Luke 3:9-14

Luke 3:9-14 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? 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. 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.” “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 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.”

John the Baptist and Jesus reoriented the people towards others rather than being consumed by self. The Jewish people had forgotten God's commands to treat others as they would want to be treated. They had regressed to the point that they wanted everything in life to be about them. John called them a brood of vipers, an awful image of poisonous snakes collected together in a writhing, wiggling mass, ready to do harm. John told the Jewish people that God was ready to wipe them off the face of the earth because of their transgressions. God was weary of their constant self-willed behavior, selfishness, and lack of concern for others. He was tired of their lack of love for others.

Worldliness: I am only going around once in this life, so I better get as much out of it for myself as I can. This spirit has crept into the church a hundred fold in the last few decades. Some of our largest churches minister the prosperity gospel, which is actually worldliness, self-interest, and materialism in the guise of Christianity. We gauge God's presence in our lives by how much He has done for us lately. From some very prestigious pulpits, we literally preach gain as Godliness, and we tend to exalt the rich and famous in our midst, those who exhibit worldly success. The Christian millionaire is lifted up, the Christian actor is venerated. The goal seems to be to win as much of the world's goods or status as possible. Christians many times talk a good game of love, but the poor, the alien, the disenfranchised are often not appreciated as much as those with more means. We must remember John was full of the Holy Spirit when he came out of the desert; he knew God did not appreciate the self-centered, stingy spirit of man. He knew God was no respecter of persons: He sends the rain on the JUST AND THE UNJUST.

In America we have replaced the Spirit of God with the philosophy of the "self-made" man: he who accomplishes great things because of his personal wisdom, hard work, and what we sometimes refer to as "spirituality," look what God and I have done. "Be all that you can be" is our mantra. This is not necessarily bad, but if it leads to an arrogant, selfish, self-willed attitude and a lack of love for others, our lives will not Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. If our treasure is all for us and not others, we are fighting the Spirit of God. If the perks we revel in are heaped on ourselves and not shared with others, we are spoiling our souls. Jesus was a servant to others, giving his all for the world, even to those who despised his message. Are we givers or takers? Are we looking out for others or mainly our own needs? Are we concerned about everyone, not just our loved ones? To paraphrase John's words, the man with much should share with him who has none, and the man in a position of authority over people should treat people fairly. John brought a strong message, but I think if he were to walk into our midst today, he would have a similar word for the church. Many of us have lost focus. We need to turn our eyes upon Jesus to see more clearly the needs of the world He died to save.