church

INI
Sunday after Christmas
December 28, 2008
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

REPENTANCE CLEARS THE ROAD
Matthew 3:1-12

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
This morning we look to the third chapter of Matthew's Gospel, begin ning with
the first verse, as follows:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and
saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “ The voice of one crying in the
wilderness: ‘ Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” Now
John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist;
and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem, all J udea, and all the
region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the
Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of
repentance and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our
father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from
these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore
every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I
indeed baptize you with water unto 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 fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will
thoroughly c lean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn;
but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Here ends our text.

In the Name of Our Savior Jesus Christ, Whose Way was Prepared by John the
Baptist, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

I wonder if you know who the most famous American road builder was? It’s
someone whose name you’ve heard many times. You may not immediately
connect that name with the business of building roads, but that was
undoubtedly the most outstanding accomplishment of his life. In the year 1775,
he led the team that built the Wilderness Road, running from Virginia through
the Cumberland Gap all the way to the Ohio River. For hundreds of miles, he
and his men fought their way over every obstacle - felling trees, building bridges
and laying corduroy road over swampy marshland. Have you guessed his name?
-It was Daniel Boone. When you think of the tools he had to work with -
handsaws and picks and axes - you'll realize why historians consider him
America's greatest road builder.

You and I are in=2 0the road-building business, too. As Christmas turns to
Epiphany, John the Baptist is calling on us to "prepare a way for the Lord, make
His paths straight." We want to make sure our Savior's path to our heart is
straight, and cleared of every obstacle - because for us, that's the road to
salvation! But John tells us that there's a tool we need: a special road-building
tool - like Daniel Boone's axe - something we simply can't do without, and that
tool is REPENTANCE. Our theme this morning is:

REPENTANCE CLEARS THE ROAD

I. WITHOUT repentance, the way of salvation is hopelessly blocked.
II. WITH repentance, the way of salvation is free and clear!

Talk about a strange looking character - John the Baptist was the strangest! He
lived in the desolate hills of the Judean wilderness. He wore clothes made of
camel skin, and existed on a diet of grasshoppers and wild honey. To say the
least, John the Baptist stood out from the crowd! Which, by the way, was his
purpose. He was supposed to stand out, because he had a unique mission to
fulfill. He was the forerunner of the Messiah. He was a one-man "advance
team" for Jesus Christ. Hundreds of years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied the
arrival of John when he foretold "...The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. Every valley shall be
filled and every mountain and hill brought low; and the crooked places shall be
made straight and the rough ways made smooth." Lk 3:4-5. The Baptist's job
was to help people smooth out a road to their hearts, so that20Jesus could come
right in. And there's only one way to build that kind of road, so his message was
simple: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

Well, there are plenty of strange religious characters in our day and age. There’s
not shortage of wild-eyed preachers standing on street corners and telling
people to repent. But they never seem to get much of an audience. That wasn’t
John the Baptist’s problem. He didn't labor in obscurity. In fact, he was famous.
People flocked to see him. Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around
the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing
their sins. Among the crowds, though, John noticed many of the hypocritical
Pharisees and Sadducees. Like the others, they wanted to hear what this new
preacher had to say. But unlike them, they had no intention of confessing any
sins! After all, they were very "religious" people, and proud of it! They tithed,
they fasted, they prayed on street corners. Above all, they were descended from
Abraham. Confess their sins? Why, as far as they were concerned they had no
sins to confess!

I remember the first time I traveled through a redwood forest in northern
California, it was with my sister Ann. I recall how amazed we were by the
immense size of the trees. But even more amazing (to me, anyway) was the
nice, smooth road that cut right through the middle of the forest! I thought how
hard it must have been to build that road - the huge trees that had to be felled,
and (especially) the massive stumps that had to be removed. Have you ever
tried removing a stump – even a little one – from your own yard? Then imagine
trying to remove a stump as big around as a two-car garage! That was the task
those road-builders faced. You know, unconfessed sins are a lot like giant tree
stumps. Unconfessed sins are the obstacles that obstruct Jesus' road to a
person's heart. Just like stumps, they block the way to salvation. Just like
stumps, they have to be removed. And repentance is the only way to remove
them. Without repentance, the way of salvation is hopelessly blocked.

