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INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL LESSON

 

            Chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew tell the story of the birth and early childhood years of Jesus.  With chapter 3, we move ahead some thirty years, and refocus our attention on the ministry of John the Baptist.  John appeared in the wilderness of Judea proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” and people streamed out to hear him and to be baptized in the river Jordan.  His message is plain and simple: God moves toward us in our sinful condition.  God requires and enables us to change the direction of our lives, so that we go God’s ways and not our own way of destruction.

            In Advent, we’re called forth in hope to God’s future, but we must always remember that God’s future (what we will be someday) is at work making claims on our lives now, setting us moving in new directions, forming new patterns of living that transform us day by day to that future when our redemption is complete.

            After calling the people to repentance, John announces that he baptizes with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than he is coming.  He’s speaking, of course, of Jesus, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  What John has begun in calling people to repentance, Jesus will complete by a judgment that separates the grain from the chaff, that is, that which is essential from those things that are useless.  Don’t we all need help with that?!

            On this Second Sunday of Advent, let us read our lesson from Matthew’s gospel and consider how we may repent, change our ways, in preparation for God’s close presence in Jesus Christ.

 

3 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ²“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

            “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

            ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

              make his paths straight.’ ”

⁴ Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

            ⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit worthy of repentance. ⁹ Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

            ¹¹“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

 

I.          Why did people come to hear John the Baptist?

            A.            It couldn’t have been a pleasant experience.

                        1.            After all, his dress wasn’t very appealing—camel’s hair and leather.

                        2.            I imagine that he wasn’t careful to neatly comb his hair and trim his beard.

                        3.            Would you want to sit down to a Sunday dinner with a guy who eats locusts and wild honey?

                        4.            He certainly didn’t preach the prosperity sermons we hear so much today among some of the more popular preachers.

                        5.            I suspect his fire and brimstone sermons weren’t near as comforting as confronting.

                        6.            Instead, they probably stirred up some anxiety among the listeners as they considered how they’d been living.

            B.            I think they may have found some comfort in knowing that someone was willing to stand up and say it like it is, to tell the truth and move them toward making some important, significant changes in their lives, which in turn would have an impact upon a world that was going to hell in a hand basket.

                        1.            As radical and painful as his message was, it gave them hope.

                                    a.            It gave them hope that God wasn’t going  to tolerate the way things were going.

                                    b.            It gave them hope that God could make a difference in their lives, and consequently, in the world.

                        2.            It confirmed what they already knew down deep inside—

                                    a.            that things weren’t good,

                                    b.            that business as usual wasn’t right or even normal,

                                    c.            and that God was going to do something about it, because they obviously couldn’t on their own.

                        3.            Now, they can either get on board, or suffer the consequences — but at least they have a choice in the matter.

            C.            People came out to the wilderness, of all places, from Jerusalem and all of Judea to hear John’s message.

                        1.            It wasn’t convenient, but they were a desperate people, and they would go out of their way to experience something that might have an impact on their lives.

                        2.            They came to hear his message, to repent, to change their lives around and be baptized to prepare themselves for the nearness of God.

                                    a.            John said, “You haven’t seen anything, yet!

                                    b.            There’s one coming who’s much more important than I am!

                                    c.            When he comes here, God’s kingdom is going to be close, and you’d better get ready, because Jesus is going to do some housecleaning!”

                        3.            John looked up and saw some Pharisees and Saducees coming to be baptized.

                                    a.            You think his message was rough for the lay people, listen to what he had to say to these religious leaders: “You bunch of snakes!  What do you  think you’re doing slithering down here to the river?  Do you think that a little water on your snake skins is going to make any difference?  It’s your life that’s got to change, not your skin!  If your life is changed, people will be able to tell.  You’ll bear fruit. And don’t think you can pull rank because you’re a descendant of Abraham.  Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen.  God can take these rocks and make them into descendents of Abraham.  What matters is your life.  Is your life green?  Is it bearing fruit?  Because, if it’s deadwood, then it goes into the fire.  Repent!  The kingdom of God is near.”

                                    b.            They all came because they knew that a change was long overdue.

                                    c.            It’s how they respond to John’s message that makes a difference.

II.         I think “repent” is a word that’s been used frequently, but I’m not sure everyone has a good understanding of what it means.

            A.            “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”—what does that mean?

                        1.            First of all, “repent” means to change directions, to turn around and go a different way.

                        2.            So, when you repent, you do something radically different from what you’ve been doing.

                                    a.            You make an about-face with your life.

                                    b.            You assess your life, and you take it in a new direction.

                        3.            Most people think in terms of repentance that may mean some slight changes, but few people see the need for a radical change.

                                    a.            That’s unfortunate, because I tend to believe that it takes some significant changes to make a significant difference.

                                    b.            I suspect that’s the reason we don’t see a lot of change for the better in our world—nobody feels they need to make that much of a change.

            B.            Repent is a lot bigger word than we want to believe.

                        1.            As long as it doesn’t go much further than confessing our sins, professing our faith, and finding our moral compass, repent is a user-friendly term.

                        2.            It’s when repentance requires of us to look deep within ourselves and to look outside ourselves at those things to which we’ve committed our loyalties that it becomes a nuisance, or an inconvenience, or even a threat to our way of life.

                        3.            Like the people who came from their homes in the towns and cities to the wilderness to hear John’s message, we must step out of our comfort zones into the wilderness places where we’re most vulnerable before it becomes clear what repentance really means.

