Malachi 3:1-7; Philippians 1:2-11; Luke 3:1-14
When our world allows some room for Jesus in its Christmas celebrations He is relegated to the manger as a helpless, harmless baby. What a contrast to the image of Jesus that John the Baptist painted for people in his ministry. When John came as God’s messenger to prepare the way for the Messiah he didn't sell a kind and gentle Jesus that could appear quietly and mostly unnoticed in our busy and distracted lives. Instead, John proclaimed Him as coming to judge His people, condemning those who had gone after other gods and refining those who had remained faithful. “The axe is at the root,” John warned. And people listened. Baptized by John for repentance, they sought his guidance for being ready for the Lord’s appearance. “What shall we do?” they asked with sincere and eager hearts.
Like the people who came to John in the wilderness beyond the Jordan River, we have been included in God’s covenantal promises. When we were washed in Baptism we were joined into Christ and His body, the Church. And like them, we are called to join with John in making ready the way for the Messiah in our worlds by living our lives in response to His grace. When we consider the great need that surrounds us and the importance of the work that Christ has called us to do, our pressing question should also be “What shall we do?”
John’s answers to the people of his day were specific to their circumstances, but they provide us with insights into what we are called to do as God’s people in the world now. If we are serious about responding to Christ’s love, we don’t have to sit around wondering what it takes for our “love to abound more and more” so that we and others will “be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-10). But do such desires really fill us? Have we, instead, taken the gifts of God and consumed them for ourselves? Are we bearing the fruits of repentance or have we slipped into the self-centered complacency that John condemned? Are we counting on church membership, spiritual legacy, or our own efforts to “endure the day of His coming” or have we despaired of these things and submitted ourselves to the Refiner’s fire? The answers are evident in the fruit that we bear. The axe is at the roots — our roots — and the call to repentance is sounding. What shall we do?
Audio file of the sermon "What Shall We Do?"
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