Main
Street Living; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marias, MN
1In
those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2“Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3For this is he who was
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the
wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.” 4Now
John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and
his food was locusts and wild honey. 5Then Jerusalem and all Judea
and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6and they
were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7But
when he saw many of the 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 in keeping with repentance. 9And do not presume to say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from
these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10Even now the axe is
laid to 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 he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose
sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and
with fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear
his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will
burn with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:1-12
(ESV)
Grace
and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
John
the Baptist is a regular figure in our Pre-Christmas time. We’ve gotten used hearing about that voice crying in the wilderness. It just wouldn’t be Advent (Pre-Christmas) without
singing that song “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s
cry, announces that the Lord is neigh.” (Listen to
the MIDI here[1]). This
time of year we’ve gotten used to hearing about that guy[2] who dresses in camel skin and eats locust. We’ve gotten used to him calling us to get
ready for Christmas. But, is that really
what he’s doing? I mean, I find it a
little bit difficult to coordinate what John is saying with the picture in my
mind of the animals and Mary and Joseph and shepherds standing quietly around
the stable so as not to wake up the sleeping baby. I mean, just look at what John actually says;
“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Repent! How does repent tie to
that little baby? How does the quietness
of the stable connect with “repent!”
I’m
not even sure we always remember exactly what repent means. It’s just not a word in our common
vocabulary. Well, we do know I think
that repent means to confess our sins; just like we start most every church
service here. “I a poor miserable
sinner…” We probably remember that it
has something to do with being sorry for our sins, and not just sorry for the
ones we get caught doing. But I think John
tells us all about that here too. The
ordinary folks that came out to see him, heard what he had to say, “Repent!”
and they were baptized and confessed their sins. I think it’s what John says to the Pharisees and Sadducees that helps us to understand it all better. You see these guys didn’t repent. They came to see John, too. But they didn’t believe what he was
saying. “Bear fruit in keeping with
repentance!” He tells them, after
calling them a bunch of snakes. Not only
wouldn’t they confess their sins, but the Pharisees believed they could deal
with their sins by working them off and being better than everyone else. The Sadducees believed that there was no
resurrection of the dead, when you were dead you were just dead. (That’s exactly why they were so sad, you
see?) They both believed they were a part
of God’s kingdom automatically just by being born Jewish. John sets them straight. “You can’t be born to it! Just being Jewish
isn’t enough.”
“Repent”
begins with confession. It is recognition
of one’s true self and true position before a perfect God. But it doesn’t stop there it also means to
reach out and grasp a hold of with the hand of faith the forgiveness that God
offers through Jesus as the only answer for that sin. It means to live in the “Kingdom of Heaven
Another
great thing about John is that even his name reminds us of God’s greatest work
in our lives. (Although I’d still like
to call him John the Lutheran,
(on Baptism) it just doesn’t have the same ring to
it). It’s Baptism that’s the sure sign
to us of repentance. Oh, I know, lots of
folks say that we are baptized because
we repent… you know “repent and be baptized.”
(Acts 2:38)
But that’s not really the case. It’s not
repent then be baptized. The people who came to see John weren’t
baptized because they confessed their
sins. They were baptized, confessing
their sins. They saw their need for forgiveness,
and they saw God offering it and they took hold of it in the way that John said
it was offered. After all, just like
John said the kingdom was at hand. Baptism isn’t a sign of repentance because we
do it. Baptism is a sign of repentance
because it’s what God does. It’s the
same thing in Acts chapter 2. Peter
preached the law to the crowds of people standing before him. “They were cut to the heart.” The author tells us. “What shall we do?” they asked.
38And
Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38
(ESV)
They saw their need. Peter pointed them to Christ for the
forgiveness of sins, and he told them exactly how God would give them what they
needed. John was doing the same thing
out in the wilderness of Judea . You see, John is the Baptist!
John is really saying here that there are
two responses to the coming of the kingdom of heaven: repentance or judgment. There’s either repentance and Baptism for the
forgiveness of sins or facing the wrath of God.
And just look how personal John makes it.
Even
now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does
not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (v10)
“Every
tree,” it’s a very inclusive statement. No
non-fruit bearing tree is going to be spared. And now we get right to the heart of the
matter for you and me. Through faith in
Jesus we don’t face God’s judgment anymore.
Even though as trees we don’t look like the kinds that bear fruit in keeping with repentance. God has picked up the ax at our roots. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit in
Baptism, God has given us everything that Jesus did. St. Paul tells us that when we are baptized,
we have put on Christ. (Gal 3:27)
Forgiveness includes what we don’t do.
Luther:
[Jesus]
satisfied the Law; He fulfilled the Law perfectly, for He loved God with all
His heart, and with all His soul, and with all His strength, and with all His
mind, and He loved His neighbor as Himself. Therefore, when the Law comes and
accuses you of not having kept it, bid it go to Christ. Say: There is the Man
who has kept it; to Him I cling; He fulfilled it for me and gave His
fulfillment to me. Thus the Law is silenced.” (Erl. XV, 61, 63.)[4]
Never
mind that your life doesn’t look like it is fruit full. Jesus life was. He has borne all the good
fruit you’ll ever need. The ax is gone for you; it was laid at a different tree.
But
to get it all started, first Jesus was born. That’s what gets us back to the quite of the
manger. Right there, that stable that we’ll all gaze into with wonder[5] in a few weeks, is the “different tree.” It’s utterly amazing, totally beyond our
thinking and acting, to believe that anyone would be born specifically to take
the whole burden God’s anger, the unquenchable fire of God’s wrath over sin. And to do what we can’t ever hope to do, keep
God’s law perfectly in every detail. But
there he is, ready and willing to do it.
And not only ready and willing, but able to do it.
And
so, he does: from his first breath to his last; from sitting on his mother’s
knee to hanging on the cross. Jesus
bears the fruit of a perfect life and he dies the death of a complete sinner. John said he wasn’t fit to carry Jesus
sandals. In our day we’d say we’re not
even worthy to be his water boy. But still,
Jesus does it all for us from bloody birth to bloody death[6]. Taking
what is ours, sin. And giving us what is
his, a perfect life and relationship with God.
Then cleansed be every life from sin;
Make straight the way for God within,
And let us all our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
Make straight the way for God within,
And let us all our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
Every
life… Hey, there are lots of people around who aren’t prepared. There are lots of people who don’t really
know what Jesus has done. They’re all
focused on Christmas-Stuff; shopping till they are dropping; partying hearty; ‘tis
the season; and forgetting what John tells us.
Even now the axe is laid to the
root of the trees. Remember,
repentance or judgment? Do we leave the
ax at the root of the trees, and let the trees be cut down or do we tell them
the Good News of Jesus? Look, there’s
isn’t a better opportunity to make it clear. Jesus is the reason for the season. It’s not hard to find people who are
disillusioned about the whole holiday thing.
Do what John does. Point them to the
coming of the kingdom of heaven, point them to Jesus. Amen.
The
peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. Amen.
[4]Pieper, F. (1999, c1950,
c1951, c1953). Christian Dogmatics (electronic ed.). St. Louis
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