Sermon - December 13, 2009
13 Dec 2009
Topic: True repentance bears fruit
True repentance bears fruit. That’s the message of John the Baptist in today’s gospel reading. He shouted out to his audience calling them a “bunch of snakes,” and no doubt got their attention. And his message was this: those who truly believe and are baptized will show by the way they live, and by what they do, and do not do, that their faith is leading them.
John’s mission was to prepare the way for Jesus to come into the world. As such it was necessary for him to shake up the common understandings of faith so that the words of Jesus might be heard better. This is what John the Baptist said, “Repent, turn around, become radically renewed in your faith.”
There is ample evidence that Christmas is just a few days away. The stores, which have been having sale upon sale, are very crowded with shoppers. Christmas cards are being sent and received. Decorations are appearing everywhere, on rooftops, on porches, on mailboxes and bushes. Throughout the church we have erected a variety of nativity scenes. And next week, we will have Christmas trees placed up here and in the narthex as well.
But just as decorations can be nothing more than cosmetic tinsel placed on a not-so-neat world, John the Baptist was calling for his hearers to have a radical change of heart.
John was calling for lives to be truly changed, not just made different in appearance. In a word, John says, “If you and I are repentant, we are to produce appropriate signs of that repentance.”
And it won’t wash to say, “Well, I am a descendant of Abraham, or, I have attended church all my life, or that I am a confirmed Lutheran”, as if appealing to our ancestry or appealing to the religion of our father and mother will somehow save us. John the Baptist was very clear to say that we must repent, turn around, and become radically renewed in the faith.
Perhaps you and I are at the same point as the hearers were when they heard John’s challenge to them. Their response was, and perhaps ours is as well, “What then shall we do?”
John explains that his baptism of repentance, which is not unlike our own baptismal call of radical obedience to Christ, expects those who are baptized to share their wealth, to share their food, to treat others fairly. In a word, John expects us to be generous and not greedy.
And thankfully, this congregation gets the point of what John is saying. This year, once again, this congregation has responded marvelously to the appeal for stuffing mix to be given to who are not as well off as us in our community. Over 800 boxes of stuffing mix were collected and delivered to the Salvation Army in Coatesville for Operation Thanksgiving/Christmas.
In addition this, people made over 30 cans of cookies which I have been delivering as I am visiting our shut-ins. You have also purchased over a 100 gifts for our “angel tree” which will be given to people who really need them.
Yesterday, members of our congregation took turns ringing the Salvation Army bell at Kmart in Thorndale. Their shift began at 9 a.m. and didn’t finish until 9 p.m. last night.
Over the years, I have spoken with a few of our members who have taken a turn at ringing the Salvation Army bell and each of them tells of how rewarding an experience it is. One common thread to their stories is that poor people seem to give more generously than those who appear to be well dressed.
As radically obedient followers of the message which Jesus gave us, which John the Baptist prepared the way for, we must continue to share something of ourselves to show that our faith is not just so much tinsel on a tree.
You and I, through this congregation, have responded to the ethical demands placed upon us when we came to faith. And now, we must continue lest John the Baptist comes back and calls us a “bunch of snakes.”
When we made the promise in baptism to follow Christ, and re-affirmed that promise at our confirmation, our lives changed. When Jesus said, “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself”, a lifetime goal was given to each of us, a goal that we seek to live out on a daily basis.
John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah’s birth by reminding us to pay attention to the needs of others. And that’s what we are doing when we give food to the hungry and clothes to those who need them. It is part of “loving our neighbor” as Jesus taught us to do.
So, may these final weeks of preparation for Christmas find us continuing to care for the needs of others even as we grow in our love for the Savior. AMEN