Repent! It’s Advent (2)
Matthew 3:1-12
How do we prepare the way?
God is righteous. How can I have part in that
righteousness?
2- Confess and Repent.
The radio talk show host, Don
Imus who did some racist remarks about
After a brief silence, “No”
was the answer. He tried to say he made a mistake, and who does not? He started
giving examples of Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, and others, all making mistakes. No sin, no confession, no guilt or shame.
Today we live in a society where
there is no guilt and shame. These words are out of the dictionary.
These words will lower our self-esteem. These words are old and
negative. Absence of shame and guilt in our society makes the words confession
and repentance almost impossible.
“I’m sorry” is said even without meaning. “We all make mistakes”, is our
cover for not confessing to God or to each other. James 5:16 says, “Therefore
confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Now
listen, it is healthy to confess to God and to each other. Some of you may say,
“Confess to God, may be. But to others? No way.” We do not want to be transparent to
each other.
We read in 1
John 1:9 “9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Do you see the word ‘righteousness’? Do you see how important it is to come to
our Lord, who is just and righteous, with humility and forgiveness? These are
ways to make the way smooth so that our Lord can enter our lives.
Please when you confess, be specific. When one
is questioned in the police department for a crime,
they will not let the person talk in general. They would like to hear specific
details. Be specific with God.
Now, sincere confession should lead one to
repentance. Repentance is a practical
way to take action after the confession.
Repentance is not just feeling sorry for
your sins. No, it is turning around and going in new direction: the direction
of Jesus (methanoia). Zacchaeus made his confession to Jesus, then he took decisions to pay back what he had stolen. We see that Zacchaeus is transformed, turned
around 180 degrees, from money lover to God lover. He turned his life towards
another direction. It does not mean Zacchaeus became perfect. No but started
something new in his life.
Let me quote from Pastor
Roger Haugen about repentance: “Repentance is simply to stop running after
everything else and see that God is pursuing us. Repentance is to make
decisions for God in our daily life that shows where our hope lies.
To recognize that to be a child of God needs to determine the decisions
we make every day.”
3- Share and bring fruits.
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (11) Bring
fruits of Spirit. In Galatians 5, we read about love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Important virtues in our daily lives.
These fruits are a practical way to express
our Christian values in our neighborhood and community. In fact, people asked John the Baptist what to do. In
Luke 3:10 we read, "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. 11John
answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and
the one who has food should do the same." (10-11)
Sharing teaches us to serve, sharing teaches us to love, to care, to
make peace with people, to share elements of kindness, goodness and gentleness.
Some years ago I was
in LA doing some fundraising. I met a former student
from the Ainjar boarding department. He took me to his workshop where he had were twenty employees. He was happy with his successful
business. He shared with me his poor background as a
child and the role of the boarding department that helped him to get a good
education. He was grateful for his past. He donated a check of $1000. When I
was leaving, he stopped me and asked, “Can I give you this cash $100?”. I was surprised. He had just give
me a check of $1000, why was he adding another $100?
He said, “Is there the grocery shop next to the boarding school?” I said, “Yes. ” His eyes were wet. He said, “We were very poor. Four of
us would buy one chocolate bar, and divide it into four parts. Each of us kept
that one small part and ate them gradually so it would not finish. Listen now,
I want you go and buy 100 dollar worth of chocolate
for all the kids. Give it to them, share with them my JOY.”
Sharing is the result of spiritual fruits. Spiritual fruits come when we abide in Jesus and ask
the Holy Spirit to be in us every day transforming our lives. Confessing our
sins and repentance prepares the place so that Holy Spirit works in us and
gives fruits.
So let us go out in the spirit of confession
and repentance asking God to come into our lives is this Advent season.
Amen
For more, please read 2 Corinthians 9:6-15