Matthew 3:1-12 “MAKING CHANGES”
If NBC were to call you on the phone this afternoon, and tell you that they were coming over to your house in one hour, because they are planning to do a story on you, as part of their people-living-in-a-small-town series, what would you do to get ready? You put the phone down, and you have one hour to get ready, because you are about to be placed on national TV. Well, you’d probably look around your house and try to straighten it up a little bit. You’d probably look in the mirror, change your clothes – do what you can to get ready, because you’re about to be on TV.
But with only one hour, there’s only so much you can do. You can do the dishes in the kitchen, but you can’t remodel it. You can straighten up the way your hair looks, but you’re not going to have time to get a whole new look. The cameras are coming, ready or not, and you’re only able to change around a few small things.
Jesus tells us in his Word that he is coming, and it’s time for you to get yourself ready. And as we study God’s Word this morning, we find out that when Jesus tells you to get ready, he’s not just talking about changing around a few small things about your life. Jesus wants a complete change. This morning, we’re going to look at what that means. You see, we’re getting ourselves ready for Christmas. In just a few weeks, we are going to be celebrating Christ’s first coming, and there are certain things we can do to get ourselves mentally and spiritually ready. And as we do that, we’re also preparing for Christ’s second coming.
In Matthew chapter 3, we meet John the Baptist. He was chosen by God to be the “forerunner” of the Messiah. Does anyone know what a “forerunner” is? Many, many years ago, back in the days of kings and horse-drawn carriages, a forerunner was someone who would prepare a town for a visit from the king. Before the king would arrive, the forerunner would go to that town, get the place ready, get the people ready, because the king was coming. That’s what John the Baptist was doing for Jesus. “Repent,” he told the people. “Because the kingdom of heaven is near.” Here’s how you get yourself ready for the Messiah, he was telling the people – repent.
Now what does that mean to “repent”? We get some hints as we look at the next verses. Verse 3 tells us that the ministry of John the Baptist was something that had been foretold many many years ago by the prophet Isaiah. Notice how Isaiah describes repentance: “Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him.” You see, back then, if a king was coming to your town, one of the first things they would do is check the roads. If your main road was bumpy, had potholes, was crooked – going this way and that – one of the things they would do is fix up the roads. They’d fill in the potholes, cut down the bumps, and straighten out the curves – massive road construction – kind of like what we experienced in front of our building this past summer. They didn’t want their king riding into town on a bad road.
That gives you a picture of what it means to “repent.” Your king, Jesus Christ is coming. We’re about to celebrate his birth, and we’re also preparing for his second coming. And your life is like a road that’s in need of repair. There’s sin in your life – potholes, bumps. Instead of straight and smooth, your life is like a crooked and bumpy road. Jesus is coming, and it’s time to do some road construction on your life. And we’re not just talking about making a few small changes here and there - God is looking for you to get rid of that old life that you’ve been living, and to start living a brand new one. That’s “repentance.”
And there are 3 parts to doing this soul construction, as we see in our lesson for today. In Matthew 3, and we see a description of John’s lifestyle – a very different, a very unusual lifestyle – his clothes were different, his diet was different. Do you know why? It’s because his message was different. People went out to listen to him, and as they did, we see the first part of repentance, the first part of reconstructing your soul. Look at the beginning of verse 6: “They confessed their sins.” In other words, they said to God, “I’m sorry. I’m sinful. I’m born that way. And here are the things that I’ve done in my life that show how sinful I am. I’m sorry.”
Do you ever hear people say, “I’m sorry” today? It’s very rare. I’ve noticed that when celebrities get into trouble, many of them make it sound like they’re apologizing, but they’re not really. Have you ever noticed that? What do they say? “If I have offended you, I’m sorry. If I have caused you trouble, if I have inconvenienced you, I’m sorry.” What’s missing from that? Admitting guilt! “I really haven’t done anything wrong, but I’m sorry if I upset you.” There’s no admission of guilt there – it’s a fake apology! In our culture, that’s what passes for an apology today – don’t admit your wrong – just express remorse that someone else feels bad.
