2148AFC120321 – Are. You. READY?
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John 3:2b-4a – … the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah …
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. We are already at the beginning of the season of Advent. Last year (↔ Click Link) we started a series on the idea of a single-mast ship heading out to sea. I don’t think we’ll have a series this Advent, but we will most likely have a continuation of the theme used frequently throughout the year: Repent! You may recall reading that the idea of repentance comes up a bit over 100 times in the Bible. It is an important topic, and understanding how it works is one of the things we can learn during this Advent season. It is a season of reflection and repentance.
Repentance is a part of the process of restoring our relationship with God. He does his part and we do our part. It’s not quite that easy – we sin, he forgives – but it’s not all that complicated really, especially when we know what we’re talking about. It’s the “S” word – Sin. God has created the universe and was kind enough and loving enough to include in the universe you and me and a bunch of the people we both love. That was the original plan, but it got a bit scrambled by Original Sin. Let’s figure out what that is.
God made everything, including us, to work together in a certain way. When we do that work, it is the right work and the outcome of that work is also right. When we do not do that work, when we do not stay within the parameters God set out for the universe, then what we do cannot be right, so it must be wrong. If what we do is wrong, then we are wrong, and we need to fix that; the problem is, we’re not created to be able to fix it. Only God can fix it, because only God can create what is Good. If we understand that we’ve done something wrong, we can feel badly about it – or not – if we choose. That is called remorse. We’re sorry we messed up, and that should be that. Unfortunately, remorse does not clear away the mess we’ve made. There’s something beyond remorse, and it’s called contrition. Often one of the synonyms listed for contrition is remorse, but there’s more to it as we shall see.
When we present a contrite heart to God, our contrition means that we are genuinely sorry for our wrongdoing – not just remorseful, not just regretful – but deeply sorry to point of being apologetic and (you guessed it!) repentant. Not only do we feel badly for what we’ve done, but also we are resolved to change our behaviors, our thoughts, and our relation with God and each other. We are willing to humble our inmost self and firmly decide that we will not repeat this sort of error in the future. That combination of contrition and repentance is the divinely built-in means of restoring us to the proper compliance with “God’s Rules for the Universe.” God does not make junk! Recall these words from Genesis 1:31 – 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Included in that “very good” assessment was the possibility of [1] Free Will, [2] Sin, [3] Contrition and Repentance, and [4] Redemption. Steps 3 and 4 only work properly if completed according to the Book of Promises – the B.I.B.L.E. What is it that makes step 3 lead to step 4 – Sincere Contrition and Effective Repentance? What might we find in the B.I.B.L.E. about Sincere Contrition?
Well, let’s start with the great Penitential Psalm, Psalm 51, and especially verses 10 & 17: Psalm 51:10, 17 – 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, [↔ Music Link] and put a new and right spirit within me. 17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. It is not in my power to renew my innermost self. All I can do is humble myself before God and rely on his Mercy to restore my soul to his specifications (not mine, his!). “A broken and contrite heart …” is tough to come by! Our innate sinful pride gets in the way and the words of the Father of Lies come out of our mouth saying, “Well, you know, it’s not really all that bad! I mean the standards are set so high no one could achieve them.” Ah, Belovéd, but The One did achieve – even exceed – those standards. Excuses are not the products of a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Excuses are the fanciful lies we tell ourselves when we are too proud to admit we are wrong. There’s more about that in the B.I.B.L.E.
Isaiah 57:15 – 15 For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. What is “revive,” and what is “revival?” Revive means to restore, to refurbish, to renovate and repair, to recondition, to make like new. Revival is revitalization, reinforcement, resumption, recovery, all with the goal to make new and alive again. It is God’s prerogative to do that, not mine! He said so; for example, here’s another gem from the Prophet in Isaiah 66:2 – 2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word. These are HIS rules, not mine, not the Church’s (or churches). Now, with a least a scrap of an idea about “sincere contrition and effective repentance,” what might we see more clearly in today’s Key Verse?
