Repentance

Sermon preached by Fr. Tom at St. Thomas, Plymouth

December 7, 2014:  Second Sunday of Advent

 

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be an acceptable offering in your sight, Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

The Gospel of Mark tells us that God sent John as a messenger to prepare the way for Jesus. John was “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness”––preparing the way of the Lord––making his paths straight.

Mark says that John set up his pulpit in the wilderness, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (v. 4). As far as most Jews were concerned, that was all wrong. For them, baptism was for Gentiles who wanted to become Jews. Jews baptized Gentiles into the Jewish faith, but they didn’t baptize other Jews.

But John was calling Jews to repent of their sins and to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Why would Jews need to be baptized? They were already the people of God. But John was saying, “Yes, you are the people of God, but you are also sinners. You need to repent. You need to be baptized.  You need to have your sins forgiven.”

That was the sermon that John was preaching in the wilderness––in the desert––in the middle of nowhere.

Famously once someone asked Willie Hutton the bank robber why he robbed banks. He replied, “That’s where the money is.” In real estate, they say it is all about location.

If you were a preacher with an important message, where would you set up your pulpit? Billy Graham set up his big tent in Los Angeles. The Pope came to Shea Stadium. After all, that’s where the people are––in the cities.

Graham could have set up his tent in the wilderness. All he would have had to do is to move a hundred miles east of Los Angeles. There’s plenty of desert out there. The Pope could have moved across the river to New Jersey. The people of New York City think that New Jersey is a desert. Neither Billy Graham nor the Pope went to the wilderness, because they wanted to be where the people were.

But the wilderness had a special meaning for the Jewish people. Their ancestors had wandered for forty years in the wilderness. That’s where they became a nation––in the wilderness. That’s where God solidified his covenant with the Jewish people (Exodus 24).

So John the Baptist set up his pulpit in the wilderness, and the people came in droves to hear him. They came from the little towns and villages that dotted Israel. That wasn’t especially surprising in some ways I guess, because there wasn’t much going on in those places. Those people needed some excitement.

But people also came in droves from the big city of Jerusalem to hear John preach. They didn’t have to do that. They had it all––priests––Levites––Pharisees––rabbis––you name it! For the Jewish people, Jerusalem was the center of the universe. Why would the people of Jerusalem go out into the middle of nowhere to hear John preach?

Let me tell you why they went. They went into the wilderness to hear John preach because he was a prophet––a great prophet. It had been centuries since Israel had heard a great prophet, and the people were hungry to hear one. Prophets tell the truth. Prophets lead people in the right direction. So the people went by the thousands into the desert to hear what he had to say.

John called people to real repentance. He called them to ‘fess up to their sins. He called them to turn around and face the other direction. He called them to let God set the direction for their lives––even if that turned out to cost them.

The people who heard John preach knew that they had found something special. They knew that John was the real deal. They knew that they could trust him––so they went back to their villages––or to Jerusalem––and they told their friends and neighbors. Before long, it was SRO in the desert ––standing-room-only. Everyone wanted to hear what John had to say. Everyone wanted to hear a real prophet for a change.

Here is what they heard. Repent! Be baptized! Get your sins forgiven! Let God change your life. The people loved it, because they knew John was right.  They came and listened. They repented and were baptized. When they went home, they were different people. GOD had changed their lives.

But John did something else as well. He proclaimed:

 “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me;

I am not worthy to stoop down

and  untie the thong of his sandals. 

I have baptized you with water;

but  he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (vv. 7-8).

The one who was to come was Jesus. Now he has come. Like John, Jesus came calling people to repent. He calls US to repent. He calls us to be baptized for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus has baptized us, not only with water, but with the Holy Spirit––God’s Spirit. We have believed Jesus, and he has changed our lives.

Let those of us who have repented continue to repent, because repentance is a lifelong project. The world is like a big magnet, always tempting us––pulling us away from the Jesus path. The devil specializes in getting our attention––in tempting us––in tripping us up. Like a space ship to Mars, we need a million mid-course corrections to get where we are going. We call those mid-course corrections “repentance.” Repentance is changing our direction to walk with Jesus. Repentance is our daily task. We never get over the need to repent. We never get over the need to let Jesus show us the right direction––to help us back onto the pathway.

Forgiveness is another lifelong project. Every day is a new opportunity to forgive someone. Every day is another opportunity to forgive and to be forgiven.

When I attended a funeral not long ago, one of the things mentioned was the day that the man accepted Jesus and commited his life to Christ. I understand that for a lot of evangelicals, this moment is important. I think it is a important too but I have a different perspective on it.

I like to think that we daily decide to follow Jesus and some people have been doing it so long that they can’t remember when it started. God is interested in conversion of life. This requires small and frequent correctives. Some of us start early and some of us start late.

My takeaway this morning is really this idea that while we think about conversion as a vaccine, it is really an exercise program. Sometimes we have to make a trip the wilderness to hear it properly. The message is simple. Repent. Forgive and be forgiven.

I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen