Don’t Miss This Turn: The Importance of Thinking Differently
Summary of message at Fallingbrook Presbyterian Church, Sunday, December 8, 2013 (Advent 2). Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12.
John the Baptist had one essential message: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven (other than in Matthew “Kingdom of God”) is near, or at hand.” To repent meant basically to change your mind, to turn and seek more the mind and point of view of God. A change in behaviour, particularly toward others, would necessarily follow. John’s baptism was a sign of acceptance of such ‘turning.’
Among those who came to John at the River Jordan were the religious leaders. John called them hypocrites because he perceived that, in their treatment of things of faith as matters of possession and position, they were not seeking change, but were investigating a movement that threatened to have power outside of their purview and control. The common people flocked to John because he ignited in them an old prophetic hope: of independence from foreign influence and an era of justice and peace. Their repentance would help prepare them to be part of that.
Today, those of us (already) in the church may be susceptible, like the religious leaders then, of only wanting to be affirmed in our position and traditions. Or we may, like the people back then but in our own way, see a call to faith as a means toward better social conditions, and that is well and good. But John pointed to another, greater than he, who would baptize with his own life-altering power, and usher in a kingdom and reality, of a totslly different and eternal order. Rooted in the Lord, and therefore clearing away obstacles in our life that would let us welcome his new life, new creation really, and risking new ways of living and serving in the self-giving way of Christ, we show we are more and more being “turned” to adopt within us the mind of the Lord. Anything else is subject to judgment.
A question to reflect and work on, that I believe brings these things together: What are you committed to that will succeed only if God will do it? This question
(a) takes into account that the matter must be something that would be in keeping with God’s Kingdom goals,
(b) requires, at the same time, our own diligent work, and,
(c) will draw us closer to the Lord, and will lead us to having more his point of view as we move in to the next opportunity, and ongoing opportunities, to invite him to work in and through us.
Such a challenge is important both for our own discipleship and the life and work of the church.