As an individual, if I have no purpose, my life has no direction. If I have a poor purpose, my life goes in a destructive direction. I have a good purpose, but lose sight of that purpose, my life drifts from a good direction to a bad or destructive direction. If I have a good purpose and stay focused on that purpose, my life will continue in a good direction.

As a family, if we have no purpose, our family has no direction. If we have a poor purpose, our family goes in destructive directions. If we have a good purpose but lose sight of it, we drift from a good direction to a bad or destructive direction. If we have a good purpose and stay focused on that purpose, we, as a family, will continue in a good direction.

As a congregation, if we have no purpose, the congregation has no direction. If we have a poor purpose, the congregation drifts in a destructive direction. If we have a good purpose, but lose sight of that purpose, we drift from a good direction to a poor or destructive direction. If we have a good purpose and stay focused on that purpose, the congregation will continue in a good direction.

Having a good purpose is not as obvious, simple, or easy as any of us think it is. It is not as an individual. It is not as a family. It is not as a congregation.

I call your attention to an examination of Luke 3:1-14.

1. Luke established the date of John's ministry in a way that it could be verified by people in or out of Palestine.
   1. Since our calendar did not exist, Luke used their "calendar system."
      1. Luke dated John's ministry by using a system that was used for many centuries: he dated the event by the reigns of known rulers.
         1. First, he dated John's ministry by the known ruler of their world, the 15th year of the rule of the Roman Caesar, Tiberias.
         2. Second, he dated it by the tenure of the Roman governor who was responsible for keeping order in Judea, the tenure of Pontius Pilate.
         3. Third, he dated it by the reigns of three regional rulers in that area:
            1. John's ministry occurred when Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of Galilee.
            2. It occurred when Herod Antipas' brother, Philip, was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis.
            3. It occurred when Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene.
         4. Fourth, he dated it in the region where John's ministry occurred; it happened when Annas and Caiaphas served as high priests in Jerusalem.
         5. So Luke gave a Roman date, a regional date, and a Jewish date so that the events he shared could be verified.
      2. Luke also designated the person, the place, and the activity.
         1. The person was the prophet John, the son of Zechariah, who received the word of God.
         2. The place was in the wilderness area of the Jordan River.
         3. The activity was that John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
      3. Luke also notes that these events happened in specific fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3-5.
         1. This was a fact that would be of special significance to any Jewish reader.
         2. It was also the ultimate verification that this happening was planned, implemented, and directed by God.

2. As Luke gives an abbreviated account of John's ministry, I want you to pay careful attention to what did and did not constitute success to John.
   1. People came to John to listen to his message and respond.
      1. The greater majority of Israel's population was not conveniently located with easy access to the Jordan wilderness.
         1. The greater majority of the population was located in the Jerusalem region, westward to the Mediterranean coast, the region north of Jerusalem known as Galilee, the region around the Sea of Galilee.
         2. The region of the Jordan wilderness was principally desert.
         3. To give you and idea of the inconvenience of the access to the wilderness area of the Jordan River, the elevation of Jerusalem is approximately 2000 feet above sea level.
            1. Almost the entire river bed from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is below sea level as the river flows through the deepest rift on earth.
            2. Jerusalem can have snow in the winter.
            3. The Jordan wilderness is semitropical; the area of Jericho grows oranges and grapefruit.
            4. The trip from Jerusalem to Jericho with over a 2000 foot drop in elevation occurs in 17 miles.
            5. The people who came to hear John made a difficult journey.
      2. If we were conducting an evangelistic effort in Fort Smith attempting to convince people to be baptized for the remission of their sins, and:
         1. People came to listen by the thousands.
         2. The same people came at great personal inconvenience.
         3. The same people urged us to baptize them.
         4. We would say that the effort was incredibly successful.
      3. To John, these facts did not constitute success.
         1. John's greeting to these multitudes was what we would regard to be a rude and offensive.
         2. "You children of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?"
         3. "You will not escape just because you have come to hear me and be baptized."
         4. "You will not escape because you are physically the descendants of Abraham and physically a part of God's chosen people."
         5. "If all that God wanted was descendants of Abraham, God could turn all these rocks around you into Jewish people."
         6. "God is ready to clear the spiritual wilderness. All the trees and bushes that have grown up in His vineyard that produce no fruit worth harvesting will be cut down and burned, and this will happen soon."
         7. "Only trees that produce fruit worth harvesting will be spared."
         8. "If you want to be one of the trees that is spared, repent. Demonstrate the reality of your repentance by producing the fruit of repentance."
      4. To John:
         1. People coming to him was not the true measure of success for his ministry.
         2. People listening to him was not the true measure of success for his ministry.
         3. The baptism of these people was not the true measure of success for his ministry.
      5. To John, there was only one true measure of success: lives that had turned around, lives that were redirected because of repentance.
         1. The fruit of repentance was the changes in the person's life.
         2. The purpose of their coming, listening, and being baptized was to change the way they lived their lives.

