December
4-6, 2021
ADVENT
2
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Luke 3:1-6 (EHV)
“REPENTANCE!’
1.
Willed
by God.
2.
Worked
by God.
3.
Welcomed
by us.
Luke
3:1-6 (EHV)
“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate
was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was
tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of
Abilene— 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the
word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3
He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 Just as it is written in
the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one calling in the
wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. 5
Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The
crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. 6 And
everyone will see the salvation of God.”
So if this is the most wonderful time
of the year, as the song says, why is it that this time of the year
statistically has more depression and mental health issues, more incidents of
alcohol abuse and more reported incidences of family strife and violence than
any other time of the year? I wonder if it has to do with expectations, that is,
living up to what we think others expect of us. So we feel this pressure to
make sure we get just the right gift, the perfect Christmas dress, the house
just so when people are coming over. I feel it too. Some of you may know that
each year we line the parsonage roof with white lights. I do the upper roof
first before it gets too cold. I’d been telling Chris we probably need to get new
lights. Fifteen years has been a good run. But one more year. Get new ones on
clearance. Got the uppers on. Then started the lowers. Strings out. Couldn’t
fix em. Grudgingly order new ones from Costco. Figured I could just put the new
ones on the lower roof. Yeah after 16 years dimmed yellow does not look good
next to new bright white. What are people going to think when they drive by? It
won’t be right. Back up to the upper roof. Do it all over. Now you can all get
a chuckle out of my desire to have it just right but you have your own ways as
well. Giving in to the pressure to get it just right in what is honestly, just
an effort to impress other people.
The sad part about all this work and pressure,
brothers and sisters, is we know better. Christmas is about Jesus. Advent
reminds us Jesus is near. Prepare for him. Impress Him. Great! One more thing
to do! Good news, brothers and sisters. What the Lord looks for in you, He
gives to you, I’m talking about repentance. 78 times that word or a form of it
appears in your Bible. Repentance is a vital part of the lives of believers in
Jesus Christ. Many people mistakenly think that repentance is something you do
to become a believer. Actually the Bible shows that repentance is something you
do because you are a believer. It’s something that God wills and God works.
Repentance is what God wills to happen in
His people as Jesus draws near. “In the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch
of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and
Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high
priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of
Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 He went into the whole region around
the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Luke is careful to give us the exact date following their calendar system based
on who was ruling as Caesar. God picks the timing. Jesus was about to start His
public ministry where people would know the Messiah was among them. They needed
to be ready. So John the Baptist was sent to preach repentance. It’s what God
wills to happen when Jesus draws near. And it’s the same today. In our daily
walk with Jesus repentance prepares our hearts to rejoice in Him. In our
preparations for celebrating His birth it does the same. It’s what God wills to
happen.
It’s also what God works. “Just as
it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one
calling in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths
straight. 5 Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill
will be made low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.”
Sounds like quite an ambitious road building
project. Making a straight path, filling in the low places. Taking down the
hills. Smoothing the surface. We live in Wisconsin. We know it takes years to
get road projects done. But this is a picture of what repentance looks like. It’s
often misunderstood. What do you think? What does it mean to repent? Probably
now you are thinking, “to be sorry for your sins.” Maybe you are thinking it
means to stop doing sins you are aware of. Biblical repentance is so much more
than that. Go back to the picture. If I gave you an assignment to fill in every
valley and level off every hill and mountain just in our country you’d say
“That’s impossible! Only God can do that.” And you’d be right. Only God can
work true repentance in our hearts.
The repentance that God wills and
works involves a spiritual transplant that only God can do. Some people think
babies are born innocent and morally good, at the worst, neutral. Not so. This
is how we start life towards God (angry fist shaking baby) and this is how we
end life towards God (angry granny shaking fist), unless God steps in and
changes our hearts. “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from its youth,”
says the Lord. “The sinful mind is hostile to God,” says the Lord. Until the
Lord works repentance. Repentance is a complete change of mind, a 180 on sin
and a trust in a Savior. Instead of denying sin there is admission. Instead of
delighting in sin there is shame, remorse and sorrow. Instead or trying to fix
it ourselves, there is “Jesus, help me!” Instead of wanting to return to our
sins like a dog going back to lick up its vomit there is, “Help me to change my
ways O Lord.” Repentance is a tall order. Only God can work it.
The Good News is He has worked it in
you. When you were given the gift of faith at your Baptism or through the word
God created a new man or a new woman in you that hates sin and loves pleasing
Jesus. It responds to the Holy Spirit in the word so that when you hear Jesus
say “whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his
heart,” you feel shame over your lust. And when the Lord tells you the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil and you feel shame and remorse as realize
how easy it is to praise and thank God at those times in life when money is
plentiful and how quickly we fall into worry when it is tight at though God is
only good in one case and not the other. It’s God worked repentance that when
we take time for silent personal confession and the pastor starts speaking and
you want to say, “Hey! I wasn’t done yet!” It’s why in our normal order of
service when the pastor in God’s name announces forgiveness you want to respond
with a hearty Amen! This is the truth. It’s why the Lord’s Supper is something
you look forward to. It’s why you aren’t living your life like so many of your
fellow Americans with blatant and foul outward sinning and why you at least try
to control your mouth. God has worked repentance in you. He’s changed your
heart and if there is anyone listening that is saying right now, “He’s not
describing me,” please we need to talk. Get a hold of me. Repentance is that
important.
God wills it. God works it. We welcome
it. Luke concluded his quote from Isaiah this way. “And everyone will see
the salvation of God.” Repentance prepares people to see and value Jesus.
It’s just three weeks until Christmas. What will you see? What will it mean for
you? More pressure? Living up to expectations? Disappointed expectations? Joy
in Jesus? Good News that a Savior has been born to you? Relief that you don’t
have to be perfect for Jesus and that instead He has been perfect for you? As
we heard last week, when Jesus drew near He humbled Himself, coming in lowly
ways. When Jesus draws near to His people He humbles them through repentance.
Keep listening to what God says. Let his righteous law expose your sin and need
for a Savior. Let His Gospel point you to the glory of God that is Jesus. Then
it really will be the most wonderful time of the year! Amen.
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