That’s not what God is looking for from you. The first part of repentance is admitting to God your guilt. “God, I am selfish. God, I am greedy. God, I am worldly. God, I am impatient and sometimes angry. God, I am an unloving gossip. God, I have been ignoring you and make excuses for it. God, I am sinful. I am sorry, and I confess all of my sin to you.” If you want to get ready for Christ, if you want to do some soul construction, that’s step number one – confess your sin.
Step two, is receiving God’s forgiveness. What happened to those people in the desert after they confessed their sins? They were baptized. Baptism is one of the ways that God forgives people. Whatever sins those people confessed, their sins were washed away in the waters of baptism. That was how they received God’s forgiveness. Do you realize that every Sunday, when the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, there is a reference to your baptism? What happens after the sermon? We confess our sins to God, and then, based on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. And most of the time, what words do you hear? You are forgiven, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Those words are a reminder of your baptism, because those are the same words that were spoken to you, when water was placed on you, and what did the pastor say? “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Baptism is a special way that God connects you to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, where all your sins were taken away by his blood.
You can also receive God’s forgiveness how? Through that other sacrament – the Lord’s Supper. There you’re given the very body and blood of Christ, which was given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of all of your sins. And besides those two sacraments, the other way that you can receive God’s forgiveness is how? Simply by hearing and believing. When you hear that Jesus died for your sins, and that he left all your sins in the tomb on Easter morning – when you hear that, and believe that in your heart, then you are also receiving God’s forgiveness.
And so what are the two steps of repentance again, the two steps to soul reconstruction? Step one? Confessing your sin. And step two – receiving God’s forgiveness.
And there is one final step. When John the Baptist saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming, he spoke some pretty strong words to them, didn’t he. He called them what? A brood of vipers. He warned them, twice, that they were in danger of going to hell. Why did he speak so strongly to them? Because God had revealed to John that these people were just going through the motions. They weren’t sincere on the inside, and it was obvious from the way they were living on the outside. They didn’t change. They were still selfish, still greedy, still proud, still unloving. John warned them that Jesus was coming to judge them if they continued in their insincerity. And their insincerity was obvious, because they lacked that third step of repentance – and that third step is to change the way they were living their lives.
That’s a warning that our sinful nature needs to hear too. All of us, at times, are spiritually lethargic. “I know I’m materialistic, but I don’t want to change. I know I’m self-centered, but I don’t want to change. I’ll still go to church, hear God’s Word, but I don’t want to make any real changes in my life. I like sinning.” God speaks to our sinful natures this morning, and warns us that he plans to judge all those who sit in their chairs on Sunday morning, but are insincere, don’t want to make changes, and want to keep on sinning.
You know what? You can confess that sin to God too. “God, I confess that I don’t want to change. I don’t want to stop sinning. I don’t want to become humble. I don’t want to become unselfish. There’s a part of me, God, that doesn’t want to change.” You can confess that sin to God too. That’s part one. And then there’s part two - rejoice, because what happens next? What’s part two of repentance? Your sin, even that sin, is forgiven. Just as the dirty, dingy, November landscape disappears under a coating of fresh, white snow, so also in the same way, all the dirt of your life is covered by a fresh coating of God’s grace. Jesus has taken your sins away, and you are forgiven.
And now that you’ve been forgiven, what’s the final part of soul construction? Making changes. If you want to become unselfish, tap into the power that God gives you in his Word, and he will give you the strength to become unselfish. What kind of Christian do you want to be? Peaceful? Confident? Generous? Content? Patient? Joyful? Kind? A person of prayer? A person who is growing in God’s Word? What kind of Christian do you want to be? The time to make those changes begins today. Tap into the power God gives to you here, in his Word.
Remember the three parts of soul construction which are… ?1 2? 3? Christ is coming. Let’s get ready to welcome him as our king. Amen.
