15th December 2024
What should we do?
‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked.
Luke 3:10 (NIVUK)
Throughout Luke’s two-volume work: his gospel and Acts, he keeps coming back to the same question ‘What should we do?’1 This is a good question for us to consider during Advent, in the lead up to Christmas.
John the Baptist’s preparation for the coming of Jesus’s ministry was characterised by a call to repentance and renewal. Of all the gospel writers, Luke alone tells us how John responded to the people who were anxious about the way repentance would affect and renew their lives. His answers are simple and practical, and reveal the different temptations that people face and which are to be resisted: people should share what they have with those who have nothing (v. 11); they should not treat people unfairly; they should not make foundless accusations, and they should be content with what they have (vv.12-14).
Advent is a time when we are invited to prepare to celebrate Christmas by asking ‘What should we do then?’ What better way to prepare than to share with those who are in need, to treat people with fairness and justice, and to be content with what we have physically and spiritually?
But there is something more. John the Baptist pointed away from himself and towards Jesus (vv.15-16). ‘And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.’ (v.18). Like John the Baptist, our task as Christians is to join with the Holy Spirit in pointing people to Jesus where they can find true contentment and real satisfaction. Our aim is, like John the Baptist, to lead people to the feet of Jesus and then, like John, to step aside and leave Jesus to do his work.
This is evangelism – sharing the Good News with others, introducing them to the one who treats all people with fairness and justice. What better things could we do this Advent?
Prayer
Loving Father, may we be Advent people who have compassion for those around us who do not yet know Jesus as the Saviour of the world. May we have the passion to point people to Jesus, and may his love be displayed in what we say, and how we live. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
1 See Luke 10:25, 18:18; Acts 2:37, 16:30, 22:10
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Study by: Barry Robinson About the author: |
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Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church