repentant people are aware of the people who are struggling and hurting, abused & misused. Or to put it another way, John talking about justice & caring for all people. How can we say we love Jesus and not be concerned about the poor and issues of justice. Micah 6:8, “What does God require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.”
Homeless article: the poor have a face for me now.

* Third observation. To make my point let me re-read the text. The crowd said, "What shall we do? John said, "Come out to the wilderness and wear a leather belt and a camel coat." When the tax collectors said, "What shall we do?" he said, "Quit your jobs and come preach with me." When the soldiers said, "What shall we do?" John said, "You have no business soldiering. Drop your weapons and start prophesying with me down here on the Jordan River." No. John never told any of these groups to: "Give up all your possessions, quit your jobs, or stop doing what you're doing." He simply said,
"Use your possessions properly, do your job well, and treat people with kindness and fairness.”

* Serve God in your world and don’t try to be someone you’re not.
I think that's very comforting to each of us, that being prepared to see Christ does not mean leaving the real world. It means going into the world as Christ did and serving in the world by doing our jobs well and serving others. You don’t have to be a Billy Graham, you need to be you.

Jesus first sermon was: “Repent, the Kingdom is at hand.” Prepare yourself. Let’s God’s power in.
Jesus last sermon was “Go, into the all the world and I’ll be with you always.” That’s it.

And as we go out we can know God is with us, giving us all the power we need to live life well.

At the end of the Lone Ranger program, someone would always cry out, "Who was that man?" But it's too late when the identity comes. They couldn't know the masked man because he was gone cloud of dust.

It's going to be tragic some day for some people to recognize when they see Christ that they didn't ask soon enough, "Who was that person? And why didn't I know him?" The answer will be, "You didn't know him because you weren't prepared. You never humbled yourself before God in repent
*Sadly, many will not get serious about repentance until they find themselves in a crisis.

Jesus says in Rev. 3, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and we’ll share a meal together.” Do you know Jesus today?
Does your life reveal the fruits or actions of a person who has truly repented and is seeking God daily?

Prayer: 1 John 1:9 repentance begins with confessions: “If we confess our sins, God is faithful…

Hymn No. 342 “Just As I Am”