1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. The message from God’s Word this 2nd Sunday in Advent is taken from Mark 1:1-8, dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
On Jordan’s
Bank the Baptist’s Cry. John calls out
to us this Advent season, “Prepare the
way of the Lord.” He admonishes us poor
sinners and makes us desire to celebrate the joyful season of Christmas. Not the one who is full, but only the one who
is tormented by hunger and thirst can rejoice from his heart when food and
drink are offered to him. Not the one
who is well, but only the one who painfully feels his sickness can rejoice from
his heart when he’s assured that he will soon be well. Not the one who is free, but only the one who
knows he is a prisoner in his sin can he rejoice from his heart when his
freedom is announced. Not the one who is
rich, but only the one who is frightened by his debts can rejoice from his
heart when he hears that those debts have been paid. In the same way, John the Baptist reminds us
today in our Gospel lesson from Mark 1 that we as sinners are called to repent
as we prepare for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. Only those who recognize that they are poor,
lost sinners can rejoice from their hearts when we hear that the Savior for
sinners is here. That’s why on Jordan’s Bank the Baptist Cries out
calling us to repentance so that we may receive the gift of eternal life.
3.
John
the Baptist’s ministry was generating some high spirits in his day as we see
around us as our society is already celebrating the Christmas season before the
actual day of Christmas. The air was alive with the news. No TV or radio spread
the message—just individuals, by word of mouth. When they got there, they saw a
rugged preacher in scratchy clothing uttering strong words about repentance and
forgiveness. It had been 400 years since a prophet from God had last spoken.
Their souls were hungry, and they knew that what John the Baptist had to say
was important.
4.
During
this Advent season we’re preparing to celebrate the coming of the Son of God.
It will serve us well to hear the same message, the same call to repentance, in
order that the Savior may come anew into our lives through the power of the
Spirit. On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist Cries out for the need for repentance. Mark 1:2-4 says, “2As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger
before your face, who will prepare your way, 3the voice of one crying in the
wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness
and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Sin isn’t a popular word. People
reject the concept as old-fashioned. The Old Adam protests: others, like
criminals, are sinners, but not “nice
people” like me! When sin isn’t confessed, there’s no desire for
forgiveness, no urge to turn to God, and no chance for healing. We need to
repent—daily, and especially today!
5.
I
once had a discussion early on in my ministry as a pastor with a member who
told me he wasn’t coming to church anymore. After some probing, the reason
became clear: he didn’t like the words of confession at the beginning of the
service. They were a “put-down.” The words of confession hit home and he didn’t
like it, but he missed the words of forgiveness! May we never forget the call
to repentance, but let us be even more careful to remember the forgiveness of
sins through Jesus Christ. “If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness” (1 In 1:9). Sound familiar? These words are included
in our regular worship services, and they are so necessary for us to hear every
day.
6.
On
Jordan’s Bank John the Baptist cries reminding us that sin alienates. It makes
us enemies of God. It excludes God from our lives. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own
way” (Is 53:6). It’s not that we don’t want to turn around from our sins, it’s
rather that we can’t turn back toward God, unless he helps us. And so, God comes seeking us. He comes all
the way to where we are in the muck and mire of our sins. He touches us and
pleads, “Come now, let us reason
together. . . . Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow” (Is 1:18). We can (and do) resist God’s calling to repentance, but
his love turns us around to look at him, and we see a smiling face. We see the
one who loves us with an everlasting love.
7.
The
worst sin is idolatry, violating the First Commandment. We make our own gods,
who permit us to “enjoy” life comfortably. The Israelites made an idol to their
liking, the golden calf, and then “they
sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry” (Ex 32:6).
Today people often cast off restraint—hence the decline in morals, filling our
lives with hills and valleys and rough and crooked roads.
8.
There
was a special issue in Time magazine,
called “Beyond the Year 2000” (Fall,
1992), that included an article entitled “Kingdoms to Come” (p. 61) in which
the writer attempts to describe what religious conditions will be like a
hundred years from now. He writes, “Theology
is a dying art. School children are ignorant of the Bible and hence bereft of
their spiritual heritage. . . . The colorful creeds from olden times are tiny
or extinct.” The article speaks of “No-demand faiths,” and then goes on to
say, “The World Soul Movement originated
with the synthetic neopagan, nature-love and New Age groups. . . .The triumph
of feminist religion caused many Christians and Jews to shun references to God
in personal terms (no more Lord or Heavenly Father). This in turn strengthened
the groups that worship a mysterious nature-force or seek to deify the self.”
Sadly, what this magazine article describes is happening right now, and is a
perfect description of the sin of idolatry. It is Satan’s primordial lie, “You
shall become like God.”
9.
But
the righteous Lord comes to enter our lives. In preparation, we repent and ask
him to straighten out our lives. And so,
on Jordan’s Bank the Baptist cries out calling us to repentance. In our own
lives, a forerunner like John might be any voice that calls in our desert,
“Repent!” Conscience—God’s Word recalled. Catastrophe—some event or experience God uses
to wake us up. Contact—some bearer of
the call to repent.
10.
And
on Jordan’s bank, John the Baptist reminds us that repentance finds forgiveness
in Mark 1:4 & 7–8 says, “4John
appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins. 7And he preached,
saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I
am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8I have baptized you with water, but he
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Sin is great, but the grace of God
is greater. John points to the greater one, to Jesus, who came with power to
break sin’s hold on us. “But with you
there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Ps 130:4). John felt
unworthy to untie the shoelaces of the One coming, so awed was he by the Lamb
of God.
11.
Repentance
still finds forgiveness. Because of his great love, God, whose holiness is like
a consuming fire, does not consume us (Lam 3:22). Repent, turn to God, and
welcome him who comes to you in the name of the Lord. To you in Holy Baptism. To you at the Lord’s Supper. To you in the power of his Word. To you through the quiet voice of a fellow
believer
12.
Repentance
leads to renewal (v 8). As Jesus comes
and forgives us, he breaks sin’s hold on us. He comes with the power of the
Holy Spirit, God’s purifying fire. He smooths out the road into our lives,
makes the crooked places straight and fills up the valleys. We do not want to
impede our loving Lord in any way. And,
repentance leads to renewal, not only in our minds and spirits, but in our
world through us! We’re his lights in the darkness—in home, office, factory,
school, on the farm, at parties. We are his salt to preserve the world from
total corruption
13.
On
Jordan’s Bank the Baptist cries. God
doesn’t call us to withdraw from the world as monks and nuns. Instead, we’re
constantly aware that our Lord, who once came in the flesh, is coming again in
glory. We are in the world, but not of the world. The people of the world
travel a different road in a different direction. They are of a different
mind-set (Jn 17:16–19). God has given us life in this time and in this place to
let our light shine and to be a preservative in the midst of a wicked and
perverse age (Mt 5:13, 14). He calls us to live in daily repentance and in the
power of his forgiveness. Amen.
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