Sermon -- 2nd Sunday of Advent (December 4, 2022)

MATTHEW 3:1-12

A REPENTANT HEART REJOICES AT JESUS’ COMING.

In the name + of Jesus.

     John the Baptist preached with all the subtlety of a bull horn: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).  He was not polite or winsome or funny.  I doubt John the Baptist had any idea how short his ministry would be, but he preached like he knew.  He did not waste any time in getting the message out.  He was straight to the point, and sometimes that point pricked hard.  John the Baptist knew his role.  “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”’” (Matthew 3:3).  In preparing way for the Lord, John wanted the people to be able to receive the Lord with joy, not terror.  So, he preached repentance.  A repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming.

     John lived in the wilderness, not in the city where all the people were.  Amazingly, all the people came to him.  It is hard to know how he had become so popular.  Perhaps his first audiences were the pilgrims who were traveling to Jerusalem for various festivals.  His appearance was shocking.  His message was strong.  And it took effect.  “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:5-6).  God’s word stirred the people to feel the weight of their sins and to repent of them.  In this way, they would be eager to welcome the one who would take their sins away.  A repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming.

     John the Baptist had gained so much attention that the religious leaders felt compelled to see him for themselves.  The Pharisees were the rabbis.  They taught and enforced the traditions which were supposed to keep people from abandoning God’s Law.  These traditions ended up being more important to them than the word of God.  By enforcing their traditions—and good luck keeping them all straight—the Pharisees caused many to bear heavy and unnecessary burdens.  The Sadducees were the temple priests.  They were more politicians than priests.  Their main intent was to retain the status quo, which meant that they retained their wealth and power.  The Pharisees and Sadducees wanted to know what John was all about.  Was he friend or foe? 

     Surprise, surprise—John had a pointed message for the religious powers in Jerusalem.  “He said to them, ‘You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance’” (Matthew 3:7).  John did not care about sensitivities.  He called the priests and rabbis a bunch of snakes, children of the devil.  If the people were shocked to hear John say this, the Pharisees and Sadducees were stunned all the more.  They had set themselves up as the moral examples for people to follow.  But their religion was all for show.  They may have said the right words.  They may have been morally upright.  They may have been ritually diligent, but their hearts were directed inward.  Their worship was for themselves.

     The Pharisees and Sadducees basked in the praise they got from other people.  Their deeds were not done to honor God, but to receive honor from others.  They cared about others only insofar as what others thought of them.  Their deeds were not done for the sake of mercy, but for the sake of glory.  Others may have been impressed, but John was not.  John was not fooled by appearances, and John did not pander to reputations.  “You brood of vipers!” (Matthew 3:7)” he said to them.  They should have known better, so John’s message pricked them harder.

     We should take heed that John the Baptist called the religious people to repent, because that’s us.  Every heart is wicked and turned in on itself, including our own.  Like the Pharisees and Sadducees, we are often motivated by what other people think of us.  If we do what is right, we want to be sure others saw it or know about it.  We calculate our words based on the company we are in.  We may change our morals based on what company we are in.  We are seeking approval either of those who respect decency or of those who celebrate debauchery.  We are far more concerned about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.  Repent.

     A repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming, because a repentant heart longs for the mercy that Jesus brings.  But if you do not think you need mercy, then Jesus’ coming will mean little to you.  In fact, you will find it an intrusion and an annoyance.  It would be like the telemarketer who calls you about changing your phone service or wanting to sell you life insurance.  It does not matter how great of a deal he can offer you.  You don’t care.  You are annoyed that he interrupted what you were doing, and you hang up on him.  You don’t even care if you are rude about it.  He bothered you.  Now, if you are not bothered by your sins, you will give Jesus the same treatment.  If you don’t recognize that you need mercy, you will not crave it.  Then the word of the Lord becomes an annoyance, and Jesus’ presence is unwelcome.

