Sermonette for Saturday
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Luke 3:7
One of the first rules of public speaking is to make sure not to insult your audience. As a rule, people won’t listen to someone who berates them or runs them down for any reason. When a speaker addresses an audience, he needs to hold their attention and hopefully win them over to his side on the topic that he is discussing. The best way to do that is to make friends with the audience, by getting the people to nod in agreement and smile in appreciation. It’s usually not a good idea to lash out at your audience by calling them a brood of poisonous snakes. So how did John the Baptist get away with such a flagrant violation of the rules?
We are not told what type of voice John had, but we must assume he had a powerful set of lungs. With his strong and piercing voice, he would reach to the outer edges of his huge audience with ease. We do know that he was unconventional in his appearance, and I have a hard time imagining that he would neatly comb his hair and his beard. People would be drawn to this highly unusual and very volatile character whether they agreed with him or not. He was a sight to see and a sound to hear! But people didn’t argue with him or ignore him. They not only flocked to hear him, they also responded in droves to his call for repentance and to his invitation to be baptized. Despite his unusual appearance and his blunt and straightforward manner, people respected him and paid heed. This speaks volumes for the man’s dynamic personality and for his faithfulness in speaking out for His God. Maybe we could learn a lesson from John’s approach.
It would probably not be a good idea today to begin a sermon by calling the congregation a brood of poisonous snakes. Politeness and proper consideration would tell us that. But many sermons preached today never do anything but tickle the listeners’ ears. Preachers among the denominations – even those that would consider themselves evangelical – go out of their way to avoid offending anyone or giving offense in any way. As a result, they seldom speak against sin and seldom cause their listeners to understand the need for true repentance. They make friends, but they produce no converts, no true converts. What good does that do? Gospel preaching must present sinners with the awfulness of their sin and of the hatred that God has for their sin. Gospel preaching must also present sinners with their hopeless and helpless state before a loving but holy God. The Lord Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, and unless sinners hear how lost they are, they will never desire to be found. We do sinners no favour by smoothing over their rotten condition.
We were once part of a generation of vipers. But God reached and saved us. We won’t see many others saved unless we get them to understand that they are part of a generation of vipers, too. – Jim MacIntosh