Luke 3:1-20 · John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Fruit Production
Luke 3:7-18
Sermon
by John B. Jamison
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I’d like to tell you about a trip I made the other day, down to the Jordan. You know it isn’t all that far, but it is a challenging walk, so I took plenty to drink and an extra jacket because I knew it would be cold by the time I get back. I threw a couple of snacks in my jacket pocket too, just in case I got hungry.

Well, I heard there were a lot of people planning on going, so I left Bethany early to avoid the crowd on the road. You know, some of those places along the road near Jericho are pretty narrow. I guess I should have left earlier because the roads were already crammed full of people when I got started.

Most everyone was walking, like me, but every once in a while someone would come along on a mule or with a wagon. Most of them moved slowly and carefully to give us walkers the chance to get out of the way, so it wasn’t all that bad. But then a group of Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests from the temple came along. Of course, they were all decked out in their robes and tassels and were either riding on something or being carried by some of their servants. I’ll tell you, they didn’t slow down for anyone. They just yelled at people to get out of their way and moved on. I stopped several times to help someone who had been pushed off the side of the road. I think a lot of us thought about picking up a rock and heaving it at that group, but we all knew what would happen if we did.

Some people seemed surprised that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests would be going down to the Jordan like that, but I wasn’t surprised at all. You know how those people are. Any time there is something going on where they can be seen in their fancy robes and stuff, they are going to go. And I said to someone that I bet when that group got down there, they would all be standing right out in front where everyone would see them.

But I also knew they would be there because any time they think someone might be trying to stir things up against them, they are going to show up to see if it looks like a real threat.

I finally got to the river around lunchtime and wow, the place was packed. There were people standing on both sides of the river, trying to get a good look at this John guy we had all heard about.

I saw people I knew from Bethany and Jerusalem, several from Bethlehem and Jericho, but there were a lot of others too. I heard there were people from as far north as Galilee, and there were even some Samaritans there. It was quite a crowd. But I’ll tell you, there were no problems, even with the Samaritans there. Everyone was paying attention to John.

And, just like I expected, standing right in front by the edge of the river was that group of Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests. It was a lot warmer down there, so I took my jacket off and tucked it under my arm, but those guys still wore their heavy robes and hats to make sure everyone knew who they were.

I was trying to get close enough to hear and pay attention to what John was saying, but I was just really annoyed by those robes. Most of us were there to see if John could help us, but those guys up front were there just to protect themselves. We were all hoping and praying that, somehow, God might use John to bring peace. Those in the robes just wanted to find out if John was someone they needed to get rid of like they had gotten rid of the others.

Again, I thought for a second about moving down there and “accidentally” bumping one of those guys into the water, but I didn’t. But I sure wanted to!

When I finally got close enough to get a good look at John, I wasn’t sure what to think. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t what I saw.

He stood out in the water and people were going up to him and being baptized, so they must have known more about him than I did so far. Some of them had heard him speak before, and some of them were even following him around as he traveled, so they must have believed he was something special, but I sure couldn’t see it yet.

Some of the other people in the crowd must have felt the same way I did, because I heard a lot of them talking about it. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests must have felt the same because I saw them shaking their heads and turning to start the trip back to Jerusalem.

That’s when John stopped baptizing people. He walked over to the edge of the river and looked at the crowd. Actually, he looked right at those robes.

Then he started talking.

And I have to tell you - that’s when I knew.

Apparently, that’s when the guys in robes knew too because when John was finished talking, they went back to Jerusalem and started figuring out how they were going to make him stop talking.

What did he say that scared them? I’ll tell you. And to be honest with you, if we really think about what he said, we might almost feel the same way the Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests felt. Let me explain what I mean.

It was great at first. He started out by actually calling those robed people a bunch of snakes. I’ll tell you, that made them stop and turn back around. You should have seen the looks on their faces.

You know that most of those guys in the robes got where they were because of their families, right? First Annas was high priest, now his son Caiaphas is high priest; they all got where they were because they can say their family tree goes way back, maybe all the way to Moses or even Abraham.

Well, John walked closer to them and said that their family background didn’t mean a blasted thing to God. He said that he could pick up one of the stones in the river and turn it into a child of Abraham.

Then he really went at them. He told them that God wanted us to produce good fruit and that God had an axe in his hand and was going to cut them down and throw them in a fire just like an old, dead, fruitless, tree.

That’s when the whole bunch of them turned around and swished their fancy robes back up the road to Jerusalem. It was just so great to see those guys finally get what they deserved.

Did I tell you there were even some tax collectors there? I think it was one of them that finally asked John what he meant when he said that God wanted us to produce fruit? What kind of fruit? He asked John what we should do.

Well, you know how tax collectors are, don’t you? They figure out how much tax we are supposed to pay, and then they add on a good percentage that they get to keep. John looked at the guy and told him to not collect any more taxes than he is required to collect. In other words, not to take anything for himself.

John looked around and said that we should not extort people and that we should not falsely accuse people of things. God wanted us to treat people fairly and honestly, which sounded really good.

But remember, I said that if we understood what John said, we might feel the same way the guys in robes felt. Well, that’s because of the other things he said. It was great to hear him say what he did about the robes and tax collectors, but then he kept going. He looked around at all of us and said that anyone who has two shirts, should give one of those shirts to someone who doesn’t have any shirt. There I was with my undershirt on, another shirt on top of it, and a jacket wrapped around my waist. Then he said that anyone who had food should do the same and give half of it to someone who didn’t have any food. I kind of turned sideways a bit to hide the bulge from those snacks I put in my jacket pocket.

I just looked at him standing there. Did he really mean that he expected us all to do those things? To give away our clothes and our food? Yes, that is exactly what he meant.

When I went down there, I thought that God was going to send someone to drive out the Romans and the guys in robes, so we could get back to living the way we used to. But I was beginning to realize that what God was going to do was create a completely different way of living. We weren’t going to think about where we are from, or what we have, or the things we might want to have. But we are supposed to think about what the others around us have, and need, and do whatever we can to care for them. It occurred to me that maybe it wasn’t just the ones in robes he was trying to warn.

I was still trying to decide if I believed he was telling us what God wanted us to hear when he started talking again. And I still remember what he said next,

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. 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.” Luke 3:16-17 (NIV)

After that, he went back to his baptizing and I started walking back home. I forgot all about the robes. All I kept thinking about were my shirts. And my snacks. Finally, I stopped walking. I took off my outer shirt and handed it to a man who did not have a shirt. Then I reached in my jacket pocket. I took half of my snacks and handed them to a young girl walking with her family. She looked hungry.

I just wanted to tell you about my day yesterday.

Thanks for listening. Amen.

CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Tend and feed, tend and feed : Cycle C sermons based gospel lessons for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, by John B. Jamison