Luke 3:1-18
December 17, 2006
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
We are very close to the nice long Christmas vacation we are eagerly looking forward to. How many more days?
In colonial days, children were lucky if their teachers gave them even Christmas Day off. Back then teachers got paid for each day that class was held. So most teachers if they wanted more money for Christmas shopping, they would keep on teaching since they had the power to set the schedules.
In the early 1700s in Williamsburg, Virginia, some students decided to do something about that. They picked up the European tradition called, “barring out the schoolmaster.” They all showed up early for school on a certain day before Christmas. They locked the doors and barricaded themselves inside. When the teacher arrived and found himself locked out, he had to negotiate with the students to let him in. Usually, in order to get the students to unlock the door, the teacher would have to agree to one or two weeks of Christmas vacation.
For quite some time, “barring out the schoolmaster” was a Christmas tradition in many schools. It was a tradition where there was a reversal of those who normally were powerful—the teachers—found themselves subject to those who normally were powerless—the students.
Luke 3
This reversal of power is basically what we see in Luke 3. Luke lists all the various powerful people that were around when Jesus came onto the scene. He tells us who the emperor was, who the governor was, who the high priests were.
It’s like, “In the sixth year of the presidency of George W. Bush, while Donald Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense (but not for long) and Condoleezza Rice was Secretary of State, while Arnold Schwarzeneggar was Governor of California, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II in England, the Word of God came to…”
After rattling off all those names, with a drum roll in the background, Luke says, “And the Word of God came to” and we naturally expect that Luke is going to tell us which of those mighty people it was that God spoke to. But as the drum rolls ends, Luke announces, “And the Word of God came to…none of the above.”
The Word of God came to a fellow named John. And where was John? Out in the wilderness! Far away from the capital cities, far from the halls of power. If it was up to you or me to select someone to function as a representative between God and humankind, to be God’s spokesperson on earth, John probably would not have made it on the Top Ten list. The other people with difficult to pronounce names and titles would have been on the top of the list. After all, would we choose someone who was known for eating grasshoppers and who always had wild honey stuck in his beard? Would that be the kind of person we would choose to speak to us about God? But that is who God chose.
Being on Top
Quite often, we convince ourselves that the goal in life is to be on top. Quite often we convince ourselves that the goal of life is to aspire for those positions of power. When John the Baptist wadded in the muddy waters of the Jordan River, he challenged those assumptions. He bellowed over and over a message of repentance. We are called to change our minds and to change our way of thinking.
Take for instance, those who were baptized today. If Jasmine, Jessica, and Michelle wanted to be on top, why would they want to set aside their designer and fashionable clothes and put on these bland white robes? You have to dress well to be important! Why would they want to mess up their hair and get all wet while the rest of us are dry and comfortable? The world’s definition of power is to be in control but God has touched the lives of Jasmine, Jessica, and Michelle and they are out of control and they invited Jesus Christ to be in control of their lives.
When I think about repentance and those who accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior and are baptized, I remember Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer that he wrote in 1943 at the height of America’s conflict with Germany. He wrote, “God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” John the Baptist reminds us to change those things in our lives that should be changed.
During this Advent season, are we prepared to change the way that we think? Instead of having the mindset where we focus on “making it to the top,” are we prepared to ask ourselves instead, “How can I live my life so that God is at the top?” How can I live my life in such a way that I never forget that the highest and truest power belongs to God? Are we willing to say that in my life, God is on top?
In our passage for this morning, John preaches a message calling for repentance by quoting from the prophet Isaiah. When the people came to be baptized by him, he warned them that they needed to change their ways. And if they didn’t, their life was totally lost, totally cut off from God like a tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Just as the crowds asked John, “What then should we do?” We ask the same question. “What should we do to repent, believe in God and by making God at the top in our lives?
Confident Living
We need to live in confidence with God. Confident living comes from loving God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Confident living comes from fulfilling our duty to love one another. Our newly baptized members have publicly promised that they will love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. They are confident about this.
From the conversation that John the Baptist had with the crowd of people, we can see three things that we can do when we are confident in our faith in God. First, John said, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” We are simply told to share. Last Sunday, I challenged you to always give something because giving something is better than giving nothing. I know that some of our fellowship groups are collecting gifts for a teen shelter in Berkeley; the Ashira L’Adonai group is helping with the food bank today.
