Advent 2/ 2019

What do you think about when you hear the word repent?

Today we are going to dig into the idea that the practice of repentance is not about judgment but about the good news of Jesus.

New Living Translation Chapter 3

In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” 3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,

“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!

Clear the road for him!’ ”

4 John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6 And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River.

7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9 Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 10 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

11 “I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”

NLT

This is one of the most intense and difficult passages in Scripture.

JTB is obviously a tough individual. He is in the wilderness preaching a message that at first seems rather harsh and the way he is preaching it seems like something akin to the pictures we see of people walking around with signs predicting the end of the world is near.

But on closer inspection we see that is not what he was saying.

In fact the message that JTB was proclaiming was good news!

JTB was saying that the Kingdom of God is near…He is saying that the Messiah that was promised is about to show himself. He is alive he is walking the earth and we need to prepare for him and the coming kingdom by repenting of our sins and living a life worthy of the promised messiah.

I could not help but think back on countless messages I have heard on this passage that seemed to be about judgment? How many times have allowed the joy in this passage to be eclipsed by the

Jesus has already been born, escaped to Egypt, come home and is preparing to launch his public ministry. JTB is just fulfilling the prophecy which is stated in Isaiah “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, Prepare the way fo the Lord’s coming! Clear the roads for him.

This is supposed to be a joyous message but all too often we have not viewed it that way.

We also see that JTB was not impressed with people showing up to hear his message. In fact in verses 7-10 he deals with these people directly telling them that they are not safe simply becuase they claim to be decendent of Abraham.

When the word repentance is used in our setting we automatically get uncomfortable and we start to feel guilt and shame. We focus on the uncomfortable parts of this passage instead of the freedom that comes from this passage.

We focus on those that JTB was not impressed with. Those showing up to hear his message that already thought they were ready simply because they were people of power and decedents of Abraham.

He tells them that their life must be proof of their repentance. In essence he is telling them that repentance is not just saying sorry but there is much more to it…

While he does not seem to do this in the most diplomatic way he is sharing it from a place of Love.

I know calling people snakes does not sound very loving but JTB needed to drive home this message. Not because he was better than these people but because he and everyone else is aware of Pharisees and Sadducees sense of false security...

If the Pharisees and Sadducees were going to become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth that Jesus is ushering in they had to be willing to allow Jesus and the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of God shape them.

Isn’t it amazing how relevant this passage is today. There are many people Christians included living a life less than what God intends for them because of their misunderstanding of repentance.

They see the need for repentance as a failure of something...instead of embracing repentance as a tool for continuing to learn and grow in faith and in life.

We worry about what people will think about us…What sin did I commit? What did I fail at? Will they think I am a hypocrite?....

We worry about all of these types of things, instead seeing repentance for what it really is a commitment to a continued desire to grow and thrive in life we hold on to wrong ideas and/or allow those ideas to drag us down and keep us in a perpetual state of unhappiness.

We worry about all of these types of things, instead seeing repentance for what it really is...a commitment to a continued desire to grow and thrive.

In life we often hold onto wrong ideas and/or allow those ideas to drag us down and keep us in a perpetual state of unhappiness.

This is not what God wants for your life…God wants us all to live His best life for us…This does not start with the power of positive thinking....it starts with admitting the wrongs we have engaged in and turning away from them and committing to allow Jesus teachings to shape us.

This starts with admitting the wrongs we have engaged in and turning away from them and committing to allow Jesus teachings to shape us.

…We know this is true today but I would suggest that many have the same issues that Pharisees and Sadducees had.

This is where a lot of what you hear on tv, the internet, or even the radio gets it wrong. We seem to hear that all of these things don’t really matter. Instead of admittng our sin we just need to believe in our Goodness.

The problem is that the dysfunctions we try to ignore are the ones that continue to be problems in our life.

Instead of allowing the same pride of the Pharisees and Sadducees to rob us of our peace and joy.

