Allen Jackson - The Cost of Silence - Part 2
Our enemy, the devil, wants you to believe that you're not significant. That to be important, you have to be an influencer. I would submit, you have influence with the Creator of all things. Let's decide the simple part of this, that our life objective, our life goal, is to please him, to represent him well. And I don't believe sitting in church from time to time when it's convenient is really the fulfillment of that commitment. Luke chapter 3 and verse 7: "John said to the crowds coming to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers!'"
Vipers is a fancy word for snakes. "Said 'You're a bunch of snakes. Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And don't begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father".'" A lot of pride in religion. It's true in the 1st century, it's true in the 21st century. We get really proud of how we do it. We belong to the right group, we read the right translation. We worship the right way. We take communion with grape juice that is the proper color. It really doesn't matter which group you come from. That kind of self-righteousness attached to religion is a unique challenge for religious people. And it was true in the 1st century, and they said that they're Jewish, they have a covenant with God.
All of those things are true. God identified himself with the Jewish people. He's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Imagine he said if he was the God of Rutherford County in Murfreesboro. "Let us tell you about our God". I can't imagine. And John says to them: you really shouldn't put too much stress on your family tree, "'For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that doesn't produce fruit, he'll cut down and be thrown into the fire.' And the crowd said, 'What should we do?' And John said, 'Well, the one who has two coats share with him who has none. And the one who has food should do the same.' And the tax collectors came to be baptized".
The tax collectors were the most hated amongst the local citizens. Rome figured out pretty early that they could raise their tax revenue if they would use local citizens because the local citizens know who has the money. So they would recruit somebody locally that was willing to betray their fellow citizens. Tell us who the wealthy people are in the community and we will give you Roman soldiers to be the muscle you need and you can collect the taxes and, by the way, you can collect whatever you want for yourself as well. That's how we get Zacchaeus in Jericho. He's the tax collector and Jesus stops at his house and Zacchaeus says, "If I have cheated anyone". He's cheated everyone. And now the tax collectors are coming to John the Baptist, "Teacher, what should we do"? The crowd could answer.
"John says to them, 'Don't collect any more than you're required to.' The soldiers came," the bullies, the intimidators, the enforcers. "'What should we do?' 'Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely, be content with your pay.' The people were waiting expectantly and they were all wondering in their hearts if John might be the Messiah. And John answered them, 'I baptize you with water, but there's one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie. He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear the threshing floor, to gather the wheat into his barn. He'll burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'"
He's telling 'em the same thing: Judgment's coming. "And with many other words, John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. But when John rebuked Herod the governor because of Herodias, his brother's wife," the governor married his brother's wife and John calls him out on it in public, "and all the other evil things Herod had done, Herod added this to the list. He locked John up in prison". Now, that's John's message. It's his core message. I believe it was a message that was repeated many times. John made a tremendous impact. He carried that baton for a season and then he'll hand it to Jesus. We'll look at that, I hope, before we're done today. About 3 o'clock. Yeah, but I just wanna, you know, if you could step back from that for just a moment with me.
Let's just try to think about what we just read. You don't need any theology or note... original language awareness. John used some very harsh language: "You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to avoid judgment? God has the ax already aimed at the root of this tree". That is not conciliatory. He's not building bridges; he's calling them names. There were many listening who were offended. The tax collectors and the soldiers specifically, Luke tells us, two of the most hated groups amongst the people, some of the wealthiest and most powerful, certainly the ones that could enact something punitive. You don't want to make the IRS mad. Luke specifically calls them out. They are convicted. They say, "What should we do"?
It's worth noting, we just read it. John publicly calls out their poor behavior. He said, "Don't collect any more taxes than your due". He looks at the crowd and said, "You should stop stealing". And the soldiers ask the same question and John, just as unflinchingly, says, "Don't extort money. Don't accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay". John is warning them of unquenchable fire, judgment. John is speaking to the covenant people of God and then John does something that really is bizarre to us from a contemporary church standpoint. He takes on the political leader. Says, "You're immoral and you gotta stop," and talks about his evil behavior.
Now, I have a question and it really is for you to process, more than it is just me. But it seems to me that John's message is very different from the messaging that has described our journey through church. We talk about Bible studies from antiquity. We wanna study the character of people in the 1st century. What were the voices in their lives? If we start to talk about current culture, we get really anxious in the contemporary American church. I have to consistently come back and say, "Listen, I'm not really trying to talk about political issues. I want to talk about current cultural issues".
Marriage is not a political issue; it's a biblical worldview issue. Human sexuality is not a political issue; it's a biblical worldview issue. Telling the truth is not a political issue; it's a cultural biblical issue. And if we're not gonna talk about what's happening in our world, we don't have a real faith. We have a theoretical faith. I don't wanna eat a theoretical lunch. I want real food. And in order to arrive at that place and defend those positions, we have to ignore the scripture.
