Brood of vipers

In the fifteenth year of the rule of the emperor Tiberius—when Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea and Herod was ruler over Galilee, his brother Philip was ruler over Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was ruler over Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—God’s word came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. John went throughout the region of the Jordan River, calling for people to be baptized to show that they were changing their hearts and lives and wanted God to forgive their sins. This is just as it was written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet, A voice crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked will be made straight and the rough places made smooth. All humanity will see God’s salvation.” Then John said to the crowds who came to be baptized by him, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire.” The crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must share with the one who has none, and whoever has food must do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. They said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to collect.” Soldiers asked, “What about us? What should we do?” He answered, “Don’t cheat or harass anyone, and be satisfied with your pay.” The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people. (Luke 3:1-18, CEB)

This passage is so much more forceful in the NRSV: “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come.” Children of snakes gets the point, but brood of vipers is poetic. John calls out the religious leaders for being there as if they want to participate in what is happening.

We are all called to follow Jesus and share love in all we do, and not get stuck on looking good but being dead inside.

We need to actually love God and neighbors (which means all people)!

Do not be whitewashed. Doing things so others see and think you are good, but actually be good, and love others.

Love like Jesus, you brood of vipers.

grow in the grace

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be? You must live holy and godly lives, waiting for and hastening the coming day of God. Because of that day, the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. Therefore, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found by him in peace—pure and faultless. Consider the patience of our Lord to be salvation, just as our dear friend and brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:11-18, CEB)

“Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position.”

Be on guard that you are following Christ and not led astray by those who twist scripture for their own desires and needs. The author also said, “Some of Paul’s remarks are hard to understand, and people who are ignorant and whose faith is weak twist them to their own destruction, just as they do the other scriptures.”

People twist scripture to fit their own needs. I usually hear this from people who say my understanding of the globber passages is off and that my saying homosexuality is not a sin is wrong. Well, I read the above as those who do not see that homosexuality is not a sin are twisting scripture for their own agenda. So which of us is right?

I go with the grow in grace, and sharing of love. My job, according to Jesus, is to love God and neighbor. So when I love, I am doing what Jesus said. Not judging or trying to convict others of sin, loving them as I was told to do. And God can work out the rest.

Grow in Grace. Love like Jesus.

How long?

My dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both letters to stir up your sincere understanding with a reminder. I want you to recall what the holy prophets foretold as well as what the Lord and savior commanded through your apostles. Most important, know this: in the last days scoffers will come, jeering, living by their own cravings, and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? After all, nothing has changed—not since the beginning of creation, nor even since the ancestors died.” But they fail to notice that, by God’s word, heaven and earth were formed long ago out of water and by means of water. And it was through these that the world of that time was flooded and destroyed. But by the same word, heaven and earth are now held in reserve for fire, kept for the Judgment Day and destruction of ungodly people. Don’t let it escape your notice, dear friends, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a dreadful noise, the elements will be consumed by fire, and the earth and all the works done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:1-10, CEB)

When will Christ return?

The author of Second Peter writes, “Don’t let it escape your notice, dear friends, that with the Lord a single day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a single day. The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives.”

A single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day. Time is not the same to God as it is to us. It is really the difference between chronos time and kairos time. Our time is chronos time, and we have split the day into 24 hours. As I type this, it is 16:17 or 4:17 PM Central Standard Time in the United States. And in Kairos time, it is whatever God needs it to be.

These are the verses I like to say are the reason Jesus will be really delayed for us in his return. The Lord is patient, not wanting any to perish but all to change their hearts and lives. We will be waiting for Jesus until we all get it. We all change our lives and follow God.

When will Christ come again, when we all figure out love and love each other.

SO help the coming kingdom and love.

Love like Jesus.

Your fruit it showing

“Either consider the tree good and its fruit good, or consider the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. A tree is known by its fruit. Children of snakes! How can you speak good things while you are evil? What fills the heart comes out of the mouth. Good people bring out good things from their good treasure. But evil people bring out evil things from their evil treasure. I tell you that people will have to answer on Judgment Day for every useless word they speak. By your words you will be either judged innocent or condemned as guilty.” (Matthew 12:33-37, CEB)

You judge a tree by its fruit.

