As a student at the University of
Alabama, I remember there was a time every year when so called “preachers”
picketed the campus holding signs listing all the kinds of people who were
going to hell. I can’t remember all the
things that deemed me worthy of hell, but I do remember falling into several of
the categories.
While these picketers created quite
a buzz on campus, no one took them seriously.
My friends and I tried to out-do each other by naming all the reasons we
were going to hell. I would usually win
because Episcopalians appeared on a few of the lists.
These misinformed evangelists created an invisible ten-foot barrier
around themselves and everyone avoided eye contact with them at all costs. The other remarkable thing about these hell,
fire, and brimstone preachers, was how angry they were. What in God’s name were they hoping to
accomplish? At the very best, they gave
Christians like me the opportunity to talk about grace and mercy.
While there is certainly a place for judgment in our conversations
about the message of the gospel, conversations about judgment must always be
met by a word on grace and mercy. Simply
put, judgment doesn’t work if judgment doesn’t allow room for
transformation. These campus picketers
didn’t offer any kind of “get out of hell for free card.” So why listen if we were going to hell anyway?
Of course, on the flip side of the coin, can one truly hear a word on
grace and mercy if they are not willing to swallow the truth of judgment regarding
their sinful nature? Tim Keller says
something like, “The gospel has bad news and good news. The bad news is you are worse than you
think. The good news is God’s
forgiveness is bigger than you can imagine.”
In the end, fear itself does not produce the change that the gospel
message proclaims. Rather, the good news
of grace and mercy is ultimately what teaches us how to repent and live again. As the great hymn says, “twas grace that
taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.”
The threat of punishment in and of itself doesn’t encourage amendment
of life. In my experience, punishment
without the opportunity to try again simply calls me to justify myself with
lame excuses or by shifting the blame to someone else. But grace allows me to acknowledge the
destruction of my sin, confess that sin, and try again from a clean slate.
The good news, of course, is that ours is a God who offers us as many
clean slates as we need for ours is a God whose promises are eternal. And in my experience, this process of sin,
confession, absolution, and amendment of life isn’t about securing my ticket to
heaven – my ticket to heaven is secure in Christ no matter how many times my
name appears on some picketers sign.
Rather, this process of sin, confession, absolution, and amendment of
life is about moving me from a place of arrogance, pride, and even
self-righteousness to a place of humility and gratefulness and compassion, this
process is about restoring me to right relationship with God and neighbor.
A life of repentance doesn’t change God’s mind about us. Rather, a life of repentance has the power to
change our minds about God, ourselves, and others. And let me be clear – repentance is a
lifelong process. A life of repentance
is what John the Baptist is calling for as he emerges from the wilderness. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come
near.”
In essence, John is saying, “stop worshiping dumb idols, stop
worshiping things that will fail you, stop desiring things that will leave you
empty, turn around and prepare to worship the One who brings words of eternal
truth, turn around and prepare to worship the One who will fill you with good
things, turn around and prepare to worship the One whose righteousness will
draw the whole world to God with goodness and love.”
John’s urgent word on repentance is said with the confident expectation
that repentance will open our eyes to the eternal truth of God, a truth that we
will never cling to as long as we cling to the false promises of this world – false
promises that tempt us with the illusion that we can somehow make for ourselves
a better life through the pursuit of power and money and control.
John’s word on repentance is
said in anticipation of the coming reign of the Messiah, the One who will free
not only Israel but the whole world from the stranglehold of sin and death, the
One who will free us to fear not the powers and rulers of this world but to
fear a God whose property is always to have mercy, the reign of the One whose
power is all about giving up his power to those who have none.
As we see with the Sadducees and Pharisees, the announcement of the
coming reign of Christ seems to be bad news for the religious establishment in
Israel, for the ones who hold the power.
Generally speaking, these religious elite are those who like to keep up
outward appearances but their lives show little evidence that theirs is a God
who is in the business of restoring the world to right relationship with God
and neighbor.
The religious establishment seems to fear Cesar and Rome more so than
their God who brought them up out of Egypt into the land of promise. They seem more concerned with maintaining a
relationship with the powers that be instead of the God whose power comes not
from the love of money but from the love of the poor and lowly.
For this reason, John scolds them, saying, “You brood of vipers! Bear
fruit worthy of repentance.” In other
words, “You hypocrites! Proclaim your faith not only with your lips but in your
lives.”
Truth be told if I can listen to these words from John the Baptist from
a place of grace, then I too must admit that I am a hypocrite. I too am guilty of saying one thing in church
on Sunday only to act differently on Wednesday.
I saw a sign somewhere of a picture with an empty church that said,
“It’s not true that the church is full of hypocrites. There is plenty of room for more!”
In the season of Advent, this season of preparation, I invite you to
notice how weak you really are when it comes to leading a life worthy of
repentance. I invite you to notice your
hypocrisy not so you can feel worse about yourself but so you can be introduced
again to a life repentance and even more a life of grace.
The truth is most of us will struggle with the same sin for our entire
lives. Some of us may find the strength to conquer these sins. Most
of us will give up eating chocolate only to replace it with eating
marshmallows. Others of us will try and fail again and again.
For this reason, we need a Savior who will cleanse us from our sin and
wickedness. John says, “He will baptize
you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he
will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but
the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
To someone who is new to a life of repentance this image of Jesus might
seem terrifying. But to those who have
struggled with a life of repentance this image comes as really good news. Finally, there is One who can do what I
cannot do, there is One who can cleanse me from my sin.
And how does he cleanse us from sin?
John the Baptist tells us he will cleanse us with a fire not that
destroys but with a fire that purifies, with a fire that burns those sins for
which we cannot or are too afraid to rid ourselves from, with a fire that burns
not with hate but with a love that cannot be quenched by many waters.
In a few weeks, we will meet again our Savior but he won’t look like
the Savior John the Baptist describes.
He does not lead with a winnowing fork in hand. Our Savior is not introduced into this world
by handing out a list of people who are condemned to hell.
Instead, our Savior is introduced into this world in such a way that
will melt your heart. Our Savior is
introduced as One who we want to come and know and love and have a relationship
with, as One whose presence in our lives will melt away our sin and sadness.
Our Savior is introduced into
this world in such a way where we have no choice but to set aside our sin and
fear and anger and pain in order to make room for joy and hope and love. Our Savior is introduced into this world in a
way that only grace and mercy can allow.
Beloved, are you ready to meet your Savior?
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