This Changes Everything

Passage: Luke 3:1-22

Our state’s new governor has come under some criticism lately. He ran for office on a platform of commonsense spending cuts and fiscal responsibility. And he was elected based on the promise that he’d turn our financially floundering state around. Everyone who voted for him wanted things to change – for the better, of course. Well, in order to change things, you have to change things. No matter the reasons for the change, and no matter how well-intentioned the specific changes, someone’s going to be unhappy. The new governor has proposed some big changes. And a lot of people are unhappy.

John the Baptist arrives on the scene in Luke 3. It’s Roman-occupied Palestine in the first century. John’s people – the remnant of God’s chosen people, the Israelites – are hoping for change. They’ve lived under oppressive imperial rule for a long time. They’ve been confined by heavy taxes and externally-imposed borders, and they’re ready to shake off the shackles. They’ve pinned their hopes on the Messiah, a quasi-mythical character alluded to in their Scriptures and kept alive in their legends. They expect the Messiah to sweep in and change everything – for the better, of course.

John shows up and says, “The Messiah is finally here.” But, he continues, you’re going to have to change. And the changes that John demands aren’t popular changes. “The Messiah’s reign is going to cost you,” he says. “You’re going to have to give your surplus money and belongings to the poor. You’re going to have to give up the parts of your income you’ve collected dishonestly. You’re going to have to use whatever power or privilege you have to help someone less powerful or privileged.” In other words, this change is going to cost you.

Claiming Jesus as king is costly. It means allowing him a say in every part of your life. It means laying aside many of the good things you have access to here and now. It means taking part in his project of changing the world for the better – even though changing the world means changing yourself along the way. In Luke 3 we’re told there are people who aren't happy with the changes John proposes – in particular Herod, the reigning king of the Jews. What he’s faced with – what we’re all faced with – is the reality that Jesus can’t take the throne until we vacate it. Is that something we’re ready to do?