Specifics

The scriptures referred to are Luke 3:7-18.

Don't you hate it when a friend or acquaintance posts something cryptic on social media? It might go like this: “I am so mad.” Period. Or “That was a bad idea.” Or “I am so over this.” Or just “Ugh.” And nothing else besides those words. Maybe there's an emoji as well. But you have no context. It's called “vaguebooking.” It's almost always expressing some negative emotion but without giving any specifics. They could have had a break up, a broken water pipe, or a broken nail. It could be news of a serious illness, their own or someone close to them. But if they aren't going to say what it is, why are they telling us? You have no idea if the person posting wants you to try to draw them out or just wants you to offer support and not press for details. The one alternative it can't be is that they are literally too stunned by whatever it is to communicate something of its nature—because they pulled out their phone, opened Facebook or Instagram, typed the words, chose a background and posted it. So how are you to react? One is almost tempted to response with a generic “Thoughts and prayers.” Two can play that game.

I would imagine that language came about because of the need to be specific. Most animals have vocalizations that give alarm or signal displeasure or pain or that let the opposite sex know they are ready to mate. However, when grunts or gestures were inadequate, some clever ancestors of ours came up with shaped sounds that meant specific things or actions or thoughts. Humans can say “Enemy on your six” or “Lift that end and move it to your right” or “I have a sharp pain that radiates to my left jaw” or even “Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.” We never would have built homes or created science or literature or even civilization if we could only make guttural noises and point. You need to be able to articulate your thoughts and feelings if you are going to communicate something that goes beyond the rudimentary.

Last week we spoke of how John the Baptist preached about the need for people to repent. You can learn that from Matthew and Mark. But no other gospel but Luke gives us specifics on what that repentance would look like. Perhaps that's because Luke was a physician. Doctors need specifics. Different illnesses need specific treatments. Since the problem is people's sins, repentance takes specific forms depending on what the sin is.

Luke gives us 3 examples of specific expressions of repentance. “And the crowds asked him, 'What then should we do?' In reply he said to them, 'Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.'” (vv. 10-11) The average person then wore an undergarment and an outer garment or tunic. Some might also have a heavy cloak that would double as a blanket at night. But a poor person might only have the outer tunic. Or worse, they might only have an inner garment or a loincloth. That's probably what Peter was wearing while fishing when the risen Jesus called to him. We are told that before jumping into the sea he put on his outer garment “for he was naked.” (John 21:7) But in Greek that could also mean he was poorly clothed, ie, in his undergarment. If that was all someone had, they could get very cold at night. Which is why the Torah says that if a poor person pawns his garment, it must be returned to him at sundown, so he can sleep in it. (Deuteronomy 21:12-13) John tells people that true repentance of sin, which includes the sins of both exploiting and neglecting the poor, means going beyond what the law of Moses requires. It means in this instance giving your extra tunic to a person who has none.

And it means sharing your food with a person who has no food. Did you know that we could end world hunger by spending around $30 billion a year? That sounds like a lot until you learn that's the amount spent online, not merely by Americans, but by drunk Americans! One click shopping combined with a disinhibitor like booze leads to the average American spending nearly $450 a year. Browsing while drunk leads to late night and weekend purchases of lingerie and luxury items but not, alas, donating to charitable causes. If, instead of buying junk we don't need, we spent the same amount on food others need, we could end world hunger. It would help if the 2,755 billionaires in the world kicked in a fraction of the $13.1 trillion they have. Heck, Elon Musk could cover it the first year with just 10% of his wealth.

What does this have to do with repentance? If you actually repent, that is, truly change your mind about how you behave towards God, you will also change how you behave toward everyone who is made in God's image.

Next we read “Even tax collectors came to be baptized and they asked him, 'Teacher, what should we do?' He said to them, 'Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.'” (vv. 12-13) Tax collectors in Judea were usually Jews working for the Roman empire. Because they were helping fund the people occupying the Jewish homeland, they were seen as traitors. And it didn't help that they were greedy, collecting extra for themselves. According to the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible tax collectors were allowed to search anyone's home or person (except a Roman lady's body) for taxable property. If what they found hadn't been declared they could seize it. In Egypt they were known to beat up people, even old ladies, to get the location of relatives hiding taxable property. It was not unknown for villagers, after a bad harvest, upon hearing that the tax collector was coming, to leave town and start up a new village somewhere else! And the tax collectors were often open to accepting a bribe to reduce one's tax rate. It was illegal but when has that stopped people who love money above all else?

John tells them to stick to what they are required to collect. He, like Jesus, is not against taxes (Luke 20:22-25). But he is against greed. Again we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. No one wants to be shaken down by thieves under the guise of them acting officially. John tells them to take only what's fair.

