Based on the readings from Luke 3: 15-17; 21-22 and Isaiah 43:1-7
When was the last time that you heard a preacher and they started banging on the bible or slamming it down to get your attention? It may have been quite a while, possibly quite a few years ago, as we don’t see that style of preaching as much in the Methodist church today.
But the more important question is – can you remember why they did it? Was it because the preacher was so passionate about what they were speaking on, that they were reinforcing the message by literally giving it some punch? Or were they trying to put the fear of God into you?
Why do I ask? Well a few weeks ago I was at a meeting and the question was put to us ‘why do we have a sermon?’ An interesting question. The answers led on to a discussion on how styles of preaching have changed over the years and one person remarked how they missed the days of hearing a preacher slamming the bible down.
They then expanded on the subject and concluded by stating that, ‘we should preach what people need to hear, not what they want to hear’. An interesting observation. Interesting how they linked the two – slamming the bible down with preaching a hard truth. But by linking the two, the person was certainly describing the style of preaching of ‘putting the fear of God into people’. Do you miss that style of preaching? Ponder over that observation and we’ll come back to it later.
Our gospel reading today marks the start of Jesus’ ministry, with the exception of Luke’s account of Jesus in the Temple at the age of 12. We’ve skipped forward in time and Jesus is about 30 years old and we are now at his baptism. It is the beginning of Jesus’ short but intense ministry that will only last about 3 years.
Our reading starts with John the Baptist, who was performing the baptism of repentance. Baptism was common in Israel. Jewish people immersed themselves in ritual baths before entering the holy place – they did this as a sign of inner purification. And converts to Judaism would also undergo such a ritual as part of their initiation into the faith.
John’s baptism was different. It was a baptism of repentance. He was warning people to repent before it was too late and he baptised them to seal that repentance and commitment.
We know John the Baptist as the forerunner of Jesus but at that time there was much confusion and many thought he was the Messiah himself. So our gospel reading sets the scene with the people ‘filled with expectation’, and we further read that ‘all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah’. Not just a few of them, all were questioning whether John may be the Messiah. But John humbly responds by stating that ‘one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals’.
Our gospel reading then jumps forward to Jesus’ baptism. John the Baptist was baptising Jesus and many could have interpreted this this as John being superior to Jesus. There could also have been a misunderstanding of why Jesus, ‘he who is without sin’, would need to receive a baptism of repentance. We can only speculate on why Jesus received the baptism but in this act Jesus certainly identified with his people – those that he came to serve and to save.
This story appears in all four Gospels. Luke’s account is less dramatic than Mark’s. Mark has the heaven ‘torn open’, whereas in Luke’s account we read ‘And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus was devotedly praying to God in this scene. In silent prayer this dramatic, yet humble, scene unfolds. Jesus begins his ministry with his shirt off, in silent prayer, identifying with the people that he came to serve and to save.
I wonder if this is how John the Baptist expected Jesus to start his ministry. Did Jesus live up to John’s expectations?
Expectation is a funny thing. What makes some people have high expectations of something and some a low expectation? It’s all in our thoughts and our perception.
There was a massive build up to the new Star Wars film that was released just before Christmas. For those of you who have seen it, did it live up to your expectations? We’ve been waiting a long time for it! Or were you disappointed as it was different to what you thought it would be?
I finally got to see it just over a week ago. Everyone I knew had really enjoyed it. So by the time I got to see it my expectations were sky high and I had my own idea about what the plot may be. Unfortunately it was different to my expectations and so I was disappointed. I know that I need to see it again to fully appreciate it because it was so different. A great excuse to go back and watch it in 3D this time!
Was John the Baptist’s expectation of the Messiah different to what he witnessed in Jesus Christ?
John is the only New Testament prophet in our bibles and he prophesied in this reading that that the one who was to come would baptise them with the Holy Spirit and fire. He describes his expectation that the Messiah will come with ‘His winnowing-fork in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
When I read this it reminded me of the style of preaching that I talked about earlier -when the preacher bangs on the bible or slamming it down to get your attention. John prophesied that ‘the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire’. A literal ‘fire and brimstone’ style of preaching by John the Baptist. Was John the Baptist preaching with passion? Was he trying to put the fear of God into those he preached to? Was his expectation of the Messiah simply different?
The Messiah was prophesied to come and conquer and judge all, to destroy sinners and establish righteousness. Many believed in a conquering, warrior type Messiah. One who would put the fear into those who had suppressed the Jews. But instead we received a prayerful, humble, servant King that preached love for our God and for one another, to love our enemy and not to destroy them.
