Looking in the Mirror
Luke 3: 1-20
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Rev. Daniel T. Hans
September 2, 2007

Today we begin a journey that will take us to June of next year.  Today we begin to work our way through the Gospel of Luke.  My hope is that this extended sermon series will not put me in the position of the pastor who was looking under his bed for something when he found a box with $2000 and 2 eggs in it.  Wondering why his wife had this large sum of money under the bed, he asked her about it.  A little embarrassed, she replied, “Honey, when-ever you preach a bad sermon I put an egg in a box.”  He was relieved to think that in all his years of preaching he had had only two bad sermons, until she continued, “And then when I have a dozen eggs, I sell them.”
To begin this sermon journey in the Gospel of Luke, I start with some definitions so that I don’t end up with eggs under my bed or worse with egg on my face.

I

What do we mean when we talk about the Gospel of Luke? What is a gospel?  The word “gospel” comes from the compound Greek word euaggelion.  Eu means “good” as in euthanasia which means good death.  Aggelion from which we get our word “angel” means message.  Gospel means good message or good news.

A gospel is not a parable, a made-up story to make a point.  A gospel is not a biography written with pure objective fact.  A gospel is a testimony to the identity of its subject, which in the case of the biblical gospels is Jesus.  The four biblical gospels are the life of Jesus written by people of faith to people of faith and to bring other people to faith. 

Gospels contain historical information but the information is always interpreted by the writers whose faith presents Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world.  Thus, two people can read the Gospel of Luke and one person has her eyes opened, her heart warmed and her mind illumined, while the other reader walks away from the gospel unimpressed, uninspired and unfazed by the good news.  There is nothing magical about a gospel just as there is nothing magical about the Bible just as there is nothing magical about God.  

To appreciate more fully Luke’s picture of Jesus we need to know something about Luke.
1. From other New Testament writings, we discover that Luke:
     - worked with the Apostle Paul who wrote New Testament letters,
     - was a physician and  
     - wrote the book of Acts which tells about the early church.
2. From Luke’s gospel we discover that Luke:
     - was a historian who went to great lengths to set his accounts within the history of day (see Luke 2: 1-4; 3: 1-2) and
     - was interested in all people, especially those despised and rejected by the religious establishment (As we will see in this series, Luke took special interest in the plight of the poor, the non-Jews and women.)
3. From New Testament scholarship we discover that Luke wrote his gospel around 90 AD. As did Matthew, Luke used the earlier Gospel of Mark as his outline and added other information about Jesus. 

While only Matthew and Luke say anything about Jesus’ birth, when Luke tells of Jesus’ birth he prefaces it with the story of the birth of John the Baptizer.  Likewise, when Luke begins to tell about Jesus’ ministry, he prefaces it with information about the ministry of John the Baptizer. Luke seems to believe that to understand a person we need to understand the key people and influences in that person’s life. For example, Abraham Lincoln’s early irreligion and skepticism might be understood as a reaction to his father’s very rigid and dogmatic religion. Lincoln’s later patience with and acceptance of people might be understood in light of his stepmother’s patience with and acceptance of people. You and I are products of the influence of people in our lives – a grandparent, parent, teacher, coach, mentor or colleague.  As these people have left their mark on our lives, so John the Baptizer influenced Jesus’ early ministry.  Perhaps Jesus began as a follower, a disciple of John.  Thus Luke begins his account of Jesus’ ministry with the account of John’s ministry.  And that is where be begin this sermon series. (If you want to consider John’s influence on Jesus in more detail I direct you to the chapter on John in my book Advent Dreams.)

II

John the Baptizer began his ministry in a time of high expectation.  The people of Israel expected God to do something, send someone.  They hoped for a Messiah (Deliverer) who would liberate them from the oppressive forces upon them. But notice that John’s message was not addressed to external forces, rather to internal tendencies. John didn’t come preaching revolution for the defeat of enemies. He came preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John knew what Jesus knew and what both learned from God – our greatest enemy is inside of us not outside of us. As the Pogo cartoon character said: “We have met the enemy and they are us.”  Or as Air Force Colonel and Homeland Security expert Randall Larsen says in his new book about security against the next inevitable terrorist attack here in the United States: We are “Our Own Worst Enemy” when we focus too much attention on airports and borders and not enough attention on nuclear and biological terrorism.

When so many Christians today are quick to focus all their attention on the sins and shortcomings of other people, the message of Jesus, for which John prepares the way, calls us to focus on our own sins and shortcomings.
Focusing only on others’ sins ignores the greatest sin of all – our own self-righteousness.  As a preacher I get frustrated when I hear so many TV, radio and Internet preachers looking through the window at everyone else’s sins rather than looking in the mirror at themselves.

Of the personal sins of all of us, which are many, John says: Repent, do an about-face, turn around and head in a new direction. Don’t just follow the crowd and merely go along to get along. Be your own person, be God’s person, and be that person everywhere – not just in church but at work, in the dorm, at home. But why should we take our lives that seriously? Because God does! God is not One who looks at our condition and action and says, “Oh well, boys will be boys and girls will be girls.” God is the One who looks at us and says, “I’m disappointed in what I see. I expect more from you, better of you, and I hope you expect more and better of yourself.”

