A People Prepared for the Lord

This sermon is based on Matthew 3:1-12. Do we do the same as those who said, "We have Abraham for our father" when we assume we are okay with God, viewing God as a spiritual Santa Claus who has no real stake in whether we are naughty or nice? Do we shortchange ourselves when we do this - missing out on the transformation possible when we give ourselves to God. 

John the Baptist was very reminiscent of the prophets of old. He was the first prophet in about 400 years. The Jews believed that the next prophet after that silence would announce the Messiah - the prophecy is in Malachi - the last prophet of the Old Testament. Elijah come again would announce the Messiah and a period of restoration, renewal, and judgment. 

Matthew is always pointing us back to the Old Testament. Rabbis of the time relied on the oral memory of listeners, quoting scripture and then expounding on its broader context. 

Isaiah 40:1-11 foretells John the Baptist and is a prophecy of comfort. It is the promise of restoration. The comfort is firmly rooted in the Word of God which endures and reinforces the knowledge that the things of this world are transient and inconstant. True comfort comes from God. Like the Buddha taught, nothing in this world lasts and those who seek comfort from the things of this world are doomed to disappointment. 

The obstacle to the blessing and rule of God is our commitment to sin. 

John's baptism was different from Christian baptism. In Christian baptism, forgiveness is the focus. John's baptism was a statement of our decision to repent and go God's way. Jews typically weren't baptized but Gentile converts were baptized. John's baptism highlighted how far off the path people had gone. 

God is always offering us a choice between two paths - between life and death - and wants for us to choose life. 

Today's definition of repent is to feel remorse or regret. For Greek's it was intellectual change. For Jews it refers to lifestyle change - metanoia (Greek) --a change in one's way of life. For John, the call to repent was a command for an ongoing, continuous action. Repentance is a practice. 

Repentance involves confession (owning), sorrow (godly), and action (renounce, turn from). This is what Catholicism teaches about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is rare in our culture. 

This real lifestyle change and only this opens us to the blessings of God. It's like God's love is a cool refreshing breeze, but it can't get to us if we don't open the window.