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Sunday December 6, 1998
Matthew 3:1-12

Focus Text: "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near." [3:2]

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THE ARRIVAL
CHANGE: "The Kingdom is Near"

"Just wait 'til your father gets home!"

With these words, Mother would attempt to corral the behavior of my brother Michael and me. After a time those words didn't quite do the trick, so she would say, "Your father will be home any minute."  This was better, but nothing would call us to attention and on some occasions --  repentance like the words, "Your father is pulling into the driveway!"

Bingo!  This produced an instant change in behavior. It even worked when we used it on each other, "Here comes dad," one of us would say and no matter how many times one or another of us cried "wolf" with these words -- they always drew at least a glance out the window.

You might say mom, or a brother put "the fear of dad" in us with this simple phrase.  We did have a "fear" of dad. Not a toxic, unnerving fear, but a healthy, respectful fear.  Dad loved us and we knew it.  We felt safe and secure surrounded by his strength. He was not mean, but he was firm. He enjoyed playing with us, but there were rules. There was an expectation that we would live rightly and honor our parents. There were infrequent times when he brought out the "belt" and the even more rare times when we experienced his wrath. Even the threat of "the belt" however, brought about repentance. His belt was as legendary as that of the dad's belt in Bill Cosby's album, "To My Brother Russell, With Whom I Slept."

The fear we had of "dad" was not a fear that drove us away.  Instead, it drew us to him -- to this day it wraps around our spirits like a warm blanket of sercurity. Dad passed away fourteen year ago and both of us would quickly deliver up our life savings to hear one of his "lectures".

In our scripture today, John the Baptist¹ appears on the scene with a stern message. "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven² has come near."  As you read the remainder of the passage, you realize that John's preaching would qualify as being of the "fire and brimstone" variety.  His message was a kind of equivalent to, "Your father is pulling into the driveway!"

It struck a nerve.  A strong one.  The response to John's ministry is striking.  Even the religious leaders came out to hear him -- and to respond to his message. To our way of thinking these days -- and especially to the thinking of church growth "experts," John's movement wouldn't have a chance. A new movement at the corner of First and Main in downtown Jerusalem might have a chance -- but a twenty mile walk into the most desolate wilderness in Israel?  Not a chance!

John's impact in preparing the world for the coming ministry of Christ is as important today as it was almost 2000 years ago.   Let's look at; 1) The Ministry of John the Baptist, 2) The Message of John the Baptist and 3) The Meaning of John the Baptist for Today.

I.   The Ministry of John the Baptist

Two things that stand out in our scripture are --  the strangeness of John and the strength of his ministry.

John certainly was a strange figure. His clothes of camel skin held to his body with a leather belt and his diet of locusts and wild honey would cause most people today to give him a wide berth and puzzled looks.  To his first century, he was strange in the sense of mysterious.  He lived an austere existence in the Judean desert wilderness³ and issued an absolutely uncompromising call to "shape up or ship out".  He crashed on the religious scene like an earsplitting clap of thunder. 400 years of prophetic silence was over. John's unyielding call to holy living extended to everyone he encountered -- including the governor Herod whom he chastised for marrying his brother's wife.  That move cost John his life -- yet even Herod was drawn to John's preaching and had a healthy fear of the strange man from the desert. [See Mark 6:20]

More amazing than John's strangeness was the strength of his ministry. It was at least a twenty mile walk out to the place he was baptizing -- at best the trip was a difficult donkey or camel ride.  When visiting Pharisees and Sadducees came out to hear him, he didn't say, "Good morning reverend clergy, nice to have you with us."  They were greeted with, "You brood of vipers..."  It is absolutely amazing that Pharisees and Sadducees agreed on anything, [See Acts 23:6 ff] but here both are coming for the baptism of repentance.  [See note on v. 7]

II.  The Message of John the Baptist

The message John proclaimed was twofold.   1. "You need to have a change of heart and be sorry for your sins because the time when God will take charge of all things is upon us!"  2. "Let your actions reflect the genuineness of your change of heart."  In other words -- "Let your walk match your talk."

