The Wilderness Cry of John the Baptist

Calls for preparation

At the birth of our nation we had Paul Revere and his midnight ride with his midnight cry echoing through the streets, “The redcoats are coming! The redcoats are coming!” this was a cry of preparation. Well before Henry Wadsworth Longfellow made this cry famous Matthew made another cry of preparation famous. Listen my brothers and sisters and you will hear of the wilderness cry of John the Baptist.

Today’s text is a call for preparation. The call is simple, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near”. We are in a weekly grind of preparation, decorating, shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, and trying to figure out why the lights are blinking. The preparation John the Baptist is calling us and his hearers to is preparing for the promise of God fulfilled in Christ. His wilderness cry doesn’t involve lights, shopping or wrapping, but repentance, confession, self-examination and bearing fruit.

In our second week of Advent these are the preparations we need to make. This is how every heart prepares him room. In these preparations we find peace. Peace with God and peace with one another. As we hear the wilderness cry of John the Baptist, may we prepare for the Kingdom of heaven has come near.

The Wilderness Cry of John the Baptist

Isaiah 40:1–5 “1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””

Isaiah prophesied about the wilderness cry of John the baptist. His cry was simple, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.” The cry of preparation was the age old call of God calling his people, once again to repent. Scripture has several examples of calls to repent but one that most people know is from 2 Chronicles 7:14 “14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” The preparation we are called to today is repentance.

Repentance starts with a call. God with his call to repent awakens our awareness for change. Without the awareness for a course correction we just keep going the wrong direction. What is true repentance? Repentance means to turn around, or to put it in military language, it to about face, and forward march another direction. It means recognizing that we are all like sheep that have gone astray, we are going our own way. To stop and get our lives in line with Christ.

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What John—and Advent—remind us is that repentance is not primarily about our standards of moral worthiness, but rather about God’s desire to realign us to accord with Christ’s life. Repentance is not so much about our guilt feelings as about God’s power to transform us into Christ’s image.

Repentance requires action. If God is calling you to repent there are a couple actions you can take. You could ignore the call and just keep going your own way and be part of the brood of vipers. Or you can confess your sin to God, jump in the waters of baptism and bear fruit worthy of repentance.

Matthew 3:7-10 John challenges the brood of vipers to prove by the way they live their lives that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.

True repentance bears fruit. When we are walking this Christian life in line with who Christ is and yielding to the Holy Spirit. Our lives, the way we live will show it. Our lives will bear fruit worthy of repentance. Galatians 5:22–23 “22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.”

Repentance is not a one time confession it’s a lifestyle of turning from sin and walking in obedience to the call of God. 2 Corinthians 7:10 “10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.”

Repentance is the way we prepare for the coming of Christ. John wraps up by telling those who would hear there is one coming after him. The one who is coming soon is far greater than he is. So much greater that he isn’t worthy to untie his sandals. John baptized with water those who repented and confessed. The one coming, Jesus Christ, will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

How do we prepare for Christmas? With repentance. Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near. Jesus will continue this wilderness cry as he begins his ministry.

Mark 1:14–15 “14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.””

Answering the Call

Today we lit the peace candle. When we answer God’s call of repentance we make peace with God. We find peace in confession, confession to God and one another. When we bear fruit worthy of repentance, peace is one of those fruit. Advent is a call to repentance that prepares the way for God’s peace.

A repentant heart isn’t a heavy heart, but hopeful. It’s a heart that heard God’s call to repent, and align with Christ. It’s a heart hopeful for the kingdom that is here and is coming.

As we eagerly wait for Christmas let’s not just clean the house, trim the tree, hang the lights, send Christmas cards etc.. Let’s make room for the King who still comes to those who are humble enough to say, “Lord, have your way in me.”