Advent devotion for Thursday, December 14
Based on Matthew 3:1-12 (read it here: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=33105747 )
Repentance is a tremendous change to make in a life. Most of us know that repentance means a turning around (as in the Old Testament), or a decisive change of mind (as in the New Testament). Either way, it is a significant thing to repent, to consciously let go of one way of thinking and living and to take up another that is quite the opposite.
Here came the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders, warring factions in the religious debates of the days. Remarkably, they had come to be baptized by John, one who “baptized with water for repentance.” This is quite amazing if you stop to think about it–religious elites coming to be baptized by this wild outsider. It is sort of like imagining the Pope, the head of the National Council of Churches, and the patriarch of the Orthodox church repenting to the crazy guy on the street corner wearing a sandwich board that says “The End is Near” and then begging him for baptism. Here they were, pledging a complete change of life to this eccentric man.
You would think that John would be happy, would feel that he had accomplished something. And yet he challenges the Pharisees and Sadducees still more, saying, “You brood of vipers!...Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” John is not simply happy that they have repented; but a natural result of such a complete change of life ought to be “bearing fruit.” Repentance is a huge step in life, but in isolation it is rather meaningless–without fruit, that is, it is rather meaningless.
A lot of us treat the Christian life as if it were solely about repentance. With good intentions, we seek to see what sin is in our lives on a daily basis, or even many times a day. We try to weed out sin, to purify our lives, to live in the way Christ called us to live. And please hear me–this is very good. This brings God glory. But the Christian life can never be only about repentance. Those moments of repentance must lead to a fruit-bearing life. We do not weed out sin so there will be a barren field in our hearts; we weed out sin so that something that honors Christ can grow there! Repentance clears our lives of old ways of living so something new can flourish there.
True repentance and bearing fruit come down to availability. The more available we are to Christ, the more fruit we bear. If we make ourselves completely available to be used by Christ wherever we are, we will bear fruit. We will treat others with kindness, we will use our gifts to care for others who are hurting, we will be able to speak a word of liberating truth to those living in debilitating lies. All this fruit comes with availability.
And so when we repent, we must do so with an eye to becoming available to Christ. We don’t clean up our lives for the sake of being clean so that the world will honor us. We repent in order to break the shackles sin keeps us in so that we are truly free and available to Christ in all situations, bearing much fruit.
Repentance is a tremendous change to make in a life. Most of us know that repentance means a turning around (as in the Old Testament), or a decisive change of mind (as in the New Testament). Either way, it is a significant thing to repent, to consciously let go of one way of thinking and living and to take up another that is quite the opposite.
Here came the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders, warring factions in the religious debates of the days. Remarkably, they had come to be baptized by John, one who “baptized with water for repentance.” This is quite amazing if you stop to think about it–religious elites coming to be baptized by this wild outsider. It is sort of like imagining the Pope, the head of the National Council of Churches, and the patriarch of the Orthodox church repenting to the crazy guy on the street corner wearing a sandwich board that says “The End is Near” and then begging him for baptism. Here they were, pledging a complete change of life to this eccentric man.
You would think that John would be happy, would feel that he had accomplished something. And yet he challenges the Pharisees and Sadducees still more, saying, “You brood of vipers!...Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” John is not simply happy that they have repented; but a natural result of such a complete change of life ought to be “bearing fruit.” Repentance is a huge step in life, but in isolation it is rather meaningless–without fruit, that is, it is rather meaningless.
A lot of us treat the Christian life as if it were solely about repentance. With good intentions, we seek to see what sin is in our lives on a daily basis, or even many times a day. We try to weed out sin, to purify our lives, to live in the way Christ called us to live. And please hear me–this is very good. This brings God glory. But the Christian life can never be only about repentance. Those moments of repentance must lead to a fruit-bearing life. We do not weed out sin so there will be a barren field in our hearts; we weed out sin so that something that honors Christ can grow there! Repentance clears our lives of old ways of living so something new can flourish there.
True repentance and bearing fruit come down to availability. The more available we are to Christ, the more fruit we bear. If we make ourselves completely available to be used by Christ wherever we are, we will bear fruit. We will treat others with kindness, we will use our gifts to care for others who are hurting, we will be able to speak a word of liberating truth to those living in debilitating lies. All this fruit comes with availability.
And so when we repent, we must do so with an eye to becoming available to Christ. We don’t clean up our lives for the sake of being clean so that the world will honor us. We repent in order to break the shackles sin keeps us in so that we are truly free and available to Christ in all situations, bearing much fruit.
posted by Rev. Michael Jordan at 9:14 AM
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