                                    a.            We know how much the world needs to change,

                                    b.            and we know down deep inside that it’s not going to happen until we truly repent, until we’re willing to make some changes.

III.        Maybe some examples of repentance would make John’s message and call clearer.

            A.            Fred Craddock tells a story of an eye-opening, life-altering moment of transformation (which is what happens when you repent).

“Glen Adsett, a schoolmate of years ago, ministered mostly in China.  He was under house arrest in China when the soldiers came one day and said, ‘You can return to America.’  They were celebrating, and the soldiers said, ‘You can take two hundred pounds with you.’  Well, they’d been there for years.  Two hundred pounds?  They got the scales and started the family argument—two children, wife, husband.  ‘Must have this vase.  Well, this is a new typewriter.  What about my books?  What about this?’  And they weighed everything and took it off, and weighed this and took it off, and weighed this and, finally, right on the dot—two hundred pounds. 

The soldiers asked, ‘Ready to go?’

‘Yes.’ 

‘Did you weigh everything?’ 

‘Yes.’ 

‘You weighed the kids?’ 

‘No, we didn’t.’ 

‘Weigh the kids.’ 

And in a moment, typewriter and vase and all became trash.  Trash.”

                        1.            When we’re forced to weigh what really matters, what once was important becomes trash.

                        2.            The wheat is put in the granary, but the chaff is burned with unquenchable fire.

                        3.            That’s repentance.

            B.            Will Willimon tells the story of going to the funeral for a relative of one of his church members. It was held in a small Independent Baptist church in North Georgia.  Time came for the service, the family processed in, the preacher started to preach.

            Apparently, the preacher really got worked up and started to shout, “It’s too late for Sam!  He might have wanted to do something different with his life, but it’s too late for him now!  He doesn’t get another chance.  But it ain’t too late for you.  People drop dead every day.  Why wait?  Today is the day.  Repent!”

            After the funeral, in the car going home, Willimon says that he turned to his wife and said, “That had to be the most manipulative, inappropriate, tacky funeral homily I have ever heard.”

            His wife responded, “You’re right.  Of course, the worst part is, it was true.”

                        1.            The thing is it’s not all about Sam and what he doesn’t, now, get a chance to do.

                        2.            It’s that he didn’t do what he could have done to make a difference for others when he had the chance. (Sam’s a lot like us, isn’t he?)

                        3.            It is true that the time to repent is now, because we may very well not get another chance to change and impact the world for the Kingdom’s sake.

                        4.            That’s repentance—actually changing instead of just thinking about it.

            C.            Paul gives us an example of repentance in our lesson from Romans.

                        1.            The church in Rome was made up of Jews and Gentiles, which meant that they were very different—a diverse congregation, to say the least.

                        2.            Paul has done a lot of work to reconcile the Roman congregation’s divergent theologies.

                        3.            In verse 5, he says, “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another (“be of the same mind” NASB), in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                                    a.            Paul understands that only God can bring about a reconciliation that can bring harmony with such differences.

                                    b.            I included the NASB translation because it better captures the necessity of a correct attitude among the members (“to be of the same mind”), which allows  them, together with one voice, to glorify God.

                                    c.            The whole purpose of Christ is to bring about reconciliation between us and God and one another.

                        4.            The lectionary doesn’t include verses 1-3 preceding our text, but it’s important that we look at it so we can understand the principle upon which their (and all) reconciliation hangs.  Paul says to Gentile and Jewish Christians who make up the Roman congregation:

                                    “We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.  Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor.  For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’”

                        5.            Paul recognizes that the different groups in the Roman congregation disagree with one another.

                                    a.            But he doesn’t override their disagreement with a demand for mandatory unanimity.

                                    b.            Instead, he invites them to transform their attitudes through the power of the Holy Spirit toward a joyous, peaceful, faithful harmony in which each person yields any claim to privilege for the sake of the other.

                                    c.            He’s not demanding uniformity, but a divinely inspired harmony, like the song sung by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, Ebony and Ivory: “Ebony and ivory, live together in perfect harmony side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don’t we?”

                        6.            This yielding to consider the needs of the other person above our own, to live and work together amidst our differences is a fundamental premise of discipleship.

                                    a.            To apply this premise to our lives is an act of repentance—for most of us, a radical change in direction.

                                    b.            To answer the song’s question, “Why don’t we?”—it’s because we need to respond to John’s message: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near!”

            D.            Repentance, the kind of repentance preached by John the Baptist, calls for more than a slight shift but a major re-prioritizing that’s uncomfortable, unsettling, and often requires self-sacrifice.

                        1.            How many of us have done that?

                        2.            How many of us are willing to do it?

            E.            Advent is the season of our preparing for the uncomfortable, unsettling, life-changing presence of God.

                        1.            That presence came to us in a child born in a stable—helpless, non-threatening, vulnerable—as a sign of the gentleness of God’s love, the love that wants to wrap us up in the security of God’s strong arms.

                        2.            That presence also comes to us in the One who “will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire”—he comes to us as a sign of the genuineness of God’s love, the love that demands our obedience.

                        3.            You can’t have one without the other—gentleness and genuineness—because together they encompass the full circle of God’s love.

                        4.            This Second Sunday of Advent, hear John’s message for you:  Repent!  For in Jesus Christ God’s presence is near — in all of its gentleness and in all of its genuineness.

 

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