Plow
Creek Mennonite Church
Sunday
Meditations
Disclaimer - meditations are the personal reflections of the worship leader, not official church doctrinal statements.
Repent
Jim Foxvog
Disclaimer - meditations are the personal reflections of the worship leader, not official church doctrinal statements.
Repent
Jim Foxvog
December
5, 2004
Matthew 3.1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan,
6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bear fruit that befits repentance,
9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Matthew 3.1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
4 Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan,
6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bear fruit that befits repentance,
9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
"To
repent" — in John’s and Jesus’ native tongue, shub — is an Aramaic root that
means to make a 180-degree turn. The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, means a transformation of
mind. Repentance is never just mental. If our minds are truly
tranformed, we will really turn around; and as we turn in a new
direction, our new vision changes everything.
Responding to John’s call for repentance, the crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers all asked the same question: "What should we do?" What did John answer? Food and clothing were to be shared with those who have none; tax collectors shouldn't cheat, and the military must stop opressing people. This was a radical change for them. How about us?
John’s call for repentance is a call for a change of life-style, a total turn from the darkness to the light, a complete turn to God. How do we do this? What does it mean to give ourselves fully to God even when we know our weaknesses and faults?
I have worked with refugees at Jubilee Partners. I have spent time regularly at a homeless shelter in Athens, Ohio. So, I have seen the results of poverty and oppression up close as they affect people personally. But am I doing everything I can to help? How do I spend my time? I have money saved for my family's possible future needs when there are people who need help now. Is this a lack of trust in God? We live in such privilege!
The Freisens lived here comfortably among friends. But they just got rid of their lovely apartment, much of their things, and have moved to where they don't know anyone, in answer to God's call. Are we all ready to make such changes?
Henri Nouwen wrote about his similar struggles in The Genesee Diary, a spiritual journal he kept while he spent a year at a Trappist monastery. He expresses his fear that total commitment to God is hard work, painful, and very lonely. He wrote:
"it is this type of extremism, of absolutism, of total surrender, of unconditional "yes," of unwavering obedience to God’s will, that frightens me and makes me such a wishy-washy soul, wanting to keep a foot in both worlds. But that’s how one stumbles."
When we keep a foot in both worlds, we stumble. We are not always ready to follow the ways of God. So we need to repent -not just once, but over and over again. And God will keep coming into our lives.
This second Sunday of Advent we are invited to turn to God -- again. It is - again -- a new time, a time to turn to God. Let us turn to God trusting that he will again reorient our lives, redirect our goals, and renew our hearts and minds. It is normal for us to be afraid of what the implications are in turning our whole lives over to trusting obedience to God. So, he are invites over and over again, to make this movement of turning around, turning away from our selfish ways and desires and turning to the Lord, where we find radical love, justice, and peace.
Now is the time to repent, to turn to God.
God help us turn around. Lord, help us each receive you in fuller and fuller, transforming ways. Amen.
Responding to John’s call for repentance, the crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers all asked the same question: "What should we do?" What did John answer? Food and clothing were to be shared with those who have none; tax collectors shouldn't cheat, and the military must stop opressing people. This was a radical change for them. How about us?
John’s call for repentance is a call for a change of life-style, a total turn from the darkness to the light, a complete turn to God. How do we do this? What does it mean to give ourselves fully to God even when we know our weaknesses and faults?
I have worked with refugees at Jubilee Partners. I have spent time regularly at a homeless shelter in Athens, Ohio. So, I have seen the results of poverty and oppression up close as they affect people personally. But am I doing everything I can to help? How do I spend my time? I have money saved for my family's possible future needs when there are people who need help now. Is this a lack of trust in God? We live in such privilege!
The Freisens lived here comfortably among friends. But they just got rid of their lovely apartment, much of their things, and have moved to where they don't know anyone, in answer to God's call. Are we all ready to make such changes?
Henri Nouwen wrote about his similar struggles in The Genesee Diary, a spiritual journal he kept while he spent a year at a Trappist monastery. He expresses his fear that total commitment to God is hard work, painful, and very lonely. He wrote:
"it is this type of extremism, of absolutism, of total surrender, of unconditional "yes," of unwavering obedience to God’s will, that frightens me and makes me such a wishy-washy soul, wanting to keep a foot in both worlds. But that’s how one stumbles."
When we keep a foot in both worlds, we stumble. We are not always ready to follow the ways of God. So we need to repent -not just once, but over and over again. And God will keep coming into our lives.
This second Sunday of Advent we are invited to turn to God -- again. It is - again -- a new time, a time to turn to God. Let us turn to God trusting that he will again reorient our lives, redirect our goals, and renew our hearts and minds. It is normal for us to be afraid of what the implications are in turning our whole lives over to trusting obedience to God. So, he are invites over and over again, to make this movement of turning around, turning away from our selfish ways and desires and turning to the Lord, where we find radical love, justice, and peace.
Now is the time to repent, to turn to God.
God help us turn around. Lord, help us each receive you in fuller and fuller, transforming ways. Amen.