Sermon -- 3rd Sunday of Advent (December 15, 2024)

LUKE 3:7-18

PRODUCE FRUITS IN KEEPING WITH REPENTANCE.

In the name + of Jesus.

     What role do good works have in salvation?  That question plagued the Lutheran Church shortly after Martin Luther died.  One Lutheran pastor was teaching that good works are necessary for salvation.  This could be understood in the right way.  As St. James said in his epistle: “Faith, if it is alone and has no works, is dead” (James 2:17).  A dead faith cannot produce good works and is not a saving faith.  But the pastor pushed the point too far.  He insisted that good works are a necessary contribution to your salvation.  If you need to contribute to your salvation, that means that Jesus’ work of redemption was not enough.  But my problem in the first place is that I cannot do the works God’s Law demands.  So, any contribution I have to make would fail.  At best, I could only wonder if I were saved.  At worst, I would know I am not.

     To counter this teaching, another Lutheran pastor taught that good works are harmful to salvation.  If his point was that our good works do not contribute to our salvation, he would have stood on solid ground.  Unfortunately, he also pushed his point too far.  He insisted that your good works hurt your chance to be saved.  This controversy was addressed in the Formula of Concord.  Our confession remains that our good works do not save us, but that faith will produce good works if it is a living and saving faith. 

     John the Baptist never heard of the Formula of Concord, but his message was consistent with that confession.  John declared, “Produce fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8)!  Repentance is not merely sorrow over your sins.  Think of Cain.  God had been pleased with Cain’s brother, Abel, but not with Cain.  Cain’s solution was to murder Abel.  When the Lord confronted Cain and banished him for his sin, Cain was unhappy about his punishment.  So, there was sorrow, but not repentance.  Think also of Pharaoh.  When Moses called on him to let the Israelites leave Egypt, Pharaoh refused to listen to the Lord.  Therefore, the Lord sent in a series of plagues.  After the seventh plague, Pharaoh said, “I have sinned this time.  The Lord is the one who is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.  … I will let you go” (Exodus 9:27-28).  But as soon as he got relief, Pharaoh refused to let Israel go.  He wanted only to escape punishment.  There was no change in Pharaoh’s heart.  He did not believe God’s word.  He did not repent.

     John the Baptist was preparing the people for the Savior who would deliver the people from their sins, but that also meant people should not continue in their sins.  John declared, “Produce fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8)!  Repentance is not merely regret over sins; it is also a desire to flee from them.  It is a change of heart.  It is a change in behavior.  Instead of giving oneself over to acts of wickedness, we strive for acts of righteousness. 

     John warned of God’s judgment against those who do not repent.  He assured people that God’s judgment would be just, but it would also be harsh.  He said, “Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees.  So every tree that does not produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire” (Luke 3:9).  If you have a fruit tree in your yard, you expect it to produce fruit for you.  If it does not, it has lost its purpose.  A fruit tree that does not bear fruit is as good as dead, and the only thing left to do with it is to cut it down.  In the same way, the Lord created people to be good, and he looks for good works in us.  He seeks evidence of repentance.  This evidence is that we stop producing bad fruit and instead produce good fruit, or good works.  It is just as St. James said in his epistle: “Faith, if it is alone and has no works, is dead” (James 2:17).  Those who fail to produce good works will be cut down.  The ax will fall.  God’s wrath will strike.

     The Pharisees did not take John’s words to heart.  They boasted that they were the children of Abraham, God’s chosen people.  This was their confidence and their refuge.  John destroyed this reasoning.  He told them, “Produce fruits in keeping with repentance!  Do not even think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ because I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones” (Luke 3:8). 

     The Pharisees trusted in what seemed like good and godly things.  Was there an advantage in living under God’s covenant?  Yes!  They had been entrusted with God’s word, but it would not save them if they did not follow it.  And the covenant would be useless if they did not seek the Messiah which it promised.  Likewise, we can place our confidence in what seems good and godly.  But we are not saved by church attendance.  We are not saved because we have a confirmation certificate.  We are not saved because we are model citizens or friendly neighbors or enjoy a solid marriage.  Without a doubt, there is a benefit to all these things, but they do not save you.  If your faith relies on these things, then your faith is in yourself and in your works.

