Sermon: Matthew 3:1-12 Sunday, December 9, 2001

Dean Keith Joyce Advent 2

¹In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ²"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." ³This 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.' " ⁴Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, ⁶and 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? ⁸Bear fruit worthy of repentance. ⁹Do 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. ¹⁰Even 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. ¹²His 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."

Now you likely are guessing you're going to hear a sermon on repentance. Well, you're right!

A truly stingy painter was contracted to paint the local Church a beautiful white on the outside. The Deacons negotiated a price with the painter and he set to work. He thought to himself, "I can make a little higher profit on this job." So he thinned down his paint, so that the paint to do one side, ended up painting the whole building. As he finished and was admiring his work, it began to rain. And it rained. And rained. And rained. And the white paint ran down the sides of the church, and ran off into the sewer. The painter fell to his knees and cried, "Why me, God?" And suddenly, a voice was heard from heaven, "Repaint, and thin no more!"

But now let's look to what John has to say. His preaching has two elements to it.

The first was a call to repent. The NT Greek for this word has been influenced by a couple of Hebrew verbs, the first meaning "to be sorry for one's actions" and the second,, "to turn around to new actions." This was common in the prophet's call to turn again, to turn afresh to the covenant with God. This is not mere intellectual change of mind or mere grief, still less is it doing penance. The call is to a radical transformation of the entire person, involving a fundamental turnaround in mind and action so that the one produces "fruit in keeping with repentance." In other words, external actions are to express the internal redirection of one's mind and heart.

The second emphasis John had was the nearness of the kingdom of heaven, of the kingdom of God. Those terms mean the same thing. Matthew simply prefers to use the kingdom of heaven. Because the kingdom of heaven is near, there is grounds for true repentance. Throughout the Old Testament there was a growing expectation of a divine visitation that would establish justice, crush evil and renew the very universe. Repentance prepares the way for the coming of God.

"Kingdom" was understood to mean "reign," the reign of God. It is an active reality; it's real. But it had to do with the closeness of the One to come. The kingdom was to be connected to Jesus Christ, who would reveal and open up the way to the beauty and order of God. And entering into this kingdom was an entry into life. Yet in the first century there was a prevailing thought that it would include the removal of the Roman tyranny under which they all suffered.

The loving, life-giving rule of God was near at hand. John therefore appealed to his hearers: come, the time is now, prepare the way for the One to come. Repent. Pseudo-Chrysostom, (to distinguish him from the other and earlier Chrysostom, Saint John Chrysostom), a father of the early Church, summed it up this way: Repentance cleanses the heart, enlightens the sense, and prepares the human soul for the reception of Christ, as he immediately adds, "For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Who is God? Who is it that we turn to? Here are some descriptions.

O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever. [Psalm 107:1]

Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;

our God is merciful. [Psalm 116:5]

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. [Psalm 117:2]

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

his greatness is unsearchable. [Psalm 145:3]

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. [Psalm 145:8]

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The LORD is faithful in all his words,

and gracious in all his deeds.

The LORD is just in all his ways,

and kind in all his doings.

The LORD is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth. [Psalm 145:13, 17-18]

"Holy, holy, holy,

the Lord God the Almighty,

who was and is and is to come." [Revelation 4:8b]

"You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honour and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created." [Revelation 4:11]

...God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. [ 1 John 4:8b-10]

Turning towards Someone like that, and having the impact of that Someone on our lives can surely be nothing but absolutely the best thing for us and for those around us. That's what repentance is all about. No wonder John the Baptist called those who would listen to repent.

The vitality and depth of repentance is governed far more by what one turns to than by what one leaves behind, or turns away from. Repentance gives life, true life, because of whom we turn to in the act of repenting.

We have tended to see repentance almost exclusively in negative terms - grovelling in one's sin, joyless, fear-inducing. While there is a place for recognising one's sin, and even being convicted of its harm to oneself and others, and of confessing it and receiving God's forgiveness, that is not the full thrust of repentance.

Yes, there is the so called negative - of turning away from something. Yet repentance is far more significant because we don't simply turn away from something - usually our way - but rather turn towards the source of real life, to the source of true light for our darkness, to the expression of perfection and above all we turn toward absolutely the greatest love anyone can face and receive. In repentance we turn towards God, and in turning towards God, we have then all that is perfect, and wonderful and holy and beautiful and all that is best for us turned toward us, waiting to receive us and fill us with the very life of God himself.

That's why repenting is such a life transforming business. And that is why John the Baptist invited people to repent. The kingdom of heaven was near. In fact it was in the One who was coming after him, and for whom he was preparing the way.

And that is Jesus Christ. In Advent we have three comings of Christ in mind: his first coming in Bethlehem, his second coming in glory at the end of time, and his coming to us now by His Spirit. He is now ever near us because He is in us, through our baptism and in our faith and by his grace. That's why the call to repentance is not so much simply for the matter of getting saved, though it includes that, but is for the fullness of God's salvation which is the ongoing saving, healing, restoring work of Christ being made real and vital in the nooks and crannies of our lives.

That does also include the purging of what is harmful, of sin, and thus this Coming One will baptize with fire. That in itself is an act of love because also it cleanses and restores, as long as we accept that purging, purifying work of Christ in our lives. But he will also baptize his followers with the Holy Spirit, who is the One who does the great works of God's grace of healing restoring, renewing.

Repentance is not a nasty pill that we have to swallow; it is the way of life. It is an act of the will, which we are to choose, or not. And in our comforts we very well may not choose the way of repentance. When we don't choose repentance, we simply loose what is God's best for us. The good news of repentance thus cannot be applied to our lives. And it is we who decide to accept, or not accept, this good news. The great benefits of repentance can only be enjoyed when they are applied to our lives.

It is told that a soap manufacturer and a pastor were walking together down a street in a large city. The soap manufacturer casually said, "The gospel you preach hasn't done much good has it? Just observe. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and a lot of wicked people, too!" The pastor made no reply until they passed a dirty little child making mud pies in the gutter. Seizing the opportunity, the pastor said, "I see that soap hasn't done much good in the world either; for there is much dirt, and many dirty people around." The soap man said, "Oh, well, soap only works when it is applied." And the pastor said, "Exactly, so it is with the gospel."

Amen.