from pericope.org
Here Comes the Kingdom of Heaven!
From Matthew 3: 1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, 2 "Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!" 3 He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said: The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, "Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight." 4 John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. 6 As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized by John. He said to them, "You children of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the angry judgment that is coming soon?8 Produce fruit that shows you have changed your hearts and lives. 9 And don't even think about saying to yourselves, Abraham is our father. I tell you that God is able to raise up Abraham's children from these stones. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be chopped down and tossed into the fire. 11 I baptize with water those of you who have changed your hearts and lives. The one who is coming after me is stronger than I am. I'm not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.12 The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can't be put out."
Any journey we take involves packing and unpacking. We ask ourselves over and over again, do I have everything I need? Have I packed everything? Do I really need this?
As we prepare for the journey towards Christ's birth and for Christ's return, the words of John the Baptist have a list of those things that we should pack and unpack. Our hearts and lives should be changed. Unpack those negative things in our heart like hate, indifference, and other obstacles to true love. The same is true for the things in our lives that tend to lead us away from the love of God. After all, the coming kingdom is a big deal and we should be ready in our hearts and lives. John continues with a message that says we should confess our sins and have them washed away. Sins in our hearts and lives serve no good purpose, and will eventually, as Paul says later, will give birth to death. John says that the coming judgement is an angry one and what we need to be producing is a fruitful life that shows the presence and power of God in our lives is doing good for us and for others. And we can't hide behind pedigrees or legacies such as "My grandfather planted this tree for this church and..." or "My great aunt donated the sofa that's in the parsonage. It was her first sofa from 1896!" The only things we should show is what we have done and shared with God's work in our lives. And we can't do it on our own; our journey requires full submission to Jesus, "the one who is coming after me is stronger than I am," John proclaimed. He's got power to get things done and will do it.
Our call is to faithfulness and fruitfulness. It is a call to get busy with the things shared with us by Jesus on His first arrival, because we believe Jesus will come again and we must show that we took serious what Jesus shared the first time and we loved God and neighbor enough to do the work expected of us. Our journey should involved our remembering our baptism and what it meant and means to us each day; our hearts and lives should be changed for the better each day. As we journey each day, are we living closer to God than ever before? Are we truly loving towards one another like God instructed?
In worship yesterday we sang "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," and the verse that may seldom be sung, verse 7 struck me: "O come, Desire of nations bind all peoples in one heart and mind. From dust thou brought us forth to life; deliver us from earthly strife."
May it be so.
PRAYER: Loving God, we are salvation people living in a spiritual realm that touches us with power if we so allow it. May it be so in my life that I undergo a changed heart and life. As we sang yesterday, may we sing today in our lives, deliver us from earthly strife, and bind us all in one heart and mind. In the name of the One whose birth and second coming we await, Jesus our Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
