JANUARY 4th, 2026 PASTOR DON PIEPER
A Gospel of Grace LUKE 3:1-6; 7-16
“LET'S GET REAL!”
The new year is four days old already and we have yet to hear from Calvin & Hobbes...!
Calvin: It’s a new year, Hobbes, and the first few days sure haven't shown much improvement.
Hobbes: Well, it's only day four! And you know what they say: “patience is a virtue”.
Calvin: Yeah? Well what do 'they' know! I don't have time for that sort of thing!
Hobbes: (rolling his eyes) Uh-huh. So..., did your parents go out for New Year's Eve?
Calvin: Are you kidding? My parents' idea of a wild night is to put whip cream in their chai tea.
Hobbes: I see. What about you? Did you make any new year's resolutions?
Calvin: Excuse me! What are you implying - that I need to change?! Well, buddy, as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfect the way I am! For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can just get used to it! (Hobbes looks at cong, shakes his head & exits) If people don't like me the way I am, well tough beans! I don't need anyone's permission to be the way I want! This is how I am – take it or leave it! I don't need anybody's advice! Everyone can just stay out of my face! I say....Hobbes? Hobbes?! Hmph! He should resolve to be more attentive when someone is speaking.
Calvin is not alone in his resistance to personal change. It's part of the human dilemma. It's part of mydilemma. What's more, the problem with most new year's resolutions, if we're even willing to go there, is that as Christopher pointed out last week, we try to achieve them on our own and based on our own will power. But the answer to this human dilemma is not to be found in our resourceful-ness but in God’s grace-fulness – in our willingness to forego the masks we wear and risk being vulnerable before God and one another. For this reason John the Baptist challenges us to get real!
I've often wondered, what was John’s appeal? Scriptures inform us that he had quite the follow-ing. Matthew reports that “People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John.” (Matthew 3:5) That means hundreds and thousands of people swarmed around the river-side every time he showed up. Luke provides us a sample of his preaching which only goes to deepen the mystery. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you've repented of your sins!” What was the appeal behind a man who told his audience that they were nothing more than a slither of snakes? Why listen to a guy who got in people's faces, slept with coyotes, dressed in smelly camel hair and had locust breath?!
(Luke 3:7-8)
What exactly was his appeal? Well, for one thing, there was his authenticity. He was for real. Unlike the religious leaders, who were quick to put on religious masks, John urged people to take them off. Though people found him compelling, impressive, charismatic even, wondering aloud “whether John might be the Messiah”, John freely admitted that he “was not even worthy to be the Messiah's slave or untie the straps of his dirty sandals”. John was transparent and authentic. He was for real.
(Luke 3:15-16)
Second, John’s message was delivered in real time. Luke once again pauses as his begins the chapter, to clearly place the events he's about to relay in the real time of recorded history. He informs us that it's not only the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar's twenty-three reign as emperor of the Roman empire. but that Herod the Great's son, Herod the not so great, is now ruling Judea, that his bro Phillip rules over Iturea and that Ciaphas, Rome's puppet, is now high priest in Jerusalem.
That tells us that not only have over 25 years past since the events of the last chapter..., but that what we're about to hear was incredibly timely for those at that dark time, as it is for us today.
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The third thing that made John the Baptist's message and person so compelling was that the things that he said, though blunt as they were, were also, at heart, a message of hope. He was saying in effect, things don’t have to be the way they are. You can be free of your junk. Hope is on the way!
John discovered his sense of purpose in setting the table for the meal of grace Jesus was to offer. John knew that only those who were willing to acknowledge those areas in which they were stuck, chained or addicted to some sin, and got real about it, had any chance of experiencing this new beginning/life God was unleashing. This was his passion and to this end, he did not mince words:
“The ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever your roots. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:9)
John saw that his neighbors and friends were heading full throttle off a very short bridge. He saw that they were at risk, and full of the Holy Spirit since before birth he knew he had to warn them.
It reminds me of pastors, Jim and Al, who were in the mountains hiking together. As they went, they came across a collapsed bridge on the mountain pass near their trail and stopped to consider their options. Agreeing they should do something Jim made a sign that read: “The end is near!”
Upon finishing it a car came speeding along. When the driver saw their sign he hit the gas and sped on by. As the car drove around the bend Jim flinched as he heard the screeching tires. Al looked at Jim and said, “The End is Near? I thought we’d agreed it should read, ‘The Bridge Is Out…!’
