Sermon: “Good News! Part 1”
January 10th, 2021 Rev. Betsy Perkins
Scripture passage: Luke 3:1-22 First Baptist Church, Delavan WI
The words that keep jumping off the page to me as I have read and reread the scripture passage for today, this story of John and of Jesus, are the words “good news.” For I desperately need good news right now! If you missed it, here it is again in verse 18: “And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.”
I have grieved this week. I have paced as I watched news reports, praying with my feet as I listened with my ears. I have knelt and cried out to God. I have sung every song of prayer I know. Our nation came closer to collapse than it has since the civil war. The daily death toll of COVID-19 got worse each day as we pay the price of defying precautions in favor of holiday celebrations and travel. And we saw evidence yet again of a justice system unwilling to do what it takes to protect black lives. Oh, I need to hear good news!
There is no better place to look for good news than to Luke’s Gospel. That word, ‘gospel’, means good news, and Luke uses the term at least 10 times, more than the other three Gospels put together. He started with the angel that told Zechariah the good news that he would have a son to be named John, and then more angels announced to a group of shepherds the good news that will bring great joy to all people.
But before we get to that, a word of warning: if you are hoping to hear a word that is easy and that avoids mention of politics, than you have confused the ‘good news’ of the Bible with something else. The gospel is not disconnected from the events and struggles of the world – it is good news incarnated, with skin on, entering into this world. Luke makes that abundantly clear when he introduces John’s message by naming 7 political and religious leaders of that specific earthly time and place. Tiberias, the emperor in Rome; Pontius Pilate ruling Judea on behalf of Rome; the local kings, Herod, Philip, Lysanias; and the high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, in charge of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Another word of warning: John’s good news message begins with the words, “You brood of vipers!” Which actually doesn’t sound like good news is going to follow. But nonetheless, that is what Luke calls it, what the angels call it, and what, in the weeks to come, Jesus will call it. So let’s take a look at this ‘good news’.
After the list of the movers and shakers of the world, we are told that the Word of God came to … none of them. The Word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, a priest – but not a very important one since we learned earlier when Mary went to visit Elizabeth that they lived out in the hill country. We are also told that the Word of God came to John not in Rome or in Jerusalem, not in a palace or in the halls of power, but in the wilderness. God seems to specialize in working in and through nobodies, out in the middle of no-place. For those of us ordinary folks living in the farm country of Walworth County, attending a small, aging church, that right there is good news! For if the Word of God can come to John in the wilderness, then the Word of God can come to us. The Word of God can come to First Baptist in Delavan!
With that Word, John went into all the country around the Jordan. Around the Jordan River was the place where the common people lived their everyday lives – they bathed in the river, they washed clothes, and pots and pans in the river, they washed their donkeys and nets. There in the muddy, dirty water of everyday muck, John brings the word of good news that God is on His way. The good news is brought to people in the midst of their ordinary lives. That is good news for us today, when we can’t go to the church building or attend a big conference or gather in public spaces – God brings the good news to the places where we live our lives, where we bathe and wash our clothes and cars, and pots and pans.
“The Word of God comes to John, who takes it into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” It is important to know that John is not preaching to the Gentiles, he is preaching to Jews; he is not speaking to unbelievers, but to people within the faith. The soldiers Luke refers to are probably members of the Temple guard, not Roman soldiers. The tax collectors are Jews who are working in government jobs. The crowd is folks who likely go to the synagogue on the Sabbath, even leaders in the synagogues. John’s message is not for the godless lost, it is for the children of Abraham who have gotten off track. When we hear John’s good news today, we need to hear it as spoken to us, to the community of faith that claims to love God and to follow Jesus but may have gotten off track. We aren’t exempt because we have church membership, or a long Christian heritage. He is talking about our hearts, too. But here is a bit of good news buried in John’s threats – that God can take hearts hard like stones, and raise up children for Abraham, children of faith and obedience.
Here’s another nugget of good news hidden within the talk of vipers and coming wrath, of axes on trees – John is declaring to the crowd that they are not helpless victims, the future is not rigged against them, but in fact there is something they can do that will change the outcome, that can make crooked roads straight, that can fill in the potholes and remove rough trip hazards. They can repent! They can repent, and be forgiven! It is not hopeless, rather it is so hopeful for we are not locked in our darkness and we are not condemned for our past.
Repent means to turn, and turning has two movements within it. We turn away from one thing, and turn toward something else. The good news is that we can turn away from sin, away from wrong thinking, from self-centeredness, from hatefulness. We can turn toward God’s way of truth, of compassion, of seeking the common good, the way of love, the way of Jesus. In this nation today we must seriously examine what we read and hear so we can turn away from lies, turn away from disinformation. We must take the time to fact-check and to listen to another’s perspective and experience. We must discern and reject those who try to pit one group of people against another, and turn toward respect for all, toward decency to all – regardless of race or religion or even nationality. We must repent of our long history of oppression of blacks, of native peoples – make a decision to turn away from that and turn toward truly living, and legislating, and policing as if all people are equally valued and worthy.
When the crowd asks John, “What can we do?” he advises concrete acts of sharing, of kindness, of fairness. That is the good fruit that they should be bearing (and I have to say that as I look at all of you, I have indeed seen the kind of good fruit in keeping with repentance that John is talking about – the wagons filled to overflowing with food to share, generous offerings to local ministries, acts of kindness and love for one another.) John tells those with power – the tax collectors and the soldiers – to reject the misuse of power for personal gain, to reject cheating to get ahead, even if everyone else is doing it. Some people say Christians should stay out of politics, but here John is calling out the powers that be that are misleading the people, calling out the forces that will oppose him and will oppose the One he is preparing the way for. Neither John nor Jesus ignore politics, but they fearlessly speak truth to power, as evidenced by the fact that John will be killed by Herod, and Jesus will be condemned to death by Annas, Caiaphas and Pontius Pilate. That is not surprising, for John’s message is not good news for them, for he is literally turning people away from their power, turning them to the Lord, and that threatens the present order. Those who are threatened by repentance, by taking a good hard look at oneself and admitting that change is needed, do not go down without a fight.
Everyone who heard John’s good news began to wonder if he was actually the one God was sending to save them and make the nation of Israel great again. But John says ‘no’, he is preparing the way, the One who is greater is coming. He is coming with power, coming with a winnowing fork and with fire, to separate the good and the evil, to gather former and burn the later. And then we see Him – the winnower, this one who is bringing unquenchable fire, the one so great that John is unworthy to shine his shoes – he has come to be baptized along with the crowd. His baptism is over and done, and when we catch our first glimpse of him, he is the man who is on his knees praying. And we realize that the good news is even better than John or any of us could have imagined!
The fire that falls is in the form of a dove, the Spirit of God Himself/Herself, coming to be with us. The power He brings is the power of love that seeks not to separate and exclude, but seeks to declare each person beloved and enfold them into the family of God. He has not come to destroy, but to heal, so that we may have life, and have life to the full (Jn.10:10). The good news for us today ends with Jesus on his knees. Jesus – who had no sin, but was willing take all our sin upon himself so that we might be saved and so we might hear that voice from heaven say to us, “You are my child, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” Let us pray…
Heavenly Father, with joy and awe we praise you for this good news that you are claiming us as your sons and daughters, and for pouring your Holy Spirit upon us. Help us to prepare this earth for your glory, to shine your light on all your faithful children, and shine your light for the lost of this world. Help us to turn away from sin and turn toward to you and to bearing good fruit, for the sake of the One whose birth and baptism brought renewal and transformation to this world, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Closing Song: “Open My Eyes”
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