Repent Your Way to a Merry Christmas

Matthew3:1-12

In the third chapter of Matthew’s Gospel the writer introduces us to John the Baptist as the forerunner of Christ who prepares the way by baptizing in the wilderness with a message of true repentance and the natural resulting fruit of good works.

For God’s kingdom to come, for us to stand in the coming judgment, for our homes to be filled with the joy we hope for this Christmas there must be a removing of all that does not fit into his kingdom concept, especially the hidden things of our hearts. This is the loving, though seemingly harsh, message that John the Baptist lived by and proclaimed to all who would listen.

But the problem was that some, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees, thought they were prepared for the coming kingdom of heaven when they were not. Their repentance was only on the surface and did not penetrate to the heart. John saw the problem and pointed to the solution provided by God’s grace when he said that there would be one after him, Jesus, who would provide the deeper baptism that they were lacking.

As we prepare for our Christmas celebrations and ultimately the awaited second coming of Christ, we are faced with the same problem. Many of us today are finding that true repentance has eluded us, leaving us with fruitless, frustrated lives and an empty whitewashed shell for our faith. The great danger and reality is that many of us will not stand the coming judgment necessary to usher in the new kingdom and we need more preachers like John the Baptist who love us enough to tell us the truth.

There are many reasons for this persistent and deadly problem: shallow religious observances; lack of care and concern for our neighbors, the poor, the down trodden, the lest of these among us; society pushing us away from God toward material processions; and the false assumption that somehow in all of our carnal failings God will look the other way.
Fortunately, God knows our frustrations, he understands our need, and he sympathizes with our desire for fulfillment. God, in his grace and mercy, has provided a way to true repentance through the saving work of Jesus Christ and a way to good works, the natural fruit of repentance through his Holy Spirit. Both of these are readily available to us in the Church, the adorned bride of Christ who works preparing herself for the arrival of Jesus as coming the bride groom.

So what would it look like if we experienced true repentance and good works, the natural fruit of repentance? First, true repentance results in a real hatred and Godly sorrow for Sin, a hatred and sorrow not just for the sins we have committed but a real hatred and sorrow for the carnal nature within us that temps us to turn away from God. Too often in our world today, we are taught to view our carnal failing as acceptable, but sin is never acceptable to God and sin blocks the way of Jesus coming into our lives.

Second, true repentance results in confessing and turning from our Sin. “Repent” actually means to experience a change in thought that results in turning and taking a new direction. True repentance is incomplete without true change in our lives. Understand that we will not live totally without doing wrong things, but the desire of our heart and mind will always be to avoid Sin and return to a right relationship with God.

Third, true repentance leaves us with a full life, not an empty life. True repentance then replaces the deadly, destructive sin that imprisoned us and replaces it with the desire to live a liberated life of righteousness, holiness and good works.

I pray we will all be prepared for the new kingdom to come this Christmas and that the attitudes of our hearts will produce fruit worth of repentance that will stand in the accompanying judgment to come.