Even now – the bridge is out and many folks are heading obliviously into the abyss! What the world needs, what we all need, are more folks with the heart of the Baptist – folks who are passionate about helping others get the right person behind the wheel, someone who’s been to the abyss and back again and can safely lead us across...as a bridge to new life, who embodies hope in dark times.
Impacted by abusive relationships, toxic work environments, and trolling social media, shame and despair have never been more commonplace. Pile on the increase in divorces, addictions, sexual compulsions and unbridaled anger and violence – it's no wonder our generation is gasping for hope.
John Burke, pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, writes: “We must create a culture of hope in our churches, ministries, and small groups. We must teach, model, and create environments that breathe hope into our hopeless world. ‘For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.’ (Romans 15:4)
If we do not create a context for hope and healing, people will keep acting out of their pain in sinful ways. We all know we were intended for more! But we all need hope, that despite our screw-ups and misguided stabs at life, we can still become all God intended us to be.”
(from John Burke’s No Perfect People Allowed)
In such stormy seas of life as these we are called to be a safe harbor. We’re to be the ship hands who help connect travelers with the Navigator, who alone calms the seas, even though we're inclined to see more clearly what's amiss in the world around us than what's amiss within us.
One of you sent me an email last week sharing of an unpleasant encounter with a woman you met walking your dog at Fort Flagler. After exchanging small talk about the weather and local wild life you noted how there were more people walking there since 2020. For some reason that set her off. She raved about all these climate refugees and how we'd passed the tipping point & how hopeless it all was.
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You conceded how dark and frightening the times are, that it may seem hopeless, but it's really not. That apparently really set this hurting, frightened woman off. The encounter left you feeling angry shaken and attacked. As you mulled it over later God led you to some profound insights.
1. You recognized the source of your hope. God is ultimately in charge. As Ann Louise liked to say, “Jesus is on the throne”. As the great Redeemer he can even use what's intended for evil to bring about something good, something great. You saw that in how God was using a season of burnout to give you fresh vision, a new perspective. As Gabriel told Mary: “Nothing is impossible with God!” (Luke 1:37)
2. Living in hope isn't passive. We're called to be agents of change, to let God change us, and then in turn seek to bring positive change to the lives and world around us. We're to light up the world!
Where the people of God reside, the Spirit of God resides. The Spirit of God wants to use folks like you and I to help folks like that woman on the beach connect, and as Chris talked about last week, be compelled by fresh vision and hope. A young man by the name of Trent is another such person:…
“It was a Saturday afternoon when I made a desperate call to Craig, an acquainttance that I had met in AA a few weeks earlier. He told me to call him if I ever needed help. Boy, did I ever need help. I had just finished a horrible two-day binge. It felt that if I continued the way I was going, I'd soon kill myself. So I called and told him I would do whatever was required of me to stop this way of life. I could no longer do it my way.
He told me that he had been going to this church that had really helped him connect with God for the first time in a practical way. I had been trying to connect with God ever since praying a prayer to become a Christian in the eighth grade. But I had resigned that I would have to ‘endure’ this hell on earth until I died, then I would be at peace in heaven. The more I failed, the more I felt ill at ease in church, But the ‘Come As You Are’ approach immediately put me at ease. I came in rough shape: I had lost my car to a drug dealer, I had lost my fiancée, and I was about to lose my freedom to a possession charge. Most importantly, I had just about lost hope that I wanted to live.
Fast forward to today. I have been sober since the first weekend I walked into church two years ago. I realized that drugs and alcohol were just symptoms of my real dilemma…separation from God. And I've realized that I can enjoy this life rather than simply endure it. I thought that I needed to get well and then come to church. I had it backwards. I needed to come to church to get well.” (Trent now leads a recovery ministry.) (from John Burke's book)
The Jewish leaders, priests and Pharisees, had in effect let it be known that you had to get well before you showed up in God’s house of worship. They got it backwards. The church was called to be like a hospital for hurting people not a shrine for those who think they've got it all figured out.
I'm realizing that a culture of authenticity has to start with me. John’s words ring in my ears as I’m sure they did in the ears of his day: “Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.” (Luke 3:8) If you want renewal – get real!
To be sure, authenticity is hard work. It always works from the inside out. It begins with being authentic with God and manifests itself in personal vulnerability before others. When we bring our struggles into the light, when we get real, we are able to walk together toward healing and wholeness. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)
Questions For Prayer and Discussion
If you were to make a new year's resolution this year, what would it be?
What could you use prayer for today? (Pray together!)