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Ashland, VA 23005
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Sermon for Sunday, December 9, 2007

“Sooner or Later — Repent!”
Matthew 3:1-12

The scripture is sort of a continuation of last Sunday’s thoughts. The time of the Lord’s coming is near; preparation is of primary importance. The gospel story from Matthew’s hand last week is a “stay alert, get ready, live each day with the knowledge that someday will be the last day for all” kind of scripture. We do not have an unlimited supply of days to do good or even to get ready. In the getting ready for that time regardless of when it comes, preparation is required. I suggested to you last week that it may mean we have to repent of all smallness, misplaced priorities, careless and mean words and all that separates us from the Father.

John must have heard that word. John was getting his world ready for the coming of the Messiah and it is his words that can help us get ready and closer to the coming. This is one of those texts that we would just as soon avoid on the way to Bethlehem but the gospel writers will not let us. Like a nipping little Terrier, it nips at our heels as we attempt to slide past to the Christmas. And yet it is one of those gospel words that we must confront every year on the way to the manger. We have to look John the Baptist right smack dab in the face — (BTW, I hope you know that John was not the first Baptist — better rendering would be John the Baptizer).

Do you remember John? — John was a strange figure…wild, wooly, rough, stern, severe unreasonable John; 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 then and now to give him a wide berth. It was John who ranted on about how God’s got a sharp axe chopping and a hot fire hopping, telling people they better get baptized and get their acts together…shape up or be prepared to ship out. It reminds me of the way Donnie Rice’s mama would talk to him when he had done something bad: “Just wait til your daddy gets home! He’ll get the belt after you. She was attempting to corral his behavior. And Donnie would be shaking in his boots!

Takes the fun out of getting to Bethlehem doesn’t it? But there is no bypass.

And since we have to go by John to get to Bethlehem we have to encounter that severe, harsh word, “repent.” “Repent”, John cries from the wilderness. “Repent,” it is later than you think…the kingdom of God is near.” “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”

Repentance. It isn’t easy to talk about it. It is such a old, rough, demanding word. And what a bummer of a way to get to Christmas. Here we are trying to get in the Christmas spirit and then we have to read a scripture like the one for this morning. Can’t we save repentance for at least January 2?! We’ll need it more then… Isn’t it kind of “grinchy” to talk about sin and selfishness and repentance when everyone is getting ready to have a “holly, jolly Christmas?”

We don’t want to talk about sin and repentance now. Who does? Actually God does. The original message wasn’t “Christmas is coming.” It was “Christ is coming!” and it is with that great news to all the world that we need to begin to clear the way in heart, mind and spirit.

So John calls us to repent. What a word. Most of us think we are too sophisticated for it. It conjures up memories of road side hand painted signs nailed to the fence post — “Jesus is coming soon! Make sure your fire insurance is paid. Turn or burn! Repent!” It reminds us of over zealous street preachers like John who want to shove tracts into our faces. It calls to mind that kind of religion that is to scare the hell out of you or the kind of religion that cripples people with guilt and fear and shame. And then there are those who are dealing with addictions and compulsions that are overwhelming and the call to change isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. And yet the words jump off the page at us, waiting to be taken seriously so they can do some transforming work in our lives: “repent… Bear fruits worthy of repentance…”

Perhaps Barbara Brown Taylor has some of the best words about repentance. In her book “Speaking of Sin,” she writes: “Most of us prefer remorse to repentance. We would rather say, ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I feel really, really awful about what I have done,’ than to actually start doing things differently…as wary as I am of pious calls to perfection, she says, it does seem to me that too many of us have given up hope of new life for ourselves. It is easier and less painful for us to rely on God’s forgiveness of our sins than it is to believe that God might support us in quitting our sins.”

There are too many “empty apologies” that go on in life. Words alone don’t cut it. John says it right: show the fruits of your sorrow.

It really is a radical change to which John calls us. “Repent,” he says and “bear fruit worthy of repentance,” which in our language, “decide to change and live like it.” Choose God’s way of speaking and acting and then follow through on that choice by speaking and acting in a new way.”

And we do have to be careful with this. It isn’t simple. For those who are plagued and shackled by addictions and other compulsions, “repentance” won’t sweep them away like fairy dust from Tinkerbell. But we must also acknowledge this: God calls us to change…to live differently…to repent and then bear fruit that reflects the fact that we have decided to change.

Perhaps the best place to start is not by repenting of everything in general, but by repenting of something in particular: “I repent of my inability to listen to others.” “I repent of my undisciplined prayer life.” “I repent of my careless way of talking.” “I repent of my obsession with stuff.” “I repent of being impatient with others.”

Then, having repented, you bear practical fruits of specific repentance. Using those examples I have offered to you about listening, praying, speaking and spending, repentant living might look this way:

You start looking people in the eye and listening to them and what they are saying.
You turn off the television for at least ten minutes and pray.
You refuse to exaggerate or gossip, so you actually say fewer words.
You give away some money that you would previously have spent on yourself.
You learn how to take a deeper breath and ask God for patience.

Little by little, you bear fruit worthy of the repentance you have chosen. And slowly, slowly, you are changed into the person you are to be.

Repentance is not a word that is to wound us, designed to shut us down in shame about our past. Repentance is a healing word designed to open us up to hope about our future. Repentance is not a solitary act; it is a choice we make surrounded by all the other sinners in need of repentance who surround us in the pews, in the choir loft, the balcony and the pulpit. We repent, we change and together we find hope and healing and the grace to begin again, over and over again and who knows…all kinds of fruit may come from you and me.

— Robert Thompson
Pastor
First Baptist Church, Ashland

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