Luke 3:7-18
What then should we do? John’s crowds ask this question, and as you read the Gospel passage this week, that question may be on your mind as well. There are some specifics to be had here, but also—don’t get bogged down prior to reaching verse 18.
Many of us have become familiar with preaching John the Baptist during Advent. Just last week, you may have preached about “preparing the way of the Lord.” You may have even slipped in a phrase or two in your best Godspell rendition. Today’s opening verse may lead you to raise your eyebrows—“you brood of vipers!” Let’s be honest, too many people flocking to be baptized and repent fits into most pastors’ “problems I want to have” category. Why is John all worked up? Why is he pushing back at those who follow him, and what can we learn from their persistence in seeking his counsel? I can picture the crowd’s body language for a response like Luke 3:10—Whoa, easy there, what then should we do? If we weren’t supposed to follow you out here and undertake baptism, then what do you want from us?
The third Sunday of Advent arrives in the context of being busy, but it’s also sort of a time that might start to feel like the middle of a long road trip (or the layover of a connecting flight). This year, it will arrive nine days before Christmas. We’re a long way from Thanksgiving. We might be worn out from the Advent theme of expectant waiting. We’re bound to be tired of Christmas decorations in stores since Halloween. The Gospel lesson this week reminds us that God’s plan entails response. As we wait, we are also reminded that we’re to respond. And not just in dramatic ways (like being blinded by singing angels and special rising stars in the East). Rather, we find here some expectations of what is expected of those who “tak[e] up the lifestyles of authentic children of Abraham.”[1] John instructs all of us on the question, “what then should we do?” The crowds are told—share. Share a coat. Share some food. Those people in scrutinized empire jobs ask for themselves too. The tax collectors are told to collect the right amount. The soldiers are told not to extort and to be satisfied with their wages.
A few preaching possibilities and points jump out to me.
Many in our congregations who are gathered to hear God’s word this Sunday will have read this passage (or heard it preached) and concluded that it really isn’t about them. “I don’t collect money and if I did, I wouldn’t cheat people.” “I don’t have real opportunities to extort others.” “I’m no viper.” “I’m earnest in my repentance.” For all of these folks, we preachers need to find a way to raise the important questions of their own responses to God. What are the parallels to tax-collectors and soldiers in your context? How might you help your congregation imagine their analogous struggles? At minimum all are tied to the crowds’ instructions to share.
Or focus on John’s general message and baptismal offering in the context of waiting for the Messiah. The crowds follow, seemingly recognizing their insufficiency and desiring his baptism. But John pushes back to remind that this isn’t just for show. Don’t come running just to escape punishment, but you better be ready for there to be some change in your behavior. Joel B. Green calls John’s baptism “an assault on the status quo.”[2] Once you go through the cycle of coming away from normal life, undergoing repentance, and returning in order to properly reflect lives appropriate to the moniker, children of Abraham, they would then behave in such a way that actually aligned with God’s purposes in the world. Are we today still taking seriously the come away, repent, and return to change the world for God’s goodness paradigm?
Or you could dig into the issue of waiting expectantly (3:15, “the people were filled with expectation”). Many of us struggle to wait. But the technology so readily available to us these days may serve as a possible connection point for us here. If you’re like me, the smart phone gets snatched out of your pocket to fill any number of times of waiting. Many of us these days turn to a screen to fill any brief downtime with a passive busyness more than intentional expectant waiting. The people in this passage were waiting for the Messiah. They quickly turned to ponder whether John was the Messiah or not. And yet, the waiting was not passive. The crowd was clearly seeking the Messiah. As we wait in Advent for Christmas, or any other moment in our lives, are we adequately asking God—“What then should we do?” That is a theme in Luke-Acts. You’ll find that question on various people’s lips three times in our passage, and also in Luke 10:25, 18:18 and Acts 2:37, 16:30, and 22:10.
The figure of John the Baptist reminds us of a radical way of life, oriented starkly against the status quo, and aimed instead towards God. What that means is what we might easily miss if we call this the Brood of Vipers passage. When all is said and done, these verses get summarized and extended in 3:18: “So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.” That “so,” seems summative, not a shift. All of this, the “don’t think you’re just avoiding wrath without returning changed,” the instructions on how to do it (share, do your job fairly), and finally the reminders that the true Messiah is yet to come and will offer the Holy Spirit, wrap up not with fear and trembling, but with a description that this is good news. So above all else, remember that any of these preaching paths need to ultimately be articulated as good news. That’s not to say it won’t require something, but the thing offered must be good news. This third Sunday in Advent, as we wait, seek repentance, and look for Christ, we can all use the reminder that active response is part and parcel of the good news. [1] Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 1997), 178. [2] Ibid., 173.