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Luke 3:10-17 (The Message)

The crowd asked him, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"If you have two coats, give one away," he said. "Do the same with your food."

Tax men also came to be baptized and said, "Teacher, what should we do?"

He told them, "No more extortion—collect only what is required by law."

Soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"

He told them, "No shakedowns, no blackmail—and be content with your rations."

The interest of the people by now was building. They were all beginning to wonder, "Could this John be the Messiah?"

But John intervened: "I'm baptizing you here in the river. The main character in this drama, to whom I'm a mere stagehand, will ignite the kingdom life, a fire, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He's going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He'll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he'll put out with the trash to be burned."

When last we left JTB on the banks of the Jordan preaching to the people...he had just all told them that there was a fair chance they'd be burned up in unquenchable fire.

That will get your attention...

And a pretty reasonable question arises from the crowd, "Then what are we supposed to do?"

John's answer could probably be summed up in a single word: "Stop."

Learn to be content.

Pre-shadowing Jesus, it is as though we can almost hear the call, "come die, be crucified with me, so that you can rise into a new life."

That life can only start when we "stop."

I've shared before in sermons about the amazing Seiko watch ad I saw in one of my magazines a couple of Decembers ago.

A sharp, obviously successful man is pictured. His chin rests on his hand at a bar, just exposing the beautiful watch beneath his shirt and jacket cuffs.

The caption? "It's your watch that tells most about who you are."

Do you believe that?

Those kinds of images are everywhere around us. Don't believe me? Turn on the tv for 10 minutes and see how many images and messages tell you that you need to be anything other than "content with your rations."

Of all the things that I'm most convinced about in the Christian life, it's that we followers of Jesus should reject consumerism out of hand. It's just wrong, and it's a tremendous obstacle if we are to follow the messiah with authenticity.

Getting all we can, at whatever means, just teaches us to fill the real holes in our lives with more great stuff.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a sucker for watches...and all kinds of stuff. But I know that "stuff" is the path to destruction, not life.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

How about this?

If you have two coats, give one away.

Do the same with your food.

No more extortion.

No shakedowns.

No blackmail.

Be content with your rations.

Love God.

Love Neighbor.

Sounds like a plan.

Prayer: God we pray that you might fill our hearts this day with the things that matter most. Help us to give thanks for the ways that you have blessed us and teach us to prepare the way for you in our hearts.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Tomorrow's Scripture: Luke 3:18-22