John had hard words for the unrepentant Pharisees. They needed to hear God's
Law in all it's terror, and he gave it to them: Brood of vipers! he said. Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of
repentance and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our
father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from
these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore
every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Yes, Christ was coming. But for those who refused to repent of their sins, John
said they would be separated from the true believers like the chaff from the
wheat, and "...He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." And the same
is true today. Paul says that the Gospel is "the aroma of death unto death" to
those who are perishing - those who refuse to repent.

What about you? As I’ve said several times, this Christmas season is the time
we especially want to invite the Christ child into our hearts. Are you prepared?
Is the road to your heart clear and straight? Or are there stumps in the road? Are
you holding on to certain sins - sins that might block His path? Are you perhaps
nurturing a grudge against someone who's done you wrong in the past? There
are lots of people who hold petty grudges for a very long time; I see that every
day. Are you one of them? Are you perhaps allowing unclean thoughts and
deeds to live and grow an multiply in your heart? Are you refusing to give God
top priority in your life - skipping church, for example, or neglecting to read
your Bible? Are you guilty of malicious gossip? Of taking God's name in vain?
Of being covetous, and refusing to be satisfied with the things God has given
you? Repent! Confess your sins to God! Don't avoid the issue - that won’t clear
the road, it will only make the blockage worse. The Apostle John warns, "If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

But he goes on to say, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I Jn 1:8-9. The flip side
of John the Baptist's message is a joyful one: WITH repentance, the way of
salvation is free and clear!

Imagine this scene, if you will: a criminal enters a courtroom and stands before
the judge. He's guilty of the most terrible crimes, and his guilt has thoroughly
proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt. "How does the defendant plead?" asks
the judge. "Guilty, Your Honor," replies the criminal. "I throw myself on the
mercy of the court." Nothing unusual so far - the same thing happens in
American courtrooms every day. But just imagine if the judge went on to say,
"Well, that's fine! All I wanted was for you to admit your cr imes. I hereby
pronounce you 'not guilty.' You're free to go!" Why, the defendant's jaw would
drop wide open! So would yours or mine. No judge in the world would render
such a verdict.

-- But God does! Whenever your bring your sins to Him and ask His
forgiveness, God grants it. It's a simple as saying, "Yes, I'm guilty, Lord - have
mercy upon me, a sinner!" It doesn't matter how many your sins are, how great
they are, or how often you have committed them. When you repent, God
forgives; it's as simple as that! "For as the heavens are high above the earth,"
David says, "so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east
is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." Ps 103:11.
With repentance, the way of salvation is free and clear.

Well, any earthly judge who was that lenient on criminals would lose his job in
a big hurry. Does that mean that God is unjust? Not at all. There is indeed a
penalty for your sins that must be paid -- but Jesus Christ already paid it! The
happy part of John the Baptist's mission was telling repentant sinners that the
Savior of the world was near. One day after the action of our text took place,
"John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!'" Jn 1:29. What a joy for John, can you
imagine? After hundreds of years of living with the promise of a Savior, John
gets to point his finger and say, "There He is! There's the Messiah Himself! The
Creator of the world, and it's Redeemer!" Yes, what a joy for John to identify
Jesus, and what a joy for you to confess Jesus as your Savior! For like a spotless
lamb, the innocent Jesus was sacrificed on the cross to pay for every
transgression you ever committed, or ever will commit. His work of redemption
has been accomplished - it's a historic fact that nothing can change. Your
ransom pri ce has been paid in full, and the Holy Ghost has already made you a
member of the kingdom of heaven by working faith in Christ in your heart. As
we sing in that favorite Christmas hymn, “Rejoice, rejoice, believers, and let
your lights appear! For in the gift of His Son, God gives us nothing less than
eternal life. It's yours for the asking, so ask for it! Receive it! Rejoice in it, and
thank God for it!

The winter season usually brings with it at least some snow fall - even here in
our rainy pacific northwest. The past two weeks' weather remind us that cold
temperatures and heavy snow are possible even in our mild climate. Yes, even
heavy snow! I'm sure you've all been out there with your scoop shovels, battling
the snow on your sidewalks, and trying to clear a path to the street. The
Christmas season is also about clearing paths. It’s the time to clear a path to our
hearts for our Savior. So let's clear out the sins that have accumulated in our
lives. Let's repent, and through repentance, "prepare the wa y of the Lord, and
make His paths straight." AMEN.