You judge a person by their actions and how they treat others.

You can recite all the scripture you want and sit in a pew every Wednesday and Sunday and do Bible study on other days of the week. But sitting in a pew in a congregation does not make you a follower of Christ any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.

Your actions prove if you follow Jesus.

How you treat the widow, the orphan, the lowly, the stranger, the sojourner, the immigrant. How you treat the person who is not like you, and you do not understand, that shows your heart, and if you are a follower or not.

So watch out, your fruit is showing. What does it tell us?

preach

My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and are able to teach each other. But I’ve written to you in a sort of daring way, partly to remind you of what you already know. I’m writing to you in this way because of the grace that was given to me by God. It helps me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. I’m working as a priest of God’s gospel so that the offering of the Gentiles can be acceptable and made holy by the Holy Spirit. So in Christ Jesus I brag about things that have to do with God. I don’t dare speak about anything except what Christ has done through me to bring about the obedience of the Gentiles. He did it by what I’ve said and what I’ve done, by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. So I’ve completed the circuit of preaching Christ’s gospel from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum. In this way, I have a goal to preach the gospel where they haven’t heard of Christ yet, so that I won’t be building on someone else’s foundation. Instead, as it’s written, Those who hadn’t been told about him will see, and those who hadn’t heard will understand.
(Romans 15:14-21, CEB)

“In this way, I have a goal to preach the gospel where they haven’t heard of Christ yet…” Does such a place exist?

Possibly. Notice Paul does not say he wants to take Christ to the people he goes to; he says he wants to preach the gospel where they have not heard it. There is no place you can go that Christ is not already there; that does not mean that all have heard the gospel.

How do we preach the gospel and speak of what Christ has done so all will come to hear and know they are loved by the creator of the universe?

I have a goal to preach the gospel in all I do and say. So all will know they are loved my God.

Love like Jesus. Preach in everything you do.

dedicated

So then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to keep living the way you already are and even do better in how you live and please God—just as you learned from us. You know the instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. God’s will is that your lives are dedicated to him. This means that you stay away from sexual immorality and learn how to control your own body in a pure and respectable way. Don’t be controlled by your sexual urges like the Gentiles who don’t know God. No one should mistreat or take advantage of their brother or sister in this issue. The Lord punishes people for all these things, as we told you before and sternly warned you. God didn’t call us to be immoral but to be dedicated to him. Therefore, whoever rejects these instructions isn’t rejecting a human authority. They are rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. You don’t need us to write about loving your brothers and sisters because God has already taught you to love each other. In fact, you are doing loving deeds for all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. Now we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do so even more. Aim to live quietly, mind your own business, and earn your own living, just as I told you. That way you’ll behave appropriately toward outsiders, and you won’t be in need. (1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, CEB)

Who is your life dedicated to? Why do you do what you do?

Do you do things to gain respect or get stuff?

We should dedicate our lives to God and to being Their love in the world. We do not do what is best for us, but what the world needs.

We do not seek to gratify ourselves, but to be the witness God needs us to be in the world.

Dedicate your life to God.

produce

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!” He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said: The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, “Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.” John wore clothes made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, “You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon? Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. And don’t even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham’s children from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I’m not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” (Matthew 3:1-12, CEB)

I have to say the CEB has softened this a bit, and I prefer the NRSV, “You brood of vipers who told you to flee the wrath that is to come.” But still, John does not mince words here.

He sees those he did not expect to see at the place he was baptizing people, and he calls them out.

Would we be so bold?

Then he tells them if they are really there because they have changed, then the fruit of their life should show that. We should not have to say we are Christian; our lives should show it in the fruit we produce.

So let love flow through your life and have the fruit of your works show love in all you do.

Love like Jesus, and the world will know who you follow.

Who are you?

This is John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”
John confessed (he didn’t deny but confessed), “I’m not the Christ.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
John said, “I’m not.”
“Are you the prophet?”
John answered, “No.”
They asked, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied,
“I am a voice crying out in the wilderness,
    Make the Lord’s path straight,
    just as the prophet Isaiah said.”
Those sent by the Pharisees asked, “Why do you baptize if you aren’t the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?”
John answered, “I baptize with water. Someone greater stands among you, whom you don’t recognize. He comes after me, but I’m not worthy to untie his sandal straps.” This encounter took place across the Jordan in Bethany where John was baptizing. (John 1:19-28, CEB)

Who are you?

