May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6)
On this second Sunday of Advent, we find ourselves once again on the banks of the River Jordan with John the Baptizer. Advent would not be Advent without John. All four Gospels recount his importance to the good news of Jesus. Jesus himself describes John as the greatest of the prophets. And John took his mission, which was to declare the imminent arrival of the coming Messiah, very seriously.
Dressed in his period couture, he lives off the land, eating only those things provided by God in the wilderness. John the Baptizer calls out to people to “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” According to our Gospel he is like the one to whom Isaiah refers when he says:
3 A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’ (Isaiah 40:3-5)
John is a hinge figure between the Hebrew Scriptures and the coming of Christ. John’s role is to anchor us in the traditions of the old prophets, and point to the new. He minces no words about the importance of preparing for the coming of Christ. He warns all who gather of the consequences of failing to repent and prepare– using images such as axes, winnowing forks, and unquenchable fire.
But we should not dismiss John’s message as the ranting of someone from a different place and time. John is a living paradox of conviction and humility, morality and mystery. He both understands Jesus’ path and misunderstands it completely.
But John is pointing to something. He knows that his ministry is to point to the Christ, the One whom the Israelites have been waiting for –the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He declares without any doubt, “I have come to prepare the way for the Christ.” “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” Something new is about to happen. Prepare for it.
Repentance is a word and a concept that is too often misunderstood in our culture. The church too often has added to this misunderstanding. Hearing the word, “repentance,” we may hear only the judgment of an angry God. We may hear the word “repent” and it may signal “duck!” because too often we have gleaned the impression that God is one of wrath and our response is to be to be afraid, to be cautious because any misdeed will result not only in our shame, but in our sure punishment.
But this idea fails to recognize God as revealed in Jesus. Our judge is Jesus who shows us the face of God in his healing, in his mercy and forgiveness, as the one who welcomes and eats with outsiders, as the one who offers peace instead of the sword. This is not what John expected. John expects a wrathful Messiah and instead finds one who heals those who suffer and brings good news to the poor.
Repentance is not about punishment. It is about realignment, reconnection, a fresh start. Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan point out that the Biblical understanding of the term “repent” is deeply shaped by the Jewish experience of exile. To repent, to return, is to follow the prepared way of the Lord that leads out of our separation and back into reconnection with God who made us and loves us beyond our ability to comprehend.
In the New Testament, to repent means to begin seeing differently, to begin thinking differently, both of which can lead to acting and living differently. Repentance refers to a turning around, changing course, and opening ourselves to the promise of a new beginning. Repentance goes far beyond simply saying we are sorry for our sins.
Repentance is a willingness to lift our heads from our well beaten path and move towards the One whose coming brings heaven near to us. And repentance is not a once and done activity. Repentance is the opportunity all our days to listen for God’s call, see the path that leads forward, and turn towards God’s vision for us and our communities over and over again.
A brother once sorrowfully asked Sisoes the Great: “Father, what can I do? I have fallen into sin.” The Staretz answered him: “Rise again.” The brother said: “I rose up and fell.” The Staretz answered: “Rise again.” The brother answered: “How often must I fall and rise up?” The Staretz said: “Until your death.”[1]
When we repent, we develop a new way of seeing and become aware of how our actions may be out of step with God’s dream for creation. And what is God’s dream for creation? The answer to that question can be found throughout Scripture.
In our reading this morning from Isaiah—God’s dream is for the world to be a place in which peace and justice—rather than fear and hatred—rule the day. God dreams for the world to be a place where we see each other with compassion and with love, where creation brims with mercy and the peace of God. God dreams of a world where we love and care for each other with our bodies, minds, and spirits. God wants us to join in this dream today!
This is Johns’ desire as well. He does not just shout “Repent!” and stop there. John links the call to repentance with the “why” of repentance: the kingdom of heaven has come near.
Our repentance is not what makes the kingdom arrive. The kingdom has already come near. Repentance is our acknowledgement of, our entry into, our cooperation with the kingdom. Through repentance we turn our gaze to meet the gaze of Christ. We say “yes” to the coming of the One who defines our new way of seeing, our new way of thinking, and our way back to God, each other, and ourselves. This calls us to examine our lives, and perhaps correct our direction so we may share in God’s dream.
Can we hear Johns’ call—Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near—not as a threat of impending condemnation, but as an urgent invitation to live into God’s dream.
Today there are prophets rising up in our midst. Our young people implore us to work toward a future in which God’s creation is alive for them. Our youth demand that we become engaged in stopping the scourge of gun violence. They are shouting for the change necessary to protect their lives and God’s creation for them and their children so they may experience the abundant life God intends for them—so they may live into God’s dream. The vulnerable cannot afford to be indifferent.
God invites us all to dream something beyond what we can presently see. Isaiah speaks of an impossible possibility—enemies becoming companions, children safe from harm, wise and just leadership, and a world without war. None of this is our reality, but Isaiah’s dream still judges world history and serves as a north star for our work.
Advent presents an impossible possibility, that the partnership of humanity and divinity will create a new earth. We who have glimpsed God’s dream, must now turn and reach for that hope. Like John, we must respond to the urgency of this time. And like Isaiah, practice seeing beyond the mess and dream of God’s arrival to a hungry world.
John in Matthew’s Gospel is an end-time prophet whose message is that the time has come to repent because the one through whom God will transform this age to the next is now revealed: Jesus. Repentance is the first step in joining Jesus in moving towards the kingdom of heaven.
John’s urgent cry does not mean that we should be afraid. Repentance is not a step off into a dark abyss. It is not facing an unquenchable fire. Repentance is our response to a loving God.
Every moment of our lives, we are given the opportunity to turn toward the fullness that is God. Every day we are invited to open our hearts and our minds, to see things in a new way and to be transformed. We can take those steps knowing that God is always waiting, that God is always ahead of us doing something gloriously new in our lives and in the world. By opening our hearts to God we can begin again–we can start fresh. We can lose our baggage, the chaff that is in all of us, the limbs that stunt our growth, while growing those gifts God has given us to embody the glory of God as persons “fully alive.”
In practicing repentance we can “bear worthy fruit.” We do not bear fruit to be worthy of God’s love. Rather because God loves us, we are able to bear good fruit. Fruit that shows the signs of a life that is free, fruit that shows our intention to work for the good of the other as well as ourselves. Fruit that is a witness to eternal love. Fruit that shares with others the grace, mercy, and forgiveness that come from God. Fruit that welcomes all, and that rejoices in being a part of the one body of the living Christ.
Thomas Merton wrote that “the Advent mystery is the beginning of the end of all in us that is not yet Christ.” There is much in me that is “not yet Christ.” But as we move deeper into this season we are reminded of our opportunity to turn our gaze toward Christ–to repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
We, as children of God, need to heed the one crying in the wilderness—the voice that reminds us to turn towards God. We are invited to step closer to God; to broaden and deepen the good work being done in us. It is a time to ask ourselves, How can we be a part of God’s dream for creation? Is the path we are following meeting our deepest needs and the deepest needs of the world? Are the choices we are making allowing us to fall in love with the One who brings us to the fullness that we were created to be?”
John invites us in his rugged ascetic way to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”—Repent, live into God’s dream. In his own intense way, the Baptizer invites us home and to be fully the people God has created us to be.
AMEN
[1] Ignatius Byranchaninov. Ordinary Graces. 1807-1867