I’m back…. What’s with the mood lighting? Soft music? You think that’s what Advent is all about? Think again, folks. You think it’s a nice little quiet time? Preparing for the one who’s coming? This is Jesus we’re talking about – he isn’t all about gentle. He’s about truth. He’s about real. He’s about fire. “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He’s gonna clear his threshing floor and gather up the wheat –but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
You got it? You don’t get ready for a forest fire with a little fire extinguisher. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” – that means, look out, folks. That means, repent!
You think you’re exempt because you “try to be a good person?” Give me a break! You think you’re in the clear because you’re in church? Because you haven’t stolen, killed, cheated on your spouse? You know what nice, gentle Jesus says about that? You even think hateful thoughts about someone, you’re guilty of murder. That’s sin – what we do is the least of it; it’s what we think that gets us into trouble.
And what we don’t do. How we don’t protect the poor and the powerless. How we don’t speak up for the voiceless. Are there voiceless ones in the richest country on earth – where some children die because they have no medical coverage? You don’t think that can be laid at your feet?
Do you or do you not live in a nice house in a safe neighborhood? How many TV sets do you own? How many times a week do you eat out? Do you or do you not know that there are places in this world where people get maybe a bowl of rice or grain a day and sleep on the ground?
How much of your wealth are you sharing? How much trash do you generate? How much energy do you consume with all your cars and overheated shopping malls and electronic gadgets? How are you paying for all this over-consumption – with blood and debt?
Do you or do you not benefit from privileges just because you may be white or wealthy? Where you have access to resources and positions because someone else is kept away? But you can’t do anything about that, can you? You can’t do anything about war and refugees and famines, can you?
You don’t think you have much to repent of? Think again – you are a part of your people, and the guilt of your people is your guilt. I’m here to call you to repentance, to clean up your acts. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
You have a choice – you can participate in unjust structures – or you stand against injustice. You can wring your hands, or you can really start sharing your wealth. You can keep eating too much and spending too much, or strip down your lifestyle to what you need and stop feeding the consumer culture.
Wait a minute – are you actually supposed to do something after you say you’re sorry? Is that what repentance means? You’re actually supposed to approach things a different way? Not just come in here and say sorry for the same things over and over, but actually ask God to help change your heart?
Maybe you're thinking, "This is not what I come to church for. I’m glad he’s not the Messiah.” Well, you know what – I’m glad too. Because what God’s gonna ask of him… well, that’s a baptism way harsher than mine.
But I’ve got a part to play in your life, friend. I’m here to remind you that repentance is a year-round thing, an everyday, every week thing. I stand here to remind you that everything is not hunky-dory in your house – that there is a lot of clutter standing between you and your God.
Do you want more of God in your life? Do you want Jesus to hang out in your heart? Then make some room for Him! Let me ask you something – I haven’t lived in a house since I was a kid, so I don’t know about this stuff. But when you have important guests coming over, you clean, right? All the bathrooms, the kitchen; you vacuum, put stuff away? Make up the beds in the guest room, put out the nice towels.
So clean up your houses, people! Jesus is coming. The only trick is – you don’t know when. So you need to keep your house cleaned all the time. That’s a drag, isn’t it? We kind of forget and slip back into our clutter stuff, because he hasn’t sent us an e-mail with the day or the time.
But He sent me. He sent me to be your wake-up call. So here I am, people – WAKE UP! THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. GET YOURSELVES CLEAN! TURN AWAY FROM YOUR COMPLACENCY!
A priest comes out and says: Hey – give us a chance. Jesus is coming with fire, but he’s also full of love. Doesn’t it say somewhere that God “desires not the death of a sinner, but that they turn from their wickedness and live?”
John: Look, I’m an action guy, you know? I just want you to make it real, that’s all. Real, from the heart. Real repentance, not just talk. That’s what God wants.… I guess I’ll be on my way. See you next December, I guess – next time you guys take me out and dust me off.
Priest: We won’t forget about you. We’ll think about you every time we say our confession, okay? And we’ll remember we need to act, not just talk about it.
John: That’s okay, don’t remember me… keep your focus on Jesus. Start thinking like him. He’s the message, anyway. He’s the guy. And the guy is coming – get ready!
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