12-3-25 - Changed Lives

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

When we are seeking reconciliation with God or another person, “I’m sorry” is where we start; making it stick is much harder. I can imagine the sneer on John the Baptist’s face as he sees the professional religious folks coming to be baptized by him: But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”

Translation: "Who warned you to get your act together? Stop resting on your laurels as 'keepers of the law,' as inheritors of the promises given to your ancestors. What changes are we going to see in your lives?"

What does, “Bear fruit worthy of repentance” mean? That it’s easy to say “I’m sorry,” and a lot harder to make the kinds of changes that render our “I’m sorry’s” unnecessary. John didn’t want people undergoing his baptism for show – he wanted them to take a serious look at themselves and recognize the ways and times in which their behavior or attitudes damaged other people. In our times this might be analogous to folks who recite land acknowledgements at the beginning of events, but never examine the ways our privileges and opportunities come at a cost to our first nations peoples, or what we might to do extend those privileges to those historically denied them.

The call to repent and amend our lives is ever before us. One way to meet it is to undertake an inventory of confession, to get below the surface to the more stubborn patterns of sinfulness that persist in us. Here is a simple one you might try – and write down your answers:

• When did I last hurt someone I love? What did I do or say? Why did that happen – what “hooked” me?
• When did I last hurt people who are culturally different from me? Why did that happen?
• When did I last hurt myself in some way? (Include food and self-criticism…) How did that come about? 
• When did I last hurt the creation around me in some way, nature, animals. Why did that happen?
• When did I last hurt God – by ignoring or avoiding or defying? What happened?

For each thing you list, offer your regret and think about what would have to change in you to avoid doing that again. What spiritual practices and messages do you need to build into your life to bear better fruit? Invite the Holy Spirit into each one of those areas and ask God to release more life and love in you.

When our repentance is genuine, we’re more inclined to move into fruitful patterns of being and relating. And as we bear the fruit of repentance, the people around us will be sweetened with God’s love.

© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.