3. His Jewish audience did not understand his point.
   1. To me, that is nothing less than astounding and incredible; and at the same time, to me, that is completely understandable and predictable.
      1. They had studied the scriptures in their synagogues weekly for generations.
      2. They listened to their rabbis analyze scripture, dissect scripture, interpret scripture, and apply scripture every week.
      3. They heard the theological and doctrinal rulings of the high priest and the Jerusalem Sanhedrin all their lives, rulings that had been given in Jerusalem for over 100 years.
      4. They received the heritage of the great restoration movement begun by the Maccabean revolt that liberated the Jews over 150 years prior to John's ministry.
      5. They were one of the more religious generations of Israelites to exist.
      6. But they did not understand what John meant when he told them that they needed to produce the fruit of repentance.
      7. They literally did not understand that.
   2. To me, the parallel is sobering and frightening.
      1. We have been studying scriptures in our church buildings for 200 years.
      2. We have listened to our preachers and teachers analyze scripture, dissect scripture, interpret scripture, and apply scripture on a week basis for generations.
      3. We have heard the theological and doctrinal rulings of those that we hold in high esteem.
      4. Many of us regard ourselves to be a devoutly religious generation.
      5. Do we think success for the church is having people listen to us, accept what we say, and agree to be baptized?
      6. Do we know what it means to repent?
      7. Do we realize that we need to repent?
      8. Do we know what the fruit of repentance is?
      9. Scary, isn't it?
   3. So the multitude who came asked John, "If it is not enough to come, if it is not enough to listen, if it is not enough to accept you as God's spokesman, if it is not enough to be baptized for the remission of our sins, what are we supposed to do?"
      1. Then John defined the fruit of repentance for them in their situation.
      2. To the multitude, he said:
         1. Those of you who have more clothes than you need, share your clothes with those who have nothing to wear.
         2. Those of you who have more than enough to eat, share your food with those who have nothing to eat.
      3. This is what John said to the tax collectors who came to be baptized and asked what they should do to repent and produced the fruit of repentance.
         1. These were the men who collected the Roman taxes that the Jewish people despised, and they collected those taxes for their own personal profit.
         2. John said, "Collect no more than you have been ordered to collect."
         3. Isn't it interesting that he did not say, "Stop collecting taxes for the Romans!"
      4. This is what John said to soldiers who wanted to know what they should do.
         1. "Do not take money from anyone by force," which the soldiers often did.
         2. "Do not make false accusations against anyone," which was often done.
         3. "Be content with your wages," which was not common.
   4. This striking emphasis on the importance of repentance was not merely found in John's ministry, but it is clearly found in Jesus' ministry and in the early church.

If personally we as Christians repented and produced the fruit of repentance in our personal lives, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If in our marriages, we as Christian husbands and wives repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If in our homes, we as Christian parents and adolescent children repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If on our jobs, in our businesses, in our professions, or in our corporate world, if we repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think would happen to us, to this congregation, and in Fort Smith?

If Christians repented and produced the fruit of repentance, what do you think God would do with us and our repentance in this nation and in our world?

May I suggest that promoting the Church of Christ is an unworthy goal for us to adopt. May I suggest that multiple baptisms in an unworthy goal for us to adopt. May I suggest that moving ourselves to repentance to produce the fruit of repentance and calling others to repentance to produce the fruit of repentance is a God given goal worthy of all of us.