It’s obvious to us now but at the time Jesus’s humble, prayerful start to his ministry appears to be out of line with even John’s expectations of the Messiah, let alone the rest of the Jews.
We learn of John’s doubts later in chapter 7 when John asks two of his disciples to ask Jesus “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” He’s clearly questioning Jesus’ status by asking directly, albeit via his disciples, ‘Are you the one?’
We focus on the stories of doubting Thomas but we forget that even John the Baptist questioned who Jesus was. Despite hearing the voice from heaven, during Jesus’ baptism, announcing ‘You are my son’, he still doubted because Jesus’ actions were so out of line with the Jews expectations.
The Messiah that we received was not a warrior, conquering King but a humble servant Son of God. That acted out of unconditional love for us all. His message was not of fear but of love.
Don’t get me wrong, Jesus clearly told us to repent. In our journey of faith in Christ we know that we must repent, to believe in him and to follow him. In repentance we simply acknowledge that we are not perfect and that we need God’s help. This is an important, necessary part of our journey of faith in Christ and it is always the first step of the journey, whether it is the first time we meet Christ or at the start of every morning of each day of our lives. We must repent first as sin prevents us from even feeling worthy enough to be in God’s presence, let alone actually coming into his presence.
However we must not fear. God will graciously accept our plea, through Christ, and renew us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is by grace that we are saved, not through our own works. It is because of this amazing grace that we don’t need to live in fear but in faith.
We do read of the ‘fear of the Lord’ in our bibles but both the Hebrew and Greek words for ‘fear’ convey a positive reverence. The recognition of God’s greatness and acknowledging his importance. We are in awe and wonder of the Lord.
Fear is what we are currently seeing on the news. The actions of terrorists, with ISIL member’s acting supposedly from fear of the wrath of their God; our actions against terrorism – in fear we started air strikes in Syria. Enough of fear!
So back to the question on how shall we preach, how do each and every one of us share the good news. Should we preach with passion? Yes, absolutely! Should we preach by putting the fear of God into people?
We must help to replace fear with faith. Faith in Christ. All need to be saved; all may be saved; all may know that they are saved; and all may be saved to the uttermost. To have faith in Jesus Christ means to trust Him and obey His commandments.
But we don’t earn salvation by our obedience; we don’t fear that we haven’t done enough; we don’t become ‘more saved’ on this faith journey. When we accepted Jesus into our life, he gave us his righteousness as a gift. Through him we are made right with God.
We are not to live our life in fear. To me fear is the complete opposite of faith. They can’t coexist. You either fear something or you have faith. We must replace fear with faith in Christ.
We must also replace fear with love. In the first letter of John we read ‘Perfect love drives out fear.
As a new preacher I was getting concerned about how often my sermons kept including the message of Jesus’ commandments on love. So I prayed about it and I basically said, ‘Enough preaching on love. I’m not going to include it in my next sermon’. You can perhaps guess what the lectionary reading was for my next service after this prayer. Yes, Mark 12:28-34 The greatest commandments – to love our God and to love one another. Unconditionally! We must replace fear with love.
And finally, we must replace fear with hope. Hope for us now and for the life to come.
I’ve noticed a common misunderstanding that Christians go to church because we fear death and are hoping that by worshiping God we’ll be pardoned. It will mean a boring life now of going to church and trying to be good. How wrong can that misconception be! Christians go to church because we don’t fear death and want to thank God that such a hope has been given us, unreservedly.
The message of the Good News is for hope NOW. We as Christians experience life in all its fullness. A wondrous, purposeful, God centric life. By opening our hearts and lives to Christ, and in the honour of serving, we see glimpses of God that take our breath away. That’s a far fuller life to lead than one of drifting through life watching TV or just looking out for ourselves.
We know that coming to church every week doesn’t make us ‘more saved’. We are here because we want to be here. For many reasons, including one of gratitude; wanting to praise and thank our God; and to get spiritual nourishment for our souls. What an amazing life we have in Christ. How wrong is the misconception!
Our faith also gives us hope for the future. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.’ This is not the end but the beginning of an eternal life in all its fullness.
NO MORE FEAR!
Even our Old Testament reading today tells us:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour….
Do not fear, for I am with you.
So how shall we preach the Good News? Should we preach with passion? Yes. Should we preach by putting the fear of God into people? I’ll leave that question with you to decide for yourselves. But we must preach faith in Christ, a message of unconditional love and of gracious hope for all. Amen
Debbie Story 