The word "repent" means literally, "change your mind".  It also included the idea of being "sorry" for your actions -- or "having a change of heart."  D.A. Carson [Expositor's Bible Commentary - Vol 8: Matthew, p.99] captures John's meaning. "What is meant is not a mere intellectual change of mind or mere grief... but a radical transformation of the entire person, a fundamental turnaround involving mind and action... which results in 'fruit in keeping with repentance.' "

III. The Meaning of John the Baptist for Today

Some years ago, after preaching on this text, a man came to me after worship and said, "Bummer!  Here we are getting all ready for Christmas and trying to get into the holiday spirit and you're hammering away on stuff like repenting!" In a way, I guess he was saying, "Can't we save the repentance thing until after Christmas?"  And maybe that's understandable.  Isn't it kind of "grinchy" to talk about sin and selfishness and self-examination when everyone is getting ready to have a "holly, jolly Christmas." Who wants to talk about things like sin and repentance now?

Actually -- God does!  The original message wasn't, "Christmas is coming!"  It was, "Christ is coming!" The message is, "Joy to the world, the Lord is come...  Let every heart prepare him room..."  That's essentially John's message.   Make room for Christ.  And in making room, we just might discover the truth that the peace and joy God wants to give to us does not come from the stuff of Christmas but from the simplicity of Christ.

"Christ is coming! -- A Savior will be born!" Advent calls us to  look deeply into our hearts and clear the way for the rule and reign of the Lord.  John's message for us today may not be any easier for us to hear than it was for his first century listeners. It is not an easy thing to look at your life with the knowledge that God is "pulling into the driveway."

Preparing a way is more than simply saying, "God, I am sorry for my sin -- now let me get on with my life."  Do you know what I'm talking about when I use the term "empty apologies" -- the kind of apology that follows a father's command to his son, "Tell your sister you're sorry for pulling her hair!"

We've had a lot of those kinds of apologies in the past year or so -- haven't we?  Remember professional basketball player Latree Spreewell who aplogogized for choking his coach and then sued the NBA to be reinstated?  Or the popular disc jocky in Chicago who apologized for punching his girlfriend in the nose (and breaking it), after station management said they were considering terminating him?  Then there was the "almost-an-apology" of the president of the US for his involvement with a young intern -- after his presidency was threatened.

But were these people truly sorry?  John the Baptist would say... "Show the fruits of your sorrow for your sins.  Words alone won't cut it. Make some changes. Get some therapy. Do some good. Give  justice to your victims.  Your actions will confirm or deny your words."

John's message is a message to each one of us to empty the clutter in our hearts and "prepare him room." Lloyd Ogilvie tells of the religious zealot walking up and down Grower Street in Hollywood shouting over and over, "You are guilty.  Repent!"  One man standing by laughed and said, "Who told him about me?"  Deep within all of us there is a sense that we would be in a jam if suddenly "God pulled into the driveway."

John's Advent ministry is one of preparation.  It is the beginning of something, it is not the completion.  And this is Matthew's final point in our scripture --  completion comes from the One who comes after John.  John baptizes with water, but the One who comes to be born in our hearts is more powerful.  He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  The Holy Spirit brings authentic life and the purification of the refiner's fire.

Perhpas we've been through Advent and Christmas so many times, we are too easily sidetracked by the "busyness" of Christmas and miss the true "business" of Christmas.  Several years ago a woman left our Christmas Eve candle light service with tears streaming down her cheeks.  She said simply, "This was beautiful -- where has Christmas been all my life?" She had been raised in a fringe group that did not celebrate or even acknowledge Christmas.  She had never before experienced a simple celebration of the birth of Christ in scripture and song.

Did you happen to see the Kellog's Corn Flakes commercial that ends with, "Taste them again, for the very first time."  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could experience the real meaning of the coming of Christ once again -- as though for the very first time?"

In order to do that we will have to "prepare him room" and when we have made room for Christ we will have to let our actions speak of the change he brings.

