What should we do?

Despite John the Baptist's flame-throwing rhetoric, the crowds respond. They dread the idea that the long-awaited Messiah might find them lacking. So they ask the question that we all should ask when confronting the reality that our lives might not please Jesus: "What should we do?" 

I think John's answer is fascinating.

Luke 3:10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 11 John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely –be content with your pay.”

Missing are some interesting things we might expect John to say. "Go be a missionary in A. . . frica. Start a ministry. Spend your days in devotional meditation." These are the lives that we think of as pleasing God, the years spent on the mission field, or the days spent helping the needy, or the sequestered holiness of the abbey.

But John doesn't tell the people to change what they're currently doing, he just says they need to change how they do it. Instead of piling up stuff, share what you have. Instead of looking for advantage in business, want only what's fair. Instead of using your power to get more, be satisfied with the blessings God gives you.

Be good, John says. Be loving. Help. Serve. Be kind. 

That kind of living pleases God. If we do that, all the time acknowledging God's providence, putting our faith in Jesus' sacrifice, and listening carefully to the Holy Spirit, our lives will please Jesus.