Luke 3:10-14

Luke 3:10-14 

English Standard Version 

  The recently negotiated peace deal was challenging for both sides to find something they could agree on.  When we think about making peace between parties at war, it's very challenging and complex.  Nothing is simple about it.  

  Think about other global problems, such as poverty and inequality and hunger.  All of these are tremendously difficult to solve.

  There are countless things in our lives that are complex and complicated and can be exhausting just to think about.  

  That's why I love the advice John the Baptist offers the crowds.  They've heard about the challenge of discipleship, and they want to know how to follow God.  John doesn't give them immensely complicated instructions... but he tells them to share out of their abundance, to follow ethical principals in their work to deal fairly with one another.  None of this is wildly complex.  It's straightforward.  It's simple.  Do the next right thing, John says, and then the right thing after that.  In doing so, in consistently choosing to treat one another with the same grace and kindness that God shows to us, we reveal the Kingdom of God, one small act at a time, through our love and mercy.

Luke 3:7–9

Luke 3:7-9 

English Standard Version 

  The Gospel is a message of grace, and it is filled with truth.  To have truth implies that there is falsehood, and often we carry that within us.  Because the Gospel is loving, it confronts us in our falsehoods, and it is gracious yet firm in insisting that we cling to Christ and to Christ alone.  To keep one foot firmly planted in a lie is to fail to commit to the Gospel.  Jesus loves us too much to leave us where we are.  When we turn to Christ, we are called to turn away from other things, even things that are often hard to turn away from.  Fortunately, Christ knows our challenges and loves us through them, continuing to send the Holy Spirit to transform us.

Luke 3:3–6

Luke 3:3-6

English Standard Version 

  Which region did he go to?

  ALL of them.  

  I love it.  God doesn't send John to some of the regions -- he sent him to all, crying out for people to prepare their hearts.  The imagery of filled valleys and lowered mountains is used, pointing people to the reality that the landscape looks different when God is King.  There are no more obstacles between us and God -- it is a level plain, and we are invited to dwell in the fullness of God's Kingdom.  What a privilege, to no longer be lost in the valleys.  What a joy, to no longer have to scale the mountains.  The road is straight, so that we might see and experience the salvation of God.

  What preparation do you need in your heart?  What valleys or mountains in your life need to be changed so that the fullness of grace might enter in?

Luke 3:1–2

Luke 3:1-2 

English Standard Version 

  The Gospel is anchored in a real time and place.  It's not a myth or a legend that could be picked up and set in another time.  There are certainly themes that carry from era to era, and the truths are timeless, but the story is told in a very particular place amongst a very particular group of people.  We can take comfort in this -- it's a way to test the reliability of the Gospel, and the authors wouldn't have included these details if they weren't confident in the truth of their story.  

  And yet -- it's all the more amazing in that the Gospel shows up in an out-of-the-way place, with people who are as far from the center of power as possible.  The Gospel isn't just for the privileged and those with access to power.  This gives us hope -- we who are ourselves far from power, we who have little influence, we see how the Holy Spirit works, and we are challenged to make room in our own lives for the intrusive Word, the one that breaks in and overwhelms and comforts and challenges.