There is a relatively simple act we've decided to do in our family.  Each year the families of my brothers and sisters have drawn names for gift exchange.  The original idea was to avoid excessive spending on Christmas gifts.  This year we decided to have every adult (there are fifteen of us) put $25 into a common purse.  On Christmas day each of us will put our favorite charity into a hat and draw one out.  The charity drawn will receive a check for $375.00 in our departed mother's name.  This will be our second Christmas without her and somehow this helps us hold her close in our hearts. She is still giving and we are thinking about giving gifts of love more than receiving gifts.

It's a small thing.  But I wonder.   What if this caught on here and there?  What if just ten families in our church did something like this? What if others hears about it and tried it next year? What if just ten families inspired ten other families to try it next year? That would be $37,500.00 in the year 2000.  Forgive me for being a dreamer, but if each one of those 100 families repeated this phenomenon of inspiring ten more families, there would be a $37,500,000.00 "dent" in the world's problems in 2001.

Go figure!  Before long, John the Baptist himself would have to break into songs of praise!

Notes On The Text

¹ John the Baptist's movement is mentioned in all four gospels and was strong enough to persist into the earliest days of the Church.  Acts 18:18ff tells of the first days of the church at Ephesus.   Shortly after Paul had begun the work at Ephesus, a charistmatic teacher named Apollos came with a teaching ministry that was powerful.  Apollos was a disciple of John the Baptist.  He became a christian teacher...  but the story of the Ephesian church shows the strength of John's movement.  In John 3:25ff the disciples of John come to him concerned that another (Jesus) was drawing people to his movement. John's ministry is frequently understated or not fully understood.  His was a strong call to holiness and renewal that can speak to us today.  Mark 6:14ff tells the story of the relationship of Herod and John the Baptist.  Herod thought Jesus' ministry at first, to be that of a resurrected John the Baptist. [See Alternate Sermon Ideas]

² Matthew's "kingdom of heaven" is equivalent to Mark and Luke's "kingdom of God".  Matthew uses the phrase 32 times while the other gospels do not use it at all.  Mark's parallel to Matt. 3:1-2 is, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." (1:15)  Most commentators agree that the terms are interchangeable and that Matthew with his more Jewish perspective simply avoids  using the holy name of God more than necessary.  A minority view is that the terms "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" have theological differences, but contra that -- Matthew 19:23-24 uses both phrases with respect to the same issue -- namely how it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom.

³ The desert is a place filled with theological significance.  The journey of Israel in the desert was a place of learning absolute dependence upon God. "Give us this day our daily bread," is a phrase out of the desert experience of Israel. God will lead a rebellious and apostate people back into the wilderness to teach them faithfulness once again. It is in the wilderness that Jesus is tempted then strengthened to begin ministry "filled with the power of the Holy Spirit."  There is application here for our own desert or wilderness times.

v.4  John's dress identifies him as a prophet. Zecharia 13:4 speaks of false prophets who dressed like John dresses so as to deceive people into believing they are prophets."On that day the prophets will be ashamed, every one, of their visions when they prophesy; they will not put on a hairy mantle in order to deceive..." 13:4

v.7 Some commentators point out that the language in verse seven "epi to baptisma auto" could mean that the Pharisees and Sadducees simply came to "the place" where John was baptizing. (Lit. "coming to his baptism")  Perhaps they were coming simply to "spy" on John's ministry as they would later do with Jesus. Whether they came to genuinely repent or simply to investigate -- the fact remains that John's ministry had a compelling attraction to the authorities.

Alternate Sermon Ideas

"Fruit worthy of repentance" in our texts is, knowledge that brings peace, righteousness that brings justice and harmony that brings praise to God!

Worship Helps

Leader: As the days draw closer to our Saviors’ birth,
People: We long for the peace only God can give.
Leader: As the hours fly by and we grow busier each day,
People: We hunger for the rest only Christ can give.
People: As commercials cry out and our budgets are strained,
People: We thirst for the meaning only God’s Spirit can give.
Leader: O come let us open our hearts,
People: And prepare for the birth of our Lord!

Benediction

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, may you abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and may the love of the Lord fill your days. Amen.