December 16th, 2012

Dec 16, 2012 from Richard Waldschmidt on Vimeo.

ADVENT 3

December 15-17, 2012

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 3:7-18

“THE LORD IS NEAR!”

1.     Joyfully Repent.

2.     Joyfully look for Jesus.

Luke 3:7-18 (NIV 1984) “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, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” ¹² Tax collectors also 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 Christ. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with 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 preached the good news to them.”

          If you look at theme that unites the Scripture readings for the 3^rd Sunday of Advent you will notice that it is joy, joy that believers get to have because their Lord is near. Each reading spoke to different believers at different times in salvation history yet the message is the same: joy, rejoice, your Lord is near. That thought guides as the day we celebrate the Lord’s birth draws nearer.

          Now I don’t think joy would be the first thought on your mind if you were among the group that had gone out to see John the Baptist. Imagine you are with this crowd of people going out to the desert region near the Jordan River. You are all abuzz. You had heard of this magnificent yet enigmatic and eccentric preacher named John the Baptist. You couldn’t wait to see him and hear him and when you finally do he calls you a bunch of snakes! “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.” Ouch! Those are harsh words. Why does he say them? Because there were some snakes there. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were the type of people who didn’t think that they stink. Sin stink that is. They were blind to their own sin. They were confident that they were good enough for God. They had been so zealous for the outward keeping of God’s law that their inner rottenness no longer bothered them.

          Now we have to realize something here. Because we have sinful natures there is a little Pharisee in all of us just waiting to pop out. If you think you don’t stink, watch out. If you are always the victim of someone else’s sins and always seem to find yourself innocent in times of conflict, be careful. If the relative few sins you know of another person bother you more than the many sins you ought to recognize and own up to for yourself, you are a viper who needs to hear that the ax is at your roots and if there is no repentance you will be cut down.

          But if your sins bother you and you are a believer repentance is something you want to do. “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. ¹¹ John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” ¹² Tax collectors also 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.” I think it’s clear to most people that Godly repentance involves a whole lot more that being told to say you are sorry and saying “I’m sorry” without meaning it. Nor is repentance something you do in order to become a believer in Jesus. Rather repentance is something you do because you are believers in Jesus. And you do it joyfully. All the repentant believers coming to John wanted to know what to do, how to show their repentance. John’s answer is simple. Stop the sinning and do the daily service God wants you to do. Do your job. Take a peek at the question and answer from the personal order for communion preparation. It guides us to examine ourselves according to the 10 Commandments and the station in life God has placed us. Let’s do that. If we were among the joyful repenters before John, the ones who have been despising God’s Word and not prioritizing worship would ask, “What should we do?” And the children who have been disobeying or disrespecting their parents, the students who have been disobeying or disrespecting their teachers, the workers who have been disobeying or disrespecting their bosses, the citizens who have been disobeying or disrespecting their government’s laws or officials would be asking, “And what should we do?” The ones who have picking on others or abusing their bodies with drugs or alcohol would say, “What should we do?” The ones who are living in sin, using their sexuality without marriage, who are feeding lustful thoughts would say, “What should we do?” The ones who are shoplifting, skimming from the till, unhappy with what God has given would say, “What should we do?” The ones who are telling stories that cause divisions and sets up factions in families and workplaces would ask, “And what should we do?” And John would simply but firmly remind us to stop the sinful actions and do our jobs, the work of the position in life God has assigned to us. And we would want to do that because the Lord is near. Our sins offend Him. So what do you want to do? Let’s joyfully repent.

          And joyfully look for Jesus. That too is part of repentance. Looking to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ.” They knew the Lord was near. They were expecting Him to come the first time to serve as Messiah. Signs were there. Prophecies fulfilled. The Lord was near. They were looking for Him. They looked in the wrong place. They thought John the Baptist might be the Messiah.

          They were wrong. “John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with 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 preached the good news to them.” John pointed them to Jesus. Only Jesus, the powerful Son of God, can pay for sin. Only Jesus will come again as Judge at the end of the world.

          We too joyfully look for Jesus. And He is near. If you want to find Him so that you can show Him your fruits of repentance, if you want to thank Him by doing something meaningful to Him, the Lord is near. Look no further than the person next to you in church, or the members of your family, or the people that you work with. They are your Jesus’ to be kind to and speak respectfully too. Jesus does not need our physical serving but the people He has placed in our lives do. Joyfully look for Jesus on their faces and treat them accordingly. If you want to talk with Jesus and have Jesus talk with you, the Lord is near. He is as close as the nearest Bible in the pew or the app on your I phone. He talks there. We listen. Look for Jesus in drops of water with the Word at Baptism. See Him come to you with forgiveness in the bread and wine of Communion. If you are looking for Jesus to come again and end the injustice and unrighteousness of this sin sick world that shoots schoolchildren, the Lord is near. Signs He gave us are everywhere. Joyfully look for Him to come because as a believer your sins are forgiven and He comes as Savior not destroyer.

          The Lord is near. Rejoice. That’s the common thread in God’s Word. It’s a message God’s people have heard at all the different points in salvation history. It’s a message for us. Yet we are not always joyful. Why not? What’s stealing your joy? Is someone whispering Satan’s sweet nothings in your ear? Choice morsels of gossip or dissension? Stay away from them. It’s not worth it. The Lord is near and He hears those things too. Are your eyes and heart set on things below? Earthly matters and issues of more importance than your salvation? Set you minds on things above. The Lord is near. Some problem or struggle constantly vexing you, a burr in your saddle. The Lord is near. He sees. He knows. He acts when it’s best. The Lord stays near so you and I can rejoice, rejoice as we repent and rejoice as we look for Him. Amen.