Third Sunday in Advent
Isaiah 12:2-6
2 Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and will not be afraid,
for the LORD[a] is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say on that day:
“Give thanks to the LORD;
call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Luke 3:7-18
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?” 11 In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.” 12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages.”
15 As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is 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.”
18 So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people.

What Then Should We Do?
This morning on this third Sunday in Advent we hear from John the Baptist in the third chapter of Luke’s Gospel. John preaches to the people, and he speaks strongly, but at the same time, lovingly. Remember John was a tough guy. He was a hermit and a wandering holy man, living off the land, alone in the desert. He was an ascetic. He wore rough clothing and ate locust and wild honey. Not a lifestyle that would interest most people.
To get a picture of John the Baptist, using some characters from 1970’s westerns, think of combining John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit and David Carradine as Caine in Kung Fu. Our text in Luke chapter three is the original “Prepare the Way of the Lord” sermon. Here we have the makings of an ancient spiritual revival. In this sermon, John the Baptist outlines the elements of the spiritual life, and he teaches revival and renewal. He shows us what is needed for spiritual revival: Repentance, Restoration, Humility and Devotion.
Repentance and Restoration
John is the Voice crying in the Wilderness. The reference to the wilderness is important. In their Exodus from Egypt, the ancient Israelites wandered in the desert, lost in confusion and sin. Their relationship to God needed to be restored. Again in Babylon, they were lost, separated from God, needing restoration. The message here for us is clear. We who wander in the wilderness of sin can be restored to allegiance with God. God’s grace is at hand. We only must prepare our hearts. Prepare the way of the Lord so that the Lord will return to our hearts.
John preaches in the desert, far from the city. The people in the city hear about John, and so they step away from their everyday lives and go out into the desert to hear him preach and to be baptized. They want to renew their lives, renew their dedication to God. They want to get right with God, to be restored to God, to have a fresh start.
John offers this to them. But he says to them, “Be careful! Don’t kid yourselves, you viper’s brood! Don’t think that just because you are descendants of Abraham, that that somehow makes you special. “God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” So don’t think you are special and that you can come out here in the desert, get baptized quickly, and then go back to Jerusalem to keep living the same way you always did. No, that’s not how this works. “Prepare the Way of the Lord” means clean up your lives. Clean up the mess. Change your behavior and change your thinking.
What should we do?
Verse 10 is a key line in the text: “…the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” What then should we do? This is our question, too. How, exactly, do we Prepare the Way of the Lord? How do we clean up our life, clean up our mess, so that we can be restored and renewed, so that God will return to our hearts?
John the Baptist preaches a “get right with God” sermon. The people ask, “What should we do?” And John gives them a list of specific examples. Don’t be greedy. Share with each other. Don’t exploit people. Don’t threaten people. Don’t make false accusations. Look at yourself, be critical of yourself, not others, and clean up your own life. And so Luke writes, “With many other exhortations he proclaimed the Good News to the people.”
With many other exhortations: An exhortation is two things. It’s admonishment, a criticism, and, at the same time, it’s an encouragement. In other words, “stop your sinning” and “you can do this.” It’s both at the same time. It’s like something a good coach would say. You know, a good coach will tell the team what they need to do to be better, but at the same time, a good coach will do it in a way that doesn’t destroy anyone. A couch will cut you down and build you up at the same time. It’s a fine line, and a highly developed skill. A good coach has to walk this fine line. So, it’s very interesting.
I had some great coaches when I was in school. On the Junior Varsity basketball team, our coach used to yell at me. A lot. His favorite thing to yell at me while I was running down the court was, “Gabrielsen, get in the game! Get in the game, Gabrielsen!” He had this way of hurling out my name like he was retching. Gabrielsen! He was trying to get me to move faster, and to be a better basketball player.
My voice teacher drove me crazy, too. Walter Foster. In lesson after lesson, year after year, Walter made me stand beside the piano and sing vocalizes– scales and arpeggios on all the vowels. He was always soft-spoken, but he was relentless. Over and over and over, he made me sing those scales. “No, almost, but not quite. Do it again.” He wanted me to be a better singer, to find my best sound. And he drove me crazy.
Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth is like this. Sometimes the truth is not what we want to hear. But it’s what we need to hear. Spiritual growth is not always pleasant. In fact, spiritual growth usually involves pain. Injury to our ego.
How do we prepare the way of the Lord? John is telling us it’s more than just lighting the Advent Candles and singing nice Christmas carols. Prepare the way of the Lord means clean up your mess. Get your house in order. Get right with God and get right with each other. Get rid of the old grudges.
We want peace and happiness. We want to experience God, to be close to God, to feel God’s blessing, be holy and sanctified. It feels good to be clean. To be sanctified. To be blessed. And yet, there’s a problem. We are unable to get there. We cannot get to this experience. Why? What is holding us back?
What is holding us back?
Well, you say, “Preacher, I don’t know what’s wrong. God deserted me. God didn’t do what I wanted him to do. So, I can’t experience God. It’s not my fault.” But think again. Do you talk about other people? Do you criticize other people? Do you complain? Do you gossip? Do you look down on others? Maybe there is someone you don’t like. Maybe you don’t gossip openly. Maybe you don’t talk openly about that person. But in your mind, you think negative thoughts about them. In your mind, you are cursing them. Are you angry at someone in your family? This mental habit separates you from experiencing God’s blessing and goodness.
It all starts with our mind. John the Baptist is saying Prepare the Way of the Lord by cleaning up your mess. First, take a look at your behavior. Then, go deeper. Take a look at your mind. Thoughts are so powerful. Negative, condescending, angry, hateful thoughts, holding grudges, holding bitterness, these things will keep you from God. It’s our negative mind, our poisonous thoughts that keep us from directly experiencing God’s blessings.
Be Humble.
Finally, John the Baptist shows us his humility and his devotion. The people ask, “Is this the Messiah?” But John says, “No, I am not the Messiah. “I am not even worthy to untie his sandals.” This is humility and devotion. John knows his place in the grand scheme of things.
I am not worthy. This goes against our cultural norms. We like to think, “Oh, I am a self-made man. I am a self-made woman. I accomplished all of this. I did this.” But is it really true? Did I do anything? Or am I simply blessed? Not by my own accomplishment, but by God’s grace, I am blessed. I am not worthy. And yet, I am blessed. This is humility.
What should we do?
The key line in our reading jumps off the page in verse 10: “And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” What then should we do? This is our question, too. How, exactly, do we Prepare the Way of the Lord? How do we clean up our life, clean up our mess?
Give it up. Right now, put it down. Let it go. Give up the anger. Give up the bitterness. Give up the grudges, the arrogance, the self-centeredness, the negative mind. Be free of sin and allow God to come into your heart. Then, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isahiah 12:3) Taste this joy and see how it revives the soul!
This is Advent. We Prepare the Way of the Lord, and we find that the Lord is already here. Amen? Amen.