     In contrast, the crowds who came to John were cut to the heart.  They asked what repentance would look like in practical terms.  “The crowds began to ask him, ‘What should we do then?’  He answered them, ‘Whoever has two shirts should share with the person who has none, and whoever has food should do the same’” (Luke 3:10-11).  John did not tell them to invent elaborate schemes to impress God.  The good works they were to do were right in front of them.  They would fulfill them by serving in their daily vocations.  They would demonstrate their love for God by loving their neighbor.  This is how they would produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

     The next groups to speak to John are rather shocking.  “Tax collectors also came to be baptized.  They said, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’”  We might have expected John to tell them that they had no place in God’s kingdom because they were a bunch of traitorous thieves.  But John did not dismiss them.  He did not even tell them to quit their jobs.  He instructed them to do their jobs faithfully.  “To them he said, “Collect no more than what you were authorized to’” (Luke 3:12-13).  They were not to overcharge to get rich at the expense of others.  Yes, they could collect taxes because taxes are a reality of life.  Thievery, on the other hand, is inexcusable.  To produce fruits in keeping with repentance, they would do their jobs honestly and honorably.

     Then the soldiers came, presumably Roman soldiers.  They could be thugs, making life miserable for the people.  They might falsely accuse in hopes of getting bribes.  They might treat people brutally just because they could.  Power can turn anyone into a bully.  John did not expel them from his audience.  Rather, he said, “Do not extort money from anyone by force or false accusation. Be satisfied with your wages” (Luke 3:14).  Although their position could be used to threaten, to terrorize, and to flaunt their power, it was rightly used to maintain good order.  This would be a good work which would benefit the people.  They did not need to abandon their vocation.  A soldier can fulfill his vocation both honestly and honorably.  This would be producing fruits in keeping with repentance.

     John’s description of Jesus’ coming would strike fear into anyone.  John warned, “His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor.  He will gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:17).  The Lord Jesus desires what is good and will take it to himself.  But the chaff is not good.  It is like the popcorn husks that get stuck in your teeth.  It is useless.  It is designated for unquenchable fire, that is, everlasting damnation. 

     Now, Jesus could declare that all people have failed to produce the good works he is looking for.  He could judge us all as worthless as chaff and send us into unquenchable fire.  If he did, his judgment would not be wrong.  But before Jesus comes on the Last Day for this final judgment, he came in order to deliver us from it.  Jesus’ vocation was to save us.  So first, he lived the perfect life we have not lived.  Jesus performed only good works—continually loving his fellow man and even his enemy. 

     Then, Jesus made a great exchange.  “God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Jesus exchanged his perfect obedience for our sin.  Although Jesus had no sin, he paid the price for us in his bitter sufferings and death.  In turn, he has given you the credit for his perfect life.  His life was lived for you.  His death was died for you.  Jesus has done the good work which saves you.  Jesus is the good fruit which hung on the tree of the cross, and whoever partakes of this good fruit will live forever. 

     Repentance means that we no longer put our hopes in ourselves.  We rest our faith completely on Jesus Christ for our salvation.  There is no need to make any contribution to this salvation because Jesus Christ has done all the work for us.  The work for your salvation is complete.  So, when Jesus comes again, you will be judged according to Jesus’ merits rather than your own.

     Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  As God’s people, you are now set apart from sin and death.  And you are set apart for good works and godliness.  The very God who has worked faith and repentance in you will continue to work in you to produce the good works he seeks.  Jesus promises you: “I am the Vine; you are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him is the one who bears much fruit” (John 15:5).  He who has created in you new life produces in you a godly life.  He brings forth the fruits of repentance.  For, “it is God who is working in you, both to will and to work, for the sake of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). 

     John the Baptist urged people to produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  “Then with many other words, he appealed to them and was preaching good news to the people” (Luke 3:18).  The good news is that Jesus’ works atone for our works.  He has set you apart from sin, death, and the devil, and he has set you apart for God’s honor and for good works.  So, what role do those good works have in salvation?  They do not save, but those who are saved will produce good works.  A heart that repents over what is sinful will also rejoice in what is good.  Just as Jesus has made you God’s people, so he also makes you into godly people.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.