What do we do now?
This week is on Luke 3:7-10:
If Jesus was a long-awaited meal, John the Baptist was the tasty appetizer. His teachings opened people up and begin to create a hunger for what was to come. People came to him vaguely aware that they needed something, but unsure of what it was. John helped people identify what the spiritual rumblies were that they were feeling, and how to satisfy them.
People at that time thought they had everything figured out, spiritually. They knew they were descended from Abraham, and that there was a contractual agreement between Abraham and God, so they figured everything was taken care of. They thought they'd inherited salvation, but what they had really inherited was sin. When John explained the truth, the crowd was like "Oh crap. Now what?"
In John's time, the motto of the sleepwalkers was "I am a descendant of Abraham." Nowadays, it might be "I was raised Christian, and try to do good things," or "I don't buy shirts made in sweatshops, and I try to stay green and eat organic vegetarian." It's an attitude based on the past, which allows them to remain asleep in the present. It's the callous attitude of a wealthy man, who says "I owe nobody anything, so I shall do as I like." The problem, as John points out, is that if it was just a matter of who we are as people, God could create that sort of person in a flash. He doesn't need us to just exist. We were created with a purpose.
God created us to live in partnership with him. From the beginning, when he put Adam in the garden and added Eve, and trusted them with watching over his creation, he had a plan for us. There's no mention of God's covenants with the monkeys or the fish. God speaks to us, walks with us, eats with us, and allows us to wrestle with him, because that's the sort of beings he intends us to be. His relationship with us is like that. He gives us things to do, which he could easily do himself, because his connection with us is interactive. We aren't at all like the rocks or the trees. We have creativity and personality, and intelligence.
We're not supposed to sleepwalk through life, relying on our past and our inheritance. We're supposed to engage life, consult with God, and share creation with him. John's message to the crowd was that the time to wake up is now. Our lives matter. The moment matters. The eternal future also matters. We'll want to be sure to include God in all of them. No more sitting around playing video games because the salvation box is already checked and there's nothing more to do. Greet God and get going. Wake up.
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 axe 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.
If Jesus was a long-awaited meal, John the Baptist was the tasty appetizer. His teachings opened people up and begin to create a hunger for what was to come. People came to him vaguely aware that they needed something, but unsure of what it was. John helped people identify what the spiritual rumblies were that they were feeling, and how to satisfy them.
People at that time thought they had everything figured out, spiritually. They knew they were descended from Abraham, and that there was a contractual agreement between Abraham and God, so they figured everything was taken care of. They thought they'd inherited salvation, but what they had really inherited was sin. When John explained the truth, the crowd was like "Oh crap. Now what?"
In John's time, the motto of the sleepwalkers was "I am a descendant of Abraham." Nowadays, it might be "I was raised Christian, and try to do good things," or "I don't buy shirts made in sweatshops, and I try to stay green and eat organic vegetarian." It's an attitude based on the past, which allows them to remain asleep in the present. It's the callous attitude of a wealthy man, who says "I owe nobody anything, so I shall do as I like." The problem, as John points out, is that if it was just a matter of who we are as people, God could create that sort of person in a flash. He doesn't need us to just exist. We were created with a purpose.
God created us to live in partnership with him. From the beginning, when he put Adam in the garden and added Eve, and trusted them with watching over his creation, he had a plan for us. There's no mention of God's covenants with the monkeys or the fish. God speaks to us, walks with us, eats with us, and allows us to wrestle with him, because that's the sort of beings he intends us to be. His relationship with us is like that. He gives us things to do, which he could easily do himself, because his connection with us is interactive. We aren't at all like the rocks or the trees. We have creativity and personality, and intelligence.
We're not supposed to sleepwalk through life, relying on our past and our inheritance. We're supposed to engage life, consult with God, and share creation with him. John's message to the crowd was that the time to wake up is now. Our lives matter. The moment matters. The eternal future also matters. We'll want to be sure to include God in all of them. No more sitting around playing video games because the salvation box is already checked and there's nothing more to do. Greet God and get going. Wake up.
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