Now in Luke's narrative and we're gonna look at this. We're gonna pull some of these threads pretty consistently. We got 24 chapters to pull these threads through. There's some things I'm gonna warn you, you're gonna see repeatedly, particularly if you get to read ahead, you can make some notes in your own Bible. I just completely blew up the Gospel of Luke. Mine's almost illegible at this point. But Jesus and his associates are going to consistently deliver some very uncomfortable messages to the people of God. Secondly, there's gonna be significant resistance and rejection of the message. Everybody's not gonna cheer. And quite surprisingly, if you're trying to read Luke's narrative with just a little bit of perspective, it's really surprising who responds.
The people you would expect to respond have little interest or they respond in a way you didn't anticipate, and the ones you think would want nothing to do with it, raise their hand and say, "What can I do? How can I get in"? In this particular case with John the Baptist, it's the tax collectors and the soldiers. That's not who you would expect. John has a message from God that's been overly emphasized from the nature of his conception to when Luke just says to us plainly, "The Word of God came to John". And then we get to read the message that Luke presents to us, and the people who are religious, the people who are biblically grounded, the people who are serving God in professional capacities, want nothing to do with it. But the thieves and the bullies, the thugs, say, "We need to be baptized".
The fourth thing in Luke's narrative that you'll find is this dimensional life. Zechariah and Elizabeth conceived because of the supernatural intervention of God, biologically not possible. Maybe we could say it was a fluke, you know, something happened, but you get to Mary and Joseph in the same chapter and what happened to them, we don't have an explanation for it, but God. And Luke is going to continue to push us into this narrative, asking us to consider leading a dimensional life where we imagine that spiritual influences and spiritual forces are every bit as powerful in your life as the diet you choose to eat. And for most of us in the American Church, we've just tried to, you know, we've treated spiritual things as if they were make-believe. We don't want to talk about that. We would rather have a study. We would rather memorize some names. We would rather learn to spell Nebuchadnezzar, maybe.
Luke chapter 3, there's just an affirmation of John. Even Jesus comes to be baptized by John. That's pretty high praise. I mean, I told you a minute ago we got fake Jesus coming to our church. Even that feels pretty good. Jesus, the Messiah, came to be baptized by John. It's Luke 3:21: "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice from heaven came and said, 'You're my Son, whom I love; with you I'm well pleased.'" Before you turn the page, it's a confirmation of Jesus. Jesus's baptism is related in all four of the Gospels. This is the only Gospel where we're told that Jesus prayed. It said: "Jesus prayed and God spoke".
Luke is going to highlight that theme for us. It's one of those threads we'll pull, the Spirit of God and the power of God go together for Luke, and the bridge between that is often our willingness to pray. It's also an affirmation of John and his assignment. If Jesus came to baptize him, John must be doing something right or Jesus wouldn't have showed up and stood in the line. Agreed? So we can't take John's message and set it aside and say, "Well, it was aberrant. Something was wrong with it," because it's not gonna be unique. It's gonna be very, it's very indicative of what will come in the later chapters. As you read Luke this week, watch for the messages that are delivered and how many times they're met with antagonism.
In Luke chapter 7, I decided to skip ahead a little bit because I think it highlights this point for us, Jesus. It's Jesus's commentary on John the Baptist. John sends his disciples to inquire of Jesus if he's the one that they should be looking for, and we're gonna get Jesus's perspective on John the Baptist. It's Luke 7:21: "At that time, Jesus cured many who had diseases and sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind". He's practicing medicine, but he's not doing with scalpels and x-rays and antibiotics. He's introduced another dimension. He's introduced another power, another authority. We actually do seminars in the contemporary American church to talk about whether or not God still does miracles.
Do you understand how bizarre that is? If God's not in the miracle-working business, how do you think you could be forgiven? What hope would we have of being transformed if God doesn't do miracles? See, the reason we have, we tend to equivocate is he doesn't do miracles when we want him to. I want a parking place on the square in front of the business I wanna walk in front of, and I don't wanna circle the square 42 times. I want a parking place at church by the door and I don't want anybody in my seat. It would be a miracle if you had an assigned seat. Luke tells us that Jesus is healing people. Blind eyes are being opened.
So he replies to John's messengers in verse 22: "'Go back and report to John what you've seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.' After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John". This is what intrigues me. We get to hear Jesus's evaluation of John. How many of you would like the scripture to include Jesus's evaluation of you? Woo, he said, "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Well, if not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes"?