     We often picture Jesus as one who does not get that upset about sins.  Maybe he is disappointed in you, but he would never disown you, right?  Do not mistake Jesus’ mercy for tolerance—or worse, permission.  Jesus is true God.  He upholds every word of God.  He does not relax even one syllable of God’s Commandments.  He is also the judge of all mankind, and he will enforce every letter of God’s Law.  John the Baptist warned, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His 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 3:11-12).

     You have been baptized with the Holy Spirit when he was given to you at your baptism.  There, you were set apart as God’s child and for God’s glory.  But then there is the baptism with fire.  St. Paul wrote, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.  If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.  If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). 

     Everything we invest in outside of Jesus will be purged from us.  Nothing outside of Jesus, and certainly nothing opposed to him, will endure.  This is a warning for us, lest we get the idea that the way we live doesn’t matter.  Sins hurt other people and offend God.  God has created us for good works and for humble service to our fellow man.  We are turn from what is evil and to do what is good.  This is what John meant when he exhorted, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).  Repentance is not mere sorrow over sin.  Repentance is a complete change of mind.  It is a turning away from sins and a commitment to doing what God has designed us for.  It is also a turning away from ourselves—our egos, our pride, and our need for praise from others.  It is a turning to God for mercy, for hope, and for favor. 

     A repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming.  Jesus’ coming does not mean he suspends the judgment upon sinners.  It means that he stood in for sinners and took your judgment for you.  Jesus has come because you have no hope to escape the fiery judgment without him.  He took up your sins and was consumed in God’s fiery judgment for you.  Sin corrupted humanity, so God became a man to die for all humanity.  Sins hurt other people, so Jesus was tormented by a cursed death on the cross.  Sins are offensive to God, so the fierce wrath of God was poured out upon Jesus.  Jesus died without being shown mercy because that is the judgment sinners deserve. 

     But in dying for you, Jesus has done the ultimate good for you.  You do not need to fear the final judgment because all condemnation was taken by Jesus.  You do not need to wonder about God’s love for you because all his wrath has been poured out upon Jesus.  Jesus saves you from the guilt of sin and the curse of death.  Those who are bothered by their sins rejoice in the relief and hope Jesus brings.  A repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming.  Rejoice, because Jesus has come for you.

     Jesus not only delivers you from the status of one who is cursed for sins, he has also given you the Holy Spirit to restore you to the image of God, which means that you are eager to be what God created you to be.  This is the fruit you bear in keeping with repentance.  The Holy Spirit has changed your heart and mind so that you delight in God’s word and strive to put it into practice in your life.  And even if God should reward you for this as St. Paul said, you do not follow God’s word to seek reward.  The reward has already been given; for eternal life is yours.  You do not live a godly life to gain God’s approval; for God’s favor already rests upon you.  You do good works not to win praise from others (even if they do praise you for it).  You do this out of love for others, seeking the good of others, and showing mercy to others.  You regard them as God’s creation, whether they are bold or timid, popular or lonely, kind or mean, hurtful or helpful.  God loves because of God’s loving nature, not because of your worthiness.  That’s just who God is.  And that is what he has made you.  We love because God first loved us.  We love as God has loved us, and so our love is given whether it is appreciated or despised.  In the midst of a wicked world, we are committed to doing good.  And in a world that cannot give hope and peace, we yearn for Jesus who is the only one that supplies them.  A repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming.

     John the Baptist’s voice cried out in the wilderness.  The consciences of many were pricked.  The only salve that can remedy a pricked conscience is the blood of Jesus Christ.  He pours that upon you in Holy Baptism.  He coats your inner being in Holy Communion.  Rather than taking an axe to you to cut you down, he prunes from you the branches that do not bear fruit so that you might become more fruitful.  In other words, he changes you so that you flee from your sins.  He spurs you to flee to Jesus for pardon and peace.  And then he works in you to will and to act according to his good will.  This is what repentance does.  And a repentant heart rejoices at Jesus’ coming, because a repentant heart knows Jesus is the only one who can save and heal and nurture.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.