The writer is describing John the Baptizer [1] proclaiming a [2] baptism of [3] repentance for the [4] forgiveness of sins. It may seem unusual, but I’d like to start at the end of that passage and work toward the beginning:
4: Forgiveness of sins – we’re all pretty clear on that, right? We want to be absolved of our crime, pardoned for our iniquity, for our wickedness which we have deliberately chosen to commit. After all, that’s what Jesus did for us, right? His death on the cross, the institution of the Eucharist (as in Matthew 26:28 – 28 for this is my blood of the* covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. *Many ancient authorities read “new covenant”) In Apostolic Tradition we have from the Apostle Paul this in 1 Corinthians 11:25 – 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” I want to cover “in remembrance of me” in just a bit.
3: Repentance – well, by now we must surely know that this means metanoia – a conversion in one’s life that arises from penitence (sincere and effective sorrow), and doing “a 180” so that whatever transgression(s) arose, we choose to delete that poor choice and replace it with a better choice.
2: Baptism – As with many words in our faith-walk, this is one we think “we know all about it.” It’s a Rite. It’s what Jesus told us to do in all nations. It can be done by sprinkling, anointing, immersing, dunking, and even someone who is not ordained can do it in an extreme emergency. All cool, but what does “baptism” MEAN? The root word is from Greek “baptizein.” It means to immerse, to saturate with or in a fluid, or to be completely changed inside and out. As a Rite in Christianity, it is an initiation into the Christian life and removes “the stain of original sin.” The origins of bathing or being immersed for ritual purity go back to the Mikveh in Judaism – ritual baths for attaining ritual purity. We can go way back to Genesis 1:1-10 when the earth was immersed in water and the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the water to make the earth. The concept is also applied to Jesus’ suffering, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Hebrews passing through the Red Sea, and a few others. John’s Baptism was one of repentance. Similar to a ritual cleansing, only conducted in the river rather than a bath specifically designed for completion of ritual cleansing. This is what John proclaimed as people responded to his call. Let’s finish then with “proclaiming.”
1: Proclaim – the public announcement of something essential, factual, and official by someone authorized to make the announcement. John was certainly authorized to announce the baptism of repentance. From the day of his conception, he was set aside by the Holy Spirit to be “a voice crying in the wilderness ‘make straight the way of the Lord.'” John was the Prophet tasked to announce the coming of the Messiah and the beginning of the Kingdom of God. John the Baptizer is one of those persons about whom people say, “He was born ready.” Now I must ask you, Belovéd, are you ready?
It is a time to reflect and to repent, a time to be immersed in a new life, a life that leaves behind the burden you don’t need (↔ Click Link) to carry with you. It will mean we will need to examine our consciences and see if there is contrition in our hearts. Can we remember a time when we realized we had deeply hurt a loved-one and had to face the consequences of the pain we caused? That hollow, sinking, flushed feeling is what it is like to be heartbroken over our mistakes. Sometimes we would rather avoid contrition as Israel had done when God spoke through his Prophet Jeremiah 44:10 – 10 They have shown no contrition or fear to this day, nor have they walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your ancestors. God asks us to remember his Love, his compassion, his forgiveness. We can do this every day at the Altar by Communion “in remembrance of me.” This is not just a symbolic rehearsal of a memory. The Greek word which describes this is anamnesis – the portion of the Eucharistic Prayer in which the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus are evoked. It is through the use of the canon of the rituals set in place by Christ himself that we are reminded of his Perfect Sacrifice which was the atonement for our sins. Anamnesis means “calling to mind.” Are we ready to do that in a way that is worthy of the calling which unites us with Christ and the Apostles? In this season of Advent, let’s focus on being completely immersed – baptized – in developing sincere contrition and effective repentance. In that way, we will “make straight the way of the Lord” and open the gates to welcome The King of Glory. (↔ Music Link)
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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