Advent Series II - Preparing and Repentance (Mark 1:18 and 1 Peter 3:8-17)

Dear Christian Friends: May the hope and peace of this Advent season be with you today and throughout this week. A grandmother was shopping with her 2 little grandchildren. As she was strapping them in their car seats after shopping, Jason the little boy blurted out, “Susie has something in her pocket.” Susie has stolen a new red barrette for her hair. Grandma returned the item and gave Susie a lecture about stealing. Later when they were checking out at the grocery store the clerk asked, “Have your kids been good so Santa will bring them good gifts?” Jason replied, “I’ve been good, but my sister just robbed a store.” This Advent season, we are not preparing for Santa, we are preparing for Jesus. Our gospel lesson this morning begins with the prophecy from Isaiah of God sending his messenger to prepare the way of the Lord. This passage in the Old Testament promised the people of Israel who were in exile in Babylon that God would make it possible for them to return to their homeland from exile. And indeed, God raised up King Cyrus, who defeated the Babylonians, and allowed the Israelites to return home. At that time, God used King Cyrus to be his messenger of good news. Now, some 500 years later, God is once again sending a messenger to prepare God’s people for good news. This time God’s messenger is John the Baptist. John the Baptist proclaims that the people are in exile, separated from God by their sins. John the Baptist came preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance is what prepares us to enter into the presence of God. Isaiah uses the imagery of mountains being made low, valleys being lifted up, and crooked paths being made straight so that the people of God could return to the Promised Land. Repentance and forgiveness of sins removes the barriers that separate us from God. This week, when I walked the labyrinth, that was the focus of my thoughts as I moved toward the center of the labyrinth. What are the sins that I need to repent of? When does my pride keep me from treating others as children of God, when does the desire for new things weigh more heavily than the desire for closeness to God, are there areas of bitterness that I harbor in my heart that keep me from truly knowing peace, where in my life is God calling me to be a light in the darkness of this world? The Greek word for repentance, “metanoia,” literally means, to change one’s mind. The motion of changing direction while walking the labyrinth is a helpful tool in reflecting on repentance and changing my mind and then my actions. When you think of preparing for God in your life, what changes do you need to make? Imagine Jesus coming to visit you for the holidays and staying in your guest bedroom. What changes in your life might need to be made? One of the changes we all might need to make is the use of our time. How much time do we spend watching TV, playing games on the computer, or in meaningless activity? Do we need to spend more time in prayer, in reflection on God’s word, or in conversation and support of others? I think if Jesus came to visit my home, he might say to me, “Let’s talk.” Take more time in developing a spiritual relationship. Although it is a part of my daily routine, it’s an area of potential growth. Repentance is not only turning away from sinful activity, it is turning toward a deeper relationship with God. In I Peter 3:8-17, Peter talks about things we might need to turn away from in our lives. He writes, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing.” There’s a challenge to us all. Who has hurt you in some way? Who has insulted you or talked badly about you to others? Ask God to bless that person, and don’t fall into the cycle of repaying evil with evil. That’s a hard thing to do. What conversations might Jesus hear if he stayed in your house, and might some of them need to change? Peter writes in verse 10, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good.” What kind of speech would Jesus hear? Some might need to clean up cussing and swearing, some might need to clean up language that demeans or hurts other family members, some might need to clean up criticisms of neighbors, co-workers, or church members. Our Advent season today has John the Baptist calling us to repent to prepare for the kingdom of God. What changes might you need to make for Jesus to feel welcome in your home? But Advent is not only a time to turn away from sin and evil, away from bitterness and a sharp tongue. Advent is a time to turn toward Jesus. Our lesson this morning ends with very hopeful words: “I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” We may have to wait for Jesus to return and the kingdom of God to come in all its power, but we don’t have to wait for the Holy Spirit. When Jesus came the first time, he brought with him the Holy Spirit, and God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit here and now as we wait for his kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit that makes God and God’s love for us a reality in our lives. The Holy Spirit is a bridge that connects us to God. When we are connected to God, we are connected to love. God is love. We see that love manifested in our world most clearly through the life and death of Jesus. Greater love has no man than to die for a friend, but God shows us his love for us when Jesus dies for us while we were yet sinners. It is the Holy Spirit that creates faith in God’s love for us. In a physical world of sin, suffering and death, the Holy Spirit opens us up to the reality of God’s love. The greatest gift we can ever hope to attain is the assurance of God’s love, and that is precisely the gift God is willing to give us as we wait for his kingdom to come. Look at the cross, there is God’s love. Listen to God’s word, there is love. Live with the promise of eternal salvation, there is love. Those are the things we need to have occupy our hearts and minds. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to turn our heads around. When we turn toward God, we can discover an abundance of God’s love as we wait for his kingdom to come in its power. Finally, as the Holy Spirit connects us to the spiritual reality of God’s love, we can become the ones who make God’s love evident in our world. Just as Jesus made God’s love real while he was here on earth, we can make God’s love real today. We can be the ones who live lives of forgiveness, we can be the ones who befriend the lonely, we can be the ones who feed the hungry and help the poor. We can be the ones who share the good news of salvation with those around us. So how do we prepare for Jesus? We turn away from sin in our lives: we turn away from anger, vengeance, abusive language, sloth, and greed and we turn toward Jesus. We turn toward forgiveness, love, hope, and the promise of eternal life. And finally, as we wait, we do everything in our power to bring God’s love into our world through acts of humble service and the sharing of the gospel of Christ. Are you prepared for a special house guest this season? AMEN