The number one reasons people fail as the people of God is the inability to admit what we are doing is probably the reason for our unhappiness and we need to change course.

Louis and Clark at the base of the rockies.

Their mission was to explore the unknown territory, establish trade with Native Americans and affirm the sovereignty of the United States in the region. One of their goals was to find a waterway from the US to the Pacific Ocean.

However when the hit the base of the rockies it became obvious that a water route all the way to the pacific was impossible…So they had a decision to make....Turn around and go back and achieve nothing....continue to look for a water route that obviously was not there…or adapt the mission from a water route to simply a route to the pacific even though the journey would be harder than they originally thought.

They choose to adapt....but in order to make this decision they had to admit that the original proposition was wrong in order to see what was possible.

They had to admit that the original proposition was wrong in order to see what was possible.

If we are going to be the people that God has created us to be we too must admit when we are wrong and allow God to help us adapt to His good and perfect will so we can experience the greatness of the present kingdom of God under the leadership of the Holy Spirit…Repent...

we are wrong so we can experience what is possible under the leadership of the Holy Spirit…Repent...

Not just partial repentance but total repentance

Repentance must be reflected in three ways:

What we feel. Hebrew נחם nacham (to feel sorrow)

What we think. Greek metanoia “to change one’s mind.”

what we think

What we do. Hebrew שובshuv (to return)

Much more that a mere apology Repentance starts with and acknowledgment of wrongs done or Confession…but that confession must move to a real life change.

Three Kinds of Repentance

In Hebrew, there are two words for repentance: שובshuv (to return) and נחם nacham (to feel sorrow). In Greek, the word metanoia is used, which basically means “to change one’s mind.” So shuv refers to doing differently, nacham to feeling differently, and metanoia to thinking differently.

Richard Rohr

“We don’t think ourselves into new ways of living; we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”

God calls those who have truly repented of their sins to not only feel, and think differently but to Live differently.

This is what JTB was begging the Pharisees and Sadducees to do.

This type of repentance is not just a one time shot and we are done but embraces a willingness to change course when ever we are wrong.

Not Just initial repentance but continual repentance.

We need to get over the idea that we only repent once! Even people who have been Christians a long time get it wrong sometimes.

Like Louis and Clark there comes a time where we all have to accept when we are not in line with the will of God and allow Him to help us adapt to Him instead of begging God to adapt to us.

We also need to get over the idea that we only repent once! Even people who have been

All three of these things must be evident in our lives.

Pride drives those we love away from us.

If we hold on to pride like the Pharisees and Sadducees we will do more harm to ourselves and others than we could ever imagine.

Wrong headedness creates an us verses them mentality.

Pride drives those we love away from us.

Wrong headedness creates an us verses them mentality.

Pride and WH leads to silence from God when we most need to hear His voice.

Pride and WH leads to silence from God when we most need to hear His voice.

When was the Last time you heard from God? I mean really heard God speaking into your life about the need to shake things up.

If you are not being challenged to let go of what you already have...how can you ever grab a hold of what God has for you right now?

JAMES

When Jesus institutes the Holy Sacrament of Communion He is reminding his disciples that the Will of God is not always easy or what we have imagined it to be. The Disciples believed the Jesus was the Messiah and in following Him they thought they would have a place of privilege and leadership.

Yet…Jesus threw them a curve…He told them His body would be broken and His blood would be spilled.

They would have to adapt to the will of God instead of giving into the temptation to chase after their ideal of the kingdom of God. On top of that every time they ate the bread and drank from the cup they would be reminded that the way of the Kingdom cost total obedience even unto death.

Yet…even in this truth their is sweet victory of resurrection!

Every time we come to the table we are being challenged to let go of our pride, problems, pain, and worry and receive the presence of God.

Every time we come to the table we are being challenged to let go of our pride, problems, pain, and worry and receive the presence of God.

We are being challenged to adapt our will to the will of God.

As we come to the table come in remembrance…of the Cost and the Promise of the Kingdom of God.

Communion

Benediction.