Do you know who you are?

John here is asked if he is a bunch of people, he is not. He knows who he is not.

When we meet someone new, we usually ask what the person does. As if our employment is actually who we are. I am a pastor, but that is not who I am; it is part of my identity, but not the full identity.

As John and you, I was sent to help prepare the way of the Lord. To make valleys high and mountains low. To help hearts be open and ready for Jesus.

I am a child of God. Named. Claimed. Sealed. To give love to the world.

Who are you?

prepare

Standing up, Paul gestured with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites and Gentile God-worshippers, please listen to me. The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors. God made them a great people while they lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. With his great power, he led them out of that country. For about forty years, God put up with them in the wilderness. God conquered seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the Israelites their land as an inheritance. This happened over a period of about four hundred fifty years. “After this, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. The Israelites requested a king, so God gave them Saul, Kish’s son, from the tribe of Benjamin, and he served as their king for forty years. After God removed him, he raised up David to be their king. God testified concerning him, ‘I have found David, Jesse’s son, a man who shares my desires. Whatever my will is, he will do.’ From this man’s descendants, God brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, just as he promised. Before Jesus’ appearance, John proclaimed to all the Israelites a baptism to show they were changing their hearts and lives. As John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I’m not the one you think I am, but he is coming after me. I’m not worthy to loosen his sandals.’ (Acts 13:16-25, CEB)

Paul speaks to people who are following God, both people of Israel and those who are not. Telling them the history of God’s People.

This section ends with John, who was called and sent to prepare the way for Jesus. John was not the one we were waiting for, but one sent to prepare the way of the one who is coming.

All of us are like John. We are sent to prepare the way for Jesus. To help others see Jesus.

Are you preparing the way for Jesus?

Are you helping others see Jesus?

replacement

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a sabbath day’s journey away. When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James, Alphaeus’ son; Simon the zealot; and Judas, James’ son— all were united in their devotion to prayer, along with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. During this time, the family of believers was a company of about one hundred twenty persons. Peter stood among them and said, “Brothers and sisters, the scripture that the Holy Spirit announced beforehand through David had to be fulfilled. This was the scripture concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. This happened even though he was one of us and received a share of this ministry.” (In fact, he bought a field with the payment he received for his injustice. Falling headfirst, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines spilled out. This became known to everyone living in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Hakeldama, or “Field of Blood.”) “It is written in the Psalms scroll, Let his home become deserted and let there be no one living in it; and Give his position of leadership to another. “Therefore, we must select one of those who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus lived among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when Jesus was taken from us. This person must become along with us a witness to his resurrection.” So they nominated two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. They prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s deepest thoughts and desires. Show us clearly which one you have chosen from among these two to take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” When they cast lots, the lot fell on Matthias. He was added to the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:12-26, CEB)

Judas, the one who handed Jesus over needed to be replaced, so Peter said, “Therefore, we must select one of those who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus lived among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when Jesus was taken from us. This person must become along with us a witness to his resurrection.” Someone who was with us from the beginning to the end. Did you realize there were people who traveled with Jesus from his baptism by John until after the resurrection? Not only did the 12 do this, but others as well.

I mean, that is what Peter said. One who has accompanied us the whole time from the baptism until Jesus was taken from us, ascended into heaven. And there were at least 2 of them, men that is. And I assume more and if there were men, there were probably women and children too. So how many actually traveled around with Jesus?

And if others were there, why do we only focus on the 12? Yes, they were selected by Jesus, but was Matthias? I mean, the lot could have been chosen by God and given to him, but why those 12? Why not everyone else?

I ask this to say, sometimes we get hung up on the little details that will not matter in the end. Yes, there were others who traveled with Jesus and the 12, and they are important, and yet we do not know who they were, and they still have an impact on the mission and ministry of God.

You are important and have an impact on the mission and ministry of God, even when you think nobody cares or sees it.

Do not worry about the little things. Know you are loved and sent to share love.