Finally, we read, “Soldiers 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.'” (v. 14) Commentaries point out that these were most likely Syrian auxiliary troops working for Rome. They were known for extorting money from locals by intimidation, either physically or by threatening to make false accusations. They would also “requisition” items from locals for their own use. Sometimes they mutinied against the government, demanding higher wages, as they did in 14 AD. It's a worrying situation when those who are supposed to keep the peace are violent or corrupt. Ordinary people should be comforted by their presence, not frightened by it.

John tells them to be just and to be content with what they make. Like the tax collectors, their sins were not being in those professions but misusing their power to harm others and enrich themselves. To show that they have really changed their mind and come around to God's way of looking at things, they need to change their ways.

Notice that John is not asking them to make radical changes. He is not asking them to do what he did: go live in the desert and eat bugs. He is asking them to be just, generous, and compassionate. Those who are not doing enough for others should do more; those who are doing bad things to others should stop. No one likes to be neglected or bullied or robbed. Nobody wants to go hungry or shiver in the cold. No one likes to be harassed or coerced. Basically he is asking them to treat others the way they would like to be treated. (Luke 6:31) Which is radical only in the sense that we don't really follow this universally recognized golden rule.

Advent is a minor penitential season, where we prepare for the coming of our Lord. So we need to ask ourselves: what are appropriate and specific ways to repent today?

John would say that we should also be more helpful to those in need and more just in our dealings with others. He would say that our businesses should not take advantage of others or put making money over the welfare of others. Just because we can do such things doesn't mean we should.

But in the second part of our gospel John deals with the question of the Messiah. John is clear that he is not the Messiah. He is just setting the stage for him. From John's perspective at this point, the Messiah is not yet revealed. So John would be very surprised at how today, knowing about Jesus, people are still looking for other messiahs and saviors, including some who call themselves Christians.

The first of the Ten Commandments is to not have any other god before Yahweh. And the second is not to make or worship idols. Yet we see many who are putting as their top priority in life things other than the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Some put their trust in those with power derived from government or military might or wealth above their trust in God. Or they put personal pleasure, such as sex or drugs or entertainment first. Some put their allegiance to race or a political party or an ideology before their faithfulness to God. If God were to tell them to give those up for him, would they? What about you? Are there things that, if you are being honest with yourself, you could not let go of and leave behind even if Jesus were to tell you to?

Abraham desperately wanted a son. To see if that was the only reason he obeyed God, he was asked to sacrifice Isaac. When he saw that Abraham put God first, the Lord stopped him and provided a substitute. On the other hand, God did not spare his own Son when he decided to save us. That shows how much he loves us. And yet it seems we cannot return the favor and put him first. We will follow the God who is love when it is convenient for us. We will love our neighbor to the extent that it is advantageous to us. And just as John's audience thought they had God's favor simply because they could claim Abraham as an ancestor, we think we are OK in God's eyes because we claim that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. But too often we treat him as our mascot. Mascots are just symbols for your team. They make the fans happy. And they make no demands on you.

But if Jesus is our Lord and Savior, then we must obey his commandments: to love God, to love our neighbor, to love even our enemy, and to love one another with the same self-sacrificial love with which Christ loves us. Which means those commandments of his come before any others. And that means we cannot put those other things—government, might, wealth, sex, drugs, entertainment, race, politics, ideologies or any other power or any mere human—before God or before our duty to love other people.

If we have truly changed our mind to God's point of view, we must change how we behave in specific ways. We must say “No” to anything or anyone who demands we must not show compassion to others because of who they are. We must say “No” to any policy that demands or allows us to act less than just to others, especially if we have more power than they do. We must say “No” to bullying and violence and neglect of the needy.

Of course, being specific can get you into trouble. John got specific about how Herod Antipas marrying his sister-in-law was against God's law. And he got arrested and thrown in prison and eventually beheaded. People don't like it when you apply God's principles to specific circumstances, especially involving them. And Herod, or more accurately his wife, was able to show that displeasure in an extreme way.

However, we must always be careful we are not twisting God's word to make it fit something specific simply because we approve or disapprove of it. Nor should we try to make something the Bible never mentions into God's top priority. The Bible says nothing about capitalism, democracy, abortion, veganism, or any modern country or any modern political party or any translation of the Bible. I'm not saying anything good or bad about these things. I'm just pointing out that neither does the Bible.

The Bible is laser-focused on what is essential: the God revealed in Jesus Christ—who he is, what he has done for us and how we should respond. It touches on lots of other things, some of which, while not essential, are important, and some of which are neither. But always, like John, it comes back to the Messiah. In Jesus we see what God is like: the one who heals, the one who nourishes us, the one who calls us, the one who protects us, the one willing to die for us, the one who overcomes death, the one who sets us free from sin. And in Jesus, the God made man, we also see what we can be through the power of his Spirit in us. In the books of the New Testament that come after the gospels, we see how the first Christians followed in Jesus' footsteps and dealt with situations he didn't using the principles he set down.

But that was 2000 years ago. The question we must wrestle with is this: how can we be like Jesus in today's world? And in your answers, please be specific.