THE GOSPEL OF REPENTANCE
Isaiah11:1-10/ 71(72):1-2,7-8,12-13,17/Romans15:4-9/ Matthew 3:1-12
In the first reading Isaiah says: “He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” Man judges by what he hears and sees. But the prophecy says ‘he is not going to judge by what his eyes see and or decide by what ears hear.’ This means that Jesus will judge consciences. Eyes and ears may be deceptive and could fail. Beloved in Christ, Jesus is going to judge consciences. In John 8:9 we are told that those who brought the woman caught in adultery, were convicted in their consciences and ran away beginning from the eldest. We may put up holy actions and words but Christ looks at the conscience. Rom. 9:1 says; I lie not, I tell the truth and my conscience bear me witness in the Holy Ghost. Acts 24:16 says; “strive to always have a conscience void of offence toward God and men.”
Again Isaiah says “with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth…” Righteousness is one of the benefits of redemption. It comes from the Greek word νομιμότητα (nomimótita) which refers to our behavior towards people and God. Our attitude towards God and man must be right. ‘He will decide with equity’ – Equity is the quality of being fair and impartial. Are we fair in our dealings with the poor? How impartial are we? Make things right before God and man. For the Lord will come to judge our consciences. The gospels continues with this theme saying; ‘he will gather his wheat into granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ The Messiah can distinguish between the wheat and the simple chaff. We can fool ourselves, but we can never fool God. He recognizes the distinction between genuine worshipers and those who only provide lip service to God. Gal6:7 says; God is not decieved whatever a man sows, he shall reap. What then shall we do?
1. Preparation
John says prepare a way for the Lord, make his path straight. This is a time when preparation is everywhere in the air: preparations for holidays, end of year parties, Christmas – everyone is ‘ getting ready’ and looking forward to Christmas. ‘Looking forward’ and ‘getting ready’ are basic Christian activities: Every Christian is expected to look forward and get ready for what lies ahead. Beyond looking forward and getting ready for Christmas we are called to look forward and get ready for the second coming of Christ.
2. Repentance
John says; ‘repent for the kingdom of God is at hand’ in addition he fasted and did penance – he wore camel hair and ate locusts and wild honey. Beloved, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. No repentance, no entrance! Beyond repentance we must sustain certain virtues by means of penance. John wore carmel hair; I don’t care if you want to wear carmel hair but can you just be more decent and modest? John fasted, fasting is not just how long you can stay away from food, but how long you can stay away from sin.
3. The Voice of God
The gospel says ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness’ John the Baptist was the voice of God to people. We too, must be God’s voice to people. In Luke 4:22 the bible says “all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips” How are the words from your mouth? Gracious or vulgar? A Christians but with too many vulgar words! Oh sad! A Christian but badmouthed; callous; insensitive and cruel. If you want to be the voice of God then speak gracious words, be truthful…. “Let the words of my mouth …” What are the meditations of your heart? Again, 1Cor 14:10 says “there are many voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Beloved there are many voices but only one voice is reliable, and that is the voice of God. Discern this voice and gain direction.
4. Overcome complacency
Jesus Christ came to baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Spirit means breathe; fire gives warmth. We must give others breathe and warmth of our love. In the gospel they said we have Abraham for our Father – they spoke out of complacency. Complacency is self-satisfaction, laziness and laxity with no zest to try harder. Precisely because of this, Jesus said to them ” if you are repentant, produce the appropriate fruit”. Beloved, we must be productive – producing the fruits of the Spirit.
Fr Dan Evbotokhai
