July 2, 2023 Sunday Worship Service

Call to Worship Psalm 98:2~3
Hymn JBC # 134 Sing them over again to me
The Lord’s Prayer
Prayer Time
Offering
Scripture Luke 3:1~14
Prayer
Sermon ”Out of these stones”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 444 Purer in hear, O God
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction


Throughout history, those called “kings” and “emperors” have dominated or ruled their respective countries or regions with great power in their hands.
‘Kings’ and ‘Chronicles’ in the Old Testament contain stories about successive kings of Israel and Judah.
Some of them were kings who humbled themselves before the Lord God and sought to serve God and people as God’s vessels, and some of them were not like that.
Solomon, the son of King David and heir to the throne, prayed the following prayer when he became king.

7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

Solomon also sinned because he was human, but I think we have much to learn from this prayer of Solomon.
First is the belief that "my privileges and position as king" are given by the Lord God. Solomon confesses, "Lord, you have made me king in place of David my father.
But Solomon quickly confesses by saying, "But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties ", thus he admits he himself is not capable of judging a multitude of people.
This is an admission of one's own helplessness. But it also involves trust in the Lord God. For in Solomon's heart was the trust that "You have chosen me in spite of my inability.

Solomon then prays as follows.

9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.
If we prayerfully ask, God will surely give us what we need. This is the attitude of humbly asking God for what we lack.
If you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed right now because of your situation, job, or other responsibilities and burdens, let your hearts be attuned to the words of Solomon's prayer and his thoughts.

“The Lord has given me this task. But I do not know what to do. Give me the strength to judge rightly (the strength I need to carry out my duty).”
We wish to be such believers who always pray like that.
When we humble ourselves and admit our helplessness, the Lord God will surely hear our prayers.
Today's scripture, Luke Ch.3, begins with a record of men who were emperor in Rome at the time and men who held power as lords or priests in Judea, which was a Roman province at that time.

Emperor, governors, lords (tetrarchs), high priests, and so on… Each of them held great power. Some of them may have had a sincere desire to serve the people by lowering themselves, just as Solomon had asked God to do.
We need to hope and pray that even in our world today, those who hold great power and responsibility will have sound judgment and a conscientious heart.
In chapter 3:1 the name of Tiberius Caesar (emperor) is mentioned; in chapter 2:1 the name of Caesar Augustus (Emperor) is mentioned. Tiberius was the son of Augustus (although he was apparently adopted) and succeeded Augustus as Roman emperor.

　And Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea ~ he was sent by the Roman Empire and was the head of the administration that governed Judea, which had become a Roman province. He was the one who later decided to crucify Jesus.
It also says that Herod, Philip (they were the sons of Herod the Great, who were around when Jesus was born), and Lysania were the tetrarchs (lords) of each local regions.

Then there were Annas and Caiaphas, who were the high priests (those whose job was to serve God in the temple).
Emperor, governors, lords, and high priests had great political and religious power. However, in verse 2 it’s written as follows

the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

　The word of God fell not on a Roman emperor, who as a human being was at the top of the Mediterranean world at the time, or on a Roman governor or lord appointed by the power of the Roman Empire, or on a high priest who held a leading religious position, but the word of God fell on a prophet who lived in the wilderness.
The Word of God, the One who created this world and is truly in control of it, was given not to an emperor or a governor, but to a man of faith living in the wilderness.
As such, there are times when the Word of God fall upon anyone at any time. God, through His free choice, has the potential to speak in many ways and through the words of many different people (even if they are seemingly unremarkable people or even small children).

Therefore, we want to open our hearts, lower ourselves in faith, and listen to the voice of God speaking through various people.
John went to the area along the Jordan River and preached "baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" to the people.
“Forgiveness of sins" means that we are all born with sins and must be forgiven for them. And those sins cannot be forgiven by human beings. It is not possible for a person who has sinned to forgive another person's sins.

　In order to receive forgiveness for our sins, we must change the direction of our lives from a self-centered life to a God-centered life, which is "repentance. This is "repentance" because only God has the authority to forgive sins.
John was giving baptism at that time as a sign of one’s turning toward God = repentance. Many people came to be baptized by John.
But John has some very harsh words for them.

7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
　8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
To be baptized is a time of great joy and celebration for us today. "One person is saved!" "A member of the family of faith has been added!” It is a time for us to be very happy and thankful.

　However, as I said in last week's worship message, baptism is the starting point of faith, but it does not mean that anything is completed.
Rather, it is the way how we live after baptism that matters. In today's passage, John the Baptist says, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance”. If you believe that you have received forgiveness from a loving God, then live a life worthy of that grace.
Why does John speak so harshly from the beginning? It is after all because the people of Israel who had gathered to be baptized by John had "arrogance (pride)" in their hearts that needed to be broken.

It was the pride that "Our ancestor was that great Abraham. The Jewish people are the descendants of Abraham and are a special people chosen by God.
They were proud of their nation, Judea, which was now ruled by the Roman Empire, but they were still God's chosen people, with the great Abraham as their ancestor.
Such pride is something we all have. It can be the family, the lineage, the organization (company or other group), the region, the country, etc.

If such things (anything other than God) are the cause of our pride, then we are like the crowd to whom John is throwing harsh words in today's passage.

“out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. “

If there is anything we can be proud of now, let us renew in our minds today that we have received such good fortune, that we are allowed to have it, and that it is all God's grace.
Those who believe in God and thank Him for His grace will be transformed in the way they live. Through faith, the desire and thought of "I must change" will be given.
So in today's passage, the crowd asks John, "What then should we do?" "What should we do then?" (v. 10)

　From verse 11 onward, John gives answers to the general people and to the tax collectors and soldiers, respectively.

Let me read from John’s words in verse 11.
“Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
This saying is very simple. It teaches, "What you can afford, share it with others."
It is a simple and obvious teaching, but not an easy one to put into practice. First of all, we may think that we don't have something in such abundance.
Even when we realize that we have something, we often use various reasons and excuses to prevent ourselves from giving it to others.
We would like to remind ourselves here again how much grace we have received from God. God wants us to share it.
If we are aware of God's grace, we can believe that if we can begin to share it with others through whatever acts we can, no matter how small that act may be, they will surely be remembered before the Lord God and become meaningful acts.
We are given such a person (neighbor) close to us with whom we can share something - if we think about it, isn't that also a blessing from God?