"Change your hearts and lives!"
How about that translation of the Greek word metanoia? We usually see the word Repent, and yet metanoia indicates the action of "turning around." In this week's Scripture passage, this wild, wilderness-living, locust-eating, camel hair-wearing character named John breaks onto the scene with his radical message of: "Change your hearts and lives!" "Repent!" "Turn your life around!" We are told that people from all over the place show up to be told to get their lives in order so they can be baptized. Besides that, he goes on the attack when the Pharisees and Sadducees show up, calling them children of snakes.
I don't know about you, but if I walked into a church and the preacher sounded like John the Baptist, I'd probably walk out during the passing of the peace and never come back. And yet, there's something attractive about somebody who is bold enough to call on people to reorient their lives. I fear that we mainline church folks are so worried about sounding judgmental that we get all squeamish and squirmy when it comes to the word Repent. We focus so much on making everybody feel welcome that we ignore all that the Bible has to say about faithful living/bearing good fruit. We act as if God's love means our actions don't matter, whereas I tend to agree with David Bartlett who writes:
"...if God does not care about what I do, I will begin to suspect that God does not actually care about me. If God loves me enough to welcome me into Christ's family, then God loves me enough to expect something of me. (What God expects, it need hardly be said, is not necessarily what churches that specialize in judgment expect.)" -Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 1, Page 46
John the Baptist's call to change our hearts and lives is one echoed throughout the history of Israel, in the story of Jesus, and throughout the history of Christianity. We are called to reorient ourselves to the Kingdom of God, especially as it is displayed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
As we prepare for worship together, may we reflect on/discuss/comment on the following questions:
- Describe negative experiences of feeling judged by disciples of Jesus Christ
- How might we call people to change their hearts and lives in ways that are helpful and life giving?
- How do God's expectations for us differ from the expectations of the world/culture/?
Matthew 3:1-12
Ministry of John the Baptist
3
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.
”
e
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?
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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.
”
2 comments:
I felt judged by a peer (whois a Christian) when I simply walked by him in a certain outfit at a certain time (it was the morning). I still do not know if this was just my perception of the encounter because I was ashamed and, in hindsight, maybe wanted to be judged/was judging myself. This morning I thought about how it feels (is feeling) to be so ashamed and embarrassed by my actions that I wished my friends would have judged me more severely. Would I have eft the abusive relationship I was in? I truly respect my friends and want them to share their opinions, but I didn't want to hear it at the time and even after leaving the relationship I was in, I did not want to hear them tell me to cut ties. I did finally listen because I could tell they were serious and were only looking out for me. It was a more severe judgement I wish had come earlier (not that I blame them). I think we can help each other strive for morei n our lives: to tell our friends they should be doing more homework, to tell them they have had too much, to share concerns. It might feel like a judgement or sign of failure, but I see it as a way to show that you believe in a friend and that they can do much better. I deserved better than the abuse I was facing and it was good to hear that from my friends. I wish I had listened sooner.
I am totally that person who gets really squirmish when people start pushing Christianity on me. When this used to happen to me, I would HARD CORE reject all religious feelings I had and would have to build them back up again slowly. I hate generalizing, but coming to the South seriously hurt my beliefs for a while because everyone was so "in your face" about it. As someone who really strongly believed in God, but was not so sure that Jesus is her savior, it was overwhelming. I would end up feeling incredibly guilty for not totally believing in what they wanted me to believe. I even convinced myself at one point that Jesus was my savior, but I now realize that that was entirely out of being guilted into it (which is not the way to believe). So my big thing is just accepting everyone for who they are and what they believe, and giving them space to figure out what they want out of God and life. I know that pushing Christianity on me was not the way to get me to believe, but luckily today I am totally fine if someone preaches to me. I like how they know and are proud of what God wants them to do. Though I still cannot say that I am a disciple of Christ, I do feel like I am a disciple of God. I don't even think that is a "real" thing, but it works for me :)
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