God’s Love Aright

Sermon Luke 3:7-18 December 13, 2015 3^rd Sunday Advent

God’s Love Aright

The roads are rough. The way to where we want to go is under construction. The detours along the way seem endless. Isn’t there a direct route anywhere? Can’t there be a smooth straight path, perhaps a 12 lane highway void of traffic, with guard rails made of crash resistant materials and weather proof surfaces to assure the traveler of hazard free journeys.

That’s the kind of wish we make about life.

That’s the kind of wish we are making just to get all the presents under the Christmas tree and make it through the holidays unscathed.

But, here we are on the third Sunday of Advent listening to a wild locust eater yelling his way out of the wilderness and accosting the crowds with some unfriendly language. There he was calling people names and passing judgment upon them.

Who did he think he was?

Who do we think he was?

He accuses them of being comfortable in their birthright of faith. Being born into the faith of God has left them complacent and without conviction to be committed to the calling of God for their life.

John the Baptist is pushing the people hard about examining their lives. He is pushing them hard because he says he is preparing them for the coming Savior, the Messiah. He says he is getting them ready.

But, you and I both know he appears at the river Jordan living his life as a prophet at the time that Jesus is already an adult. He is making this ruckus thirty years after Jesus was born in the manger.

So, why are we hearing these words on the third Sunday of Advent when we are on the road to Bethlehem? We are headed to see the sweet baby Jesus in the manger. We are on our way to see the tender child, soft and squishy, precious, and lovely. We sing about the baby and that is who we plan to see and feel good about. Not a grown man, not an adult. We’re not going to Bethlehem to see the grown up Jesus. We want our path to the manger to be smooth and without detour or trouble.

But, the road to Bethlehem is rough and rocky and there is nothing smooth about it.

Mary and Joseph had to face challenges that young people shouldn’t have to face. They struggled with decisions and they had no money, and then they had to travel far at a time in their life where they should have been at home comfortable preparing for a child. Yet, there they were on a rough and rocky road headed to Bethlehem.

And so, how has it been for us?

Has it also been a rough and rocky road trying to make our way to the manger? Every year we think it will be different, and yet every year there are new challenges along the way.

And, this is why we are called to hear the words of the prophet and be ready to receive the Savior at his birth. Because at the birth of Jesus we experience God’s love Aright!

As we witnessed the four baptisms here today, we were witnesses to God’s Love Aright. These young people have made a commitment to Christ.

They have accepted the love of God in their lives and know they belong to God forever. They were firm about their desire to be baptized and they were firm about their love for God and desire to live in God’s love.

So, here we are reminded to consider the meaning of our own baptism as we have witnessed theirs.

Are we committed to God’s claim on us?

What do we need to do to reprioritize our lives?

How can we live focused on the love of God?

Are we asking the same question as the crowd asked John the Baptist?

What should we do?

Because, at this time in our lives as we witness a crazed world around us, we are asking that very question, “what should we do?”

I shared with these youth that baptism doesn’t stop the questions of faith. It is the beginning of faith. It is the steps where we can confidently come to God and ask, what should we do.

John gives the people answers, lots of them. He gives them answers so they can figure out how to live their lives as faithful disciples.

And these are exactly the words we want to hear too!

We want to know how to live faithful lives.

We want to know how to live in ways that honor the baby we worship in the manger. And we really want to live knowing we are being authentic Christians.

And so we who are on the road of life, that is by no means an easy road, have some ways to consider how we travel.

So today we hear about just a few things to get us started on the right road. We are called to share, to be fair, to care, and to be honest. These are ways we bear fruit. These are ways we live out the faith we claim.

Take the power of God with you as you travel. Let the power of God through your baptism move you to share, care, to be fair and to be honest in all of the ways of your life. This is how we live God’s Love Aright. Friends, you belong to God, you always have, and you always will, and the mark of Christ is upon you. Amen.