See, he asked him a couple of... did you go out to see somebody that would just bend with the breeze of fashion? Did you go out to see someone who was self-indulgent? "He said, 'No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, and he'll prepare your way before you". I tell you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.' (And all the people...)"
And again, this is in parenthesis, in the text. It's in parenthesis. So Luke is inserting an explanation. He's quoting Jesus and now he inserts an explanation. He's giving us a little personal insight. "(All the people listening to Jesus, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus's words...)" Why does he keep saying "these tax"? Because they're the worst of the worst. Everybody knows. Said, "(Even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus's words, acknowledged that God's way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God's purposes for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)"
Jesus affirms John and his message. Is that fair? Is that a legitimate summary of that? Jesus said, "Good job, John". He's telling the whole crowd, "The finest of men. He says he's a prophet, but he's more than a prophet. He said he was a messenger sent ahead of me," wow. And then Jesus says, "Among those born among women, there's no one greater than John". It's that dimensional life thing again because he said, "But the one who's least in the kingdom of God". He said, "There's a realm of existence greater than being born among women. You wanna be born into the kingdom of God". We need John's Gospel to get that full explanation. But in Luke, Jesus simply is acknowledging this dimensional change.
Folks, your status in the kingdom of God is far more significant than any label you can earn or have attached to your journey through time. What did David say? "I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked". Your self-worth, your purpose, your value, should begin with the foundation of the one in whom we believe. Yeah, I'm taking Jesus with me where I go, because I wanna be identified with him as fully and as completely as I know how. And there's this contrast that Luke gives us and it's gonna be a staple as you read through the Gospel. The tax collectors acknowledge John's message. They say it was the right message, it was good. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law reject God's purposes for themselves.
The fact checkers don't wanna tell the truth. It's worth noting, though, particularly it's worth noting in our environment, Jesus has no condemnation of John's message. He didn't say, "You know, John was just a little too political. If John could have just kept his emotions in check, he would not have gotten himself arrested". There's none of that. And as you push through the Gospel of Luke and we work through some of it together, we're gonna see over and over and over again messages that are delivered, understanding when they're delivered that they will agitate, acknowledging the truth, calling the people listening to make a decision whether they will submit the God's truth or whether they will ignore it.
In the book of James, he said, "You believe there's a God. Good for you. The demons believe that and they shudder". So, believing that Jesus is the Son of God is important, but you have to take another step with that and say, "I will choose you as Lord of my life". Now, Lord is about priority. That means it's really no longer my time or my money or my plan or my agenda. I serve at the pleasure of the King. He chooses the assignments. He is Lord of my calendar, wow. "Wait a minute, Pastor, now, just hang on a minute. Stop! Tap the brakes. Slow down. Whoa, Nelly. I just wanna go to heaven. I don't wanna be one of these fanatical, crackpot, goofy..."
That's not an option. There's no halfway admitted. Jesus said it; we'll look at it before we're done. "He said, 'Many of you will say, "Lord, Lord," and I'll say, "I don't know you". And some of you are gonna come and say, "I did miracles in your name,"'" and he'll said, "I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with you". Jesus is Lord. I'm sorry we haven't said that in the contemporary church as frequently or as persistently as we might have. I'm not suggesting we're perfect. I'm suggesting we have to carry the intent of Jesus being Lord of our lives. I trust him to help us with that, but it begins with the intent.
So that's my invitation to you this morning, whether you're a veteran church attender and you could preach sermons, you've heard so many, or you're new to this whole thing. As we come to the Communion table today, could we say, "Jesus, I want you to be Lord of my life. You made such a sacrifice for us". There's nothing we can do to deserve what he's made available to us, but we can receive it. I don't know if the contemporary folks would call us the tax collectors and the soldiers or not, but I'm sure you could find somebody that would affix some labels to us that would not be flattering.
So let's choose the purposes of God for ourselves. Can we do that today? Jesus said, "This is my body broken for you. As often as you eat this, do this in remembrance of me". Let's receive together. Then he took a cup. He said, "This cup is a new covenant, a new contract, sealed with my own blood. As often as you drink it, you proclaim my death until you see me again".
Let's receive together. Would you stand with me? I'm gonna ask you to repeat a little prayer with me. It's a simple prayer. It's one that will be familiar to you. Some version of it is familiar to you, I hope. But it's a good day to affirm our alignment with the kingdom of God. Just repeat this after me:
Almighty God, I'm a sinner and I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is your Son, that he died on the cross for my sins, and that you raised him to life again, that I might be justified. Forgive me of my sins. I forgive all those who have sinned against me. Jesus, be Lord of my life, all that I am, all that I have, all that I'll ever be. I wanna live for your glory, and I thank you now that I belong to the best family in the universe, the family of God, amen.