There’s a prominent physician who has an old coat in his office closet. When he has his fill of ungrateful people abusing him because he could not perform God-like procedures, he would pull out this old coat and wear it around the office. His colleagues would know what the physician is feeling and gives him space to reflect.
What happened was that one night in Atlanta, Georgia; he was called as a young intern to an apartment above a little store. Mr. Lee’s daughter was burning up with a fever. He called 911 and rode in the ambulance with the family to the hospital. After hours of caring for the child, she died.
As he went out into the cold night, he shivered. Mr. Lee had followed him to thank him. He placed his coat around the shoulders of the young intern. When the young intern took it off, Mr. Lee placed it back on him with more authority.
“You are cold. You did what you could and I am grateful,” said Mr. Lee.
“I cannot take your coat. You need it.”
“It is my gift to you. You must not refuse.”
We don’t have to be utterly poor to need a coat. Sometimes when someone loses his way in life and we take the initiative to share what we have with another, we become more confident in our own faith because we were able to help someone else. Whenever we give, we receive so much more in return.
Secondly, John tells us not to be greedy. He tells the tax collectors not to take more money than what the law requires and he tells the soldiers not to extort people with their authority.
In a world where evil, sin, and violence seem to be so prevalent, at times we wonder if we really should bother trying to live according to God’s will. Why should we live confidently in God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength when so many people completely ignore God? We are tempted to wonder why we should be any different. It’s like what some teenagers in Los Angeles said as they were breaking and grabbing and looting stores, “Everyone is doing it.”
And let us not forget the looters who are the respectable, professional people who were engaging in their own forms of looting, such as corporate executives, military contractors, and Wall Street takeover pirates.
This is one of the reasons why our Lanna Coffee mission project is so important. Cutting through corporate overhead expenses and with the sacrifice of many volunteered hours by the coffee team, the money collected from each bag of coffee goes back to where the people in Thailand need it. We are not profiting from this except that whenever you take a sip of coffee, you can confidently know that you are saving lives. Confident living in God puts God at the top of our lives and we love him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength!
And lastly, John deflecting the questions that the people were asking him on whether he was the long awaited Messiah, he told them that while he baptizes with water, the one who is coming is more powerful and will baptize with the Holy Spirit. John told them that he would be unworthy to even untie the thong of his sandals. The Messiah is coming and for them to be ready for this good news.
Are you ready to have God at the top of your Top Ten list of what makes who you are? It’s like what happens in a fire station. There are many routine things that must be done: polishing the fire truck, checking the hoses, servicing the vehicles, keeping the fire house in order, etc. All of this exists for the moment the alarm rings and every resource of that fire station is mobilized to put out the fire and save human lives. Can you say that your life is as ready as a fire station to fight a fire to save lives? Is God on the top of your list?
Christmas Wreaths
All of us are blessed today because we were able to witness the baptism of three believers of Jesus Christ. Jasmine, Jessica and Michelle are confident that their decision will lead them to love God with all their heart, their entire mind, all their soul, and all their strength. With God at the top of their list of “what’s most important in my life,” they will share what they have with others, not be greedy, and for the rest of their lives be ready to have God lead them to proclaim good news.
On this third Sunday of Advent, we eagerly wait for the coming of the Christ Child and the whole world becomes still. While we would like to meditate on Jesus as a little baby, on this Baptism Sunday, we cannot forget the ultimate mission of Jesus—the forgiveness of our sins accomplished on the cross. Jesus was at the top on Calvary hill in order for him to come to the lowest valley of our lives so that our sins may be forgiven.
The source of our Christmas wreaths comes from the Middle Ages. Making wreaths from holly, whose sharp-pointed leaves resemble the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at the crucifixion and whose red berries signify the drops of his blood reminds us where Christmas eventually leads us.
Let us pray.
O God, just as John the Baptist pointed the people to the coming of Jesus Christ, help us to anticipate his coming too. Reveal to us that against the world’s values of unbridled power and selfish greed that we share what we have with others in love. Teach us to live confidently with you at the top of our lives when we love you with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. All these things we pray in the name of coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Amen.