John came to get people to look at themselves and see their sins so that they would be ready to look at Jesus and see God’s love. Before we are ready to receive good news, we must face the bad news. Only those who honestly face their sins and brokenness are open to the presence of a savior and healer. Only those who long for the love of God receive the love of God.

Quoting the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, Luke says that John the Baptizer came to prepare the way for the coming of another. This other who was coming into the world would bring God’s forgiveness, hope, and salvation to all people. To show their openness to God’s love, people were baptized. Baptism speaks of God’s cleansing power for new life. Baptism speaks of a new beginning, a spiritual renewal. But baptism is more than a religious ceremony. More important than the attention to the outside is the intention on the inside. More important than the water on the skin is the fire in the soul. John warned that if people want new life with God, they had better begin by living new lives for God. “Bear fruits worthy of repentance!” John declared.

It wasn’t enough to say “Abraham is our ancestor.” Nor is it enough to say “I was baptized” or “I was confirmed in the church.” Abraham was the father of Israel’s faith but pedigree and memory are not the essence of faith nor are ritual and education. Trusting God and obeying God are the essence of faith. And it isn’t enough for us to say “I believe.” God wants more than memorized words. God wants lives that live for God everyday. That doesn’t mean we must be perfect; it does mean we must try. That doesn’t mean we must get it right every time; it does mean we must try to get it right every time. And when we get it wrong and fall short, we must admit this to God, to others and to ourselves.

III

As a preacher, what I like best about John the Baptizer is that rather than telling people specifically what they must do, he points them toward what they must become. They must become new people; they must become more than they presently are; they must become what God wants them to become. Consequently, they begin to wonder and ask: What must we do to become the people God wants us to become? No preacher can answer questions that people are not asking. However, once people begin to ask questions, then they are open and ready to hear answers.

1. To the impoverished crowd that easily and justifiably thinks only of themselves and their poverty, John says to think of others and be willing to help others even though you too need help. In a world where the division between haves and have-nots grows ever wider, a key question for everyone (whether we are haves or have-nots) is: How much is enough?  How much do I need and how much can I share?
2. To dishonest tax collectors who are stooges for the Roman government and who use the threat of Roman power to line their own pockets, John says to quit misusing your position to collect more taxes than are required. John does not tell the tax collectors to quit your jobs and go on unemployment.  He tells them to redefine your work and reinvent yourself so that what you do and how you do it honors God.
3. To the soldiers, who are probably Jewish soldiers of ruler Herod and who have much power, John says to quit misusing your power for your own gain. Just because you have power over others doesn’t mean you should use it.

Here is a preacher who doesn’t say what people want to hear, rather he says what they don’t want to hear but need to hear. Here is a preacher who believes his message can make a difference in lives and in the world. Here is a preacher who gets everyone wondering: Is he the One? Is he the One we are awaiting? Is he the Christ, the Messiah? And here is a preacher who can easily misuse his position and his power to mislead the people but he doesn’t do so.

Instead of answering their question with a “Yes, I am the one”, he says, “No, I am not the one. The One you and I await is coming. I’m not worthy to tie his shoes.  He is coming with the Spirit and power of God.  When people meet him, truly meet him and allow him to look into their souls, they will never again be the same.  They cannot be the same, not if they want to live for God and want for themselves what God wants for them.”

Luke calls John’s message “good news” - gospel. But its harsh bite and bitter taste don’t sound like good news – unless we recognize that it is a good thing to take a honest look at ourselves and to admit our sins and shortcomings.
Only then can we hope to become something other, something more than we presently are. That kind of honest and pointed preaching either humbles hearts or angers egos.

The crowd, tax collectors and soldiers were humbled and baptized. However, the ego of Herod, the rule of Galilee, was angered. Apparently, in another sermon, John took Herod to task for marrying the divorced wife of Herod’s own brother.   Angry at John’s message, Herod threw John-the-messenger in jail. Killing the messenger has never silenced the message –especially when the message is from God.  Later in Luke’s Gospel this same killing-the-messenger-to-silence- the-message will be attempted on a cross.

IV

Some people look into the mirror of God’s truth and decide they need and want to change their old lives to have a new life. Others look into that same mirror and throw something at the mirror to break it to hide the ugly truth about them selves.  Herod was the latter.  Which are we? We will have the chance to wrestle with that question as we work our way through Luke’s Gospel about Jesus.  We will learn that Jesus picks up where John leaves off.
But more than being a messenger who continues a good message, Jesus is the good message. Jesus is the good news who comes from God and is of God and who can change any & every life that welcomes him as good news.

Having taken this first step on our long journey in Luke, let’s now stop for refreshment and renewal with a meal that reminds us where this journey leads – to a fatal cross and to an empty tomb and to a divine promise for this life and beyond.

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