Advent 2

Luke 3.1-6

Hymns: 14, 274, 13, 16

This is a happy time of the year. Isn’t amazing how you never get tired of breaking out the Christmas tree and decorations, blowing last year’s flour off the Christmas cookie recipes (if you need to use a recipe at all), penning the Christmas letter and telling your-self that it WILL be shorter this year, buying and wrapping (and sending) the Christmas presents. And behind all of this Christmas spirit is the reason why you get excited year after year: to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Think about that title: Jesus, the Savior of the world. Savior from what? The Savior from sin and death and hell. Give that some thought, too. Christmas is about sin and death and hell and the birth of the one who came to save us from such horrendous reali-ties of life. Is that what you get excited about at Christmas time... being saved from sin and death and hell? Yes, of course it is. But that’s not quite how we express our joy with our Christmas greet-ings, "Merry Christmas! Isn’t it wonderful that you won’t go to hell when you die!"

Several years ago Beth and I were shopping for a Christmas tree at Garden Ridge. A lady with a clip board was taking a survey; she asked if we wanted to receive a 10% discount on our shopping items. We said, "Sure!." All we had to do was to sign up for a Garden Ridge credit card. We politely declined and we exchanged a "Merry Christmas" as we went on our way.

What kind of reaction would you get, do you suppose, if you sur-veyed people at one of the malls and asked the question, "Do you celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to pay for your sins?" If you spoke to knowledgeable Christians they would give you a re-luctant, "Yes, but that’s not what I emphasize anymore than when I say ‘Happy birthday’ to someone I’m reminding them that they’re one year closer to their grave...even though they are."

True. "Happy birthday" means ‘Celebrate life,’ not ‘Get ready to die.’ And "Merry Christmas" means "Jesus the Savior is born." But he was born so that he could die and pay for our sins. So the way to keep the meaning of Christmas in our hearts is to remember that THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS: REPENT AND RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE OF FORGIVENESS SINS.

The ministry of John the Baptist was no different than that of all of the Old Testament prophets. The prophets like Elijah and Elisha, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all the rest called on the people of God to repent of their sins and to keep on looking for one who would pay for their sins and make it possible for God to forgive them of their sins. This call to repentance was necessary for two reasons.

First, people tend to forget how serious sin is. It took away from Adam and Eve the eternal life that God intended for them. It so corrupted their son Cain that he killed his brother Able because he was jealous of him and resented that he was a spiritual man. Sin is behind the hatred that destroys marriages and families. Sin is the greed that would steal from someone, would lie and deceive though innocent people are hurt. The sin imbedded in the heart of a man has no difficulty shooting and killing a store clerk just to get at the money in cash drawer, or getting angry at someone and let-ting your anger agitate in your mind. Sin in the heart of a child convinces that child that sometimes it’s okay to lie or to start an argument or talk disrespectfully to a parent. Sin has infected us all and we engage in it wilfully at times, reluctantly at other times, even unknowingly some of the time. And because it is so much a part of our day-to-day life we can forget just how serious it is: be-cause of sin we are born enemies of God and deserve only his pun-ishment and condemnation in hell. So the prophets of the Old Test-ament had to remind people of the need to repent of their sins and acknowledge them before God.

Secondly a call to repentance demands that sinners recognize the need for God’s help. The Bible tells us that John (read v 3). And our text goes on to tell us that this work of John was foretold by the prophet Isaiah who described what this repentance involved (read 5,6). A lot of preparation is involved in building a road: mak-ing the roadway level, filling holes, knocking down hills, blasting through mountains where possible so the road can be straight and not winding around the outside of a mountain. With this prepara-tion it’s easier to drive on the road when it is finished.

Repentance is needed to prepare one’s heart to welcome the Christ and celebrate his birth at Christmas. Think of filling in holes and straightening out curves and leveling of hills as the process in-volved to rid the heart of sin and the things that separate us from Christ...the things that warrant that Christ separate himself from us. What are you to do with the sins that want to control your life and your mind? Making excuses for them, driving around them or through them won’t do; choosing to hold on to those sins, like failing to fill holes in a road, make for a bumpy ride through life. Sin is all of the things that need to be eliminated or corrected in order to have a smooth ride in life and beyond.

So what John the Baptist is calling on everyone to do is to recog-nize that before you can have a smooth ride you have to prepare the roadway. In order to travel through life and enjoy the ride you have to deal with sin, get rid of it in some way.

How do you do that? By repenting. A person will be driven to repent for at least three reasons: 1) guilt, 2) fear, or 3) remorse. Some people confess to doing wrong only after they have been dis-covered. A person addicted to Internet porn will continue in that downward moral corruption only until someone discovers the porn on his computer. Then he is overwhelmed with guilt; he’s caught; can’t deny it; he’s sorry. Does that mean he has a change of heart and will not get involved in Internet porn ever again? Not neces-sarily. The rate of recidivism for sex offenders is very high.

Second, fear. Some people stop doing what’s wrong only because they fear what will happen if they don’t. Do you bite your tongue when angry words come to mind for one reason or another because you fear an argument will follow if you don’t? That still doesn’t mean you have a change of heart. The sin of anger is still there and one of these times you won’t bother biting your tongue.

Third, remorse. Jesus is your Savior from sin. He came to this earth, born of Mary to die on the cross so that you can be forgiven of all sin and go to heaven when you die. To repent is to have a change of heart about sin and to ask God to help you get rid of it, stop doing it as best as you are able, out of love for Jesus your Savior. That’s the message of Christmas. Repent of your sins be-cause they will keep you out of heaven when you die. Repent of your sins because Jesus gave his life for you so you can be forgiv-en. Repent and receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven...God’s gift to you...the Christmas gift of his Son, Jesus.