Sermon – Coming to Jesus – John – Matthew 3:1-12

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Presbyterian Church
Sermon – Coming to Jesus – John – Matthew 3:1-12
December 19, 2010

Christmas is almost here. The parades and shopping are almost over. The time with family and friends exchanging gifts and feasting together is just ahead. And we Christians are coming to Jesus. Three weeks ago we were joined by a young man whose life had been interrupted by the news that his fiance was pregnant and he took the bold step of welcoming a new life by obeying God and adopting Jesus as his own son and descendant of David. Then two weeks ago we were joined by some wise men who saw a star and remembered the ancient oracles that king was to be born in Judah. Last week we were joined on our journey to Jesus by the mothers of the children of Bethlehem who were weeping over the death of their children murdered by Herod and in their grief were joined by Rachel and God. Our journey to Jesus is about to come to an end. But first we will be joined by everyone else looking for an answer to the one thing that keeps us away from God. But before we get to this please pray with me.

Father in heaven, in anticipation of the shalom Christ brings to all people we come now before your throne of grace to give you our praise and thanksgiving. Amen. (adapted from When We Gather p.3)

Matthew 3:1-12In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" 4 John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Verse five tells us, “People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.” This must have been a big crowd. Jerusalem is not that close to the Jordan. The Roman road passes though the desert from Jerusalem to Jericho. It is long and dry and dangerous. And yet people were using it to come to the Jordan river. And it was not just the people of Jerusalem. We are told that people from the whole region of Judah were coming. But it doesn't stop there. All the people of the Jordan river, the Galileans and even the gentiles on these east bank of river were coming. A a huge crowd had assembled. And it's bigger than that. Literally the scripture says that all of the people of Jerusalem, all of the people of Judah, all of the peoples around the Jordan have come. Well maybe not everyone went to the Jordan, but it was a very large group.

And we know that this was not just a one time thing. People kept coming to the river, over and over again. They were searching for something. They thought they found it and went home. But then they realized that it wasn't enough and they went back to the river over and over again trying to find what they needed. Why would they do this? Why would so many keep coming to the Jordan river over and over and over again. The reason they kept going to Jordan River over and over again was that they needed to do something about sin.

Sin was destroying their lives. Families were being destroyed by adultery. Lives were being destroying by alcoholism. Businesses were being destroyed by greed. Even the religious leaders were being destroyed by their lust for power. Sin was like a cancer eating away at society. The people realized that there was nothing they could do about it. They would try to do better for a while, but then they would slip up and sin would keep on going. The fads just didn't work. So when they heard that prophet like Elijah had come, baptizing people for the forgiveness of sins in the Jordan river, well this was an offer they just couldn't pass up. So huge crowds made this long and dangerous trip over and over again hoping that John was the one real thing that would work.

When they arrived at the river John warned them that a new kingdom was about to come. This kingdom would be controlled not by the Roman occupiers, or the religious leaders, or even the local political puppets, but by God. So the people had to choose sides. Would they continue in the sinful ways of the Roman Empire. Or would they repent, change their ways and obey God? John would baptize those who wanted to change, stop sinning, and enter into the new kingdom. But baptism in the Jordan wasn't enough because as soon as the people got home their sinful behavior would return. So over and over again they would make the long difficult journey to John, and hear the message of repentance over and over again.

John was a prophet. He saw clearly the problem the people faced. They were trying really hard to change, but they couldn't. No matter how hard they tried they just couldn't get away from sin. In fact they still wanted to sin. They knew that sin was bad, but sin had stained them so much that they actually wanted to sin. They had become addicts to sin and no amount of washing in the Jordan river could change this situation. John knew what was needed. God had to intervene. God had to remove the spirit of sin that plagued the people and give them a new spirit.

We see the chronic effects of sin in our own time too. Today's Washington Post Magazine has a wonderful example of sin at work. Two years ago the Church of Christ in Harrisonburg VA called a new pastor. At first he seemed perfect. He was a friend to all and preached wonderful sermons. But then some started questioning his theology. Heated arguments erupted in the congregation. Elders were removed from session. There were questions about the finances of the church. And a belated background check was made on the new pastor. The findings were startling. Their new pastor was a murderer. His first wife had complained about his drinking, that he couldn't hold onto a job, and was cruel to their children. After the divorce he found a new girlfriend, but one day became enraged and beat her fourteen month old baby to death. After 12 years in prison he seemed to be changed. A local pastor helped him to be paroled and found him a job. He seemed to be embarking on a new life. But a couple of years later he had an affair with a friends wife, and left the church. A few years later he was convicted of medicare fraud and landed back in prison. But in 2008 the Harrisonburg Church of Christ was looking for a new pastor. They were thrilled when William M. Drumheller III accepted their call. He and his fourth wife moved into the manse. The church didn't recognize the wolf in sheep's clothing. Their new pastor was a person addicted to sin.

This is way sin works. We know better. We know what to do. But we still sin, we still do what displeases God. And if we are honest with ourselves we must admit that it doesn't really bother us that much. We don't really care if we sin or not. Sin has so changed us that we begin to think that sinning is ok. And the last thing we want is to go to a church that tries to change that. John knew that his telling people to behave and dunking them in the river would have little effect on their behavior and desire to sin. Somehow God had to intervene; a savior was needed who would remove the sin from our lives.

And that is why we celebrate Christmas. At Christmas a savior comes into the world to remove the sin from our lives. The savior acts like a skilled surgeon cutting out our sin with a scalpel. The savior is like the radiologist directing a concentrated shot of radiation at the sin within us. The savior administers the chemo that kills the sins that infects us. The savior acts like a doctors curing us from a deadly disease. And sin is a most deadly disease. The good news is that the savior arrives at Christmas.

Jesus Christ is coming into the world. He is God's intervention in our lives. Through Jesus Christ the sin that stains all of us is finally removed. This allows us, if we so choose, to desire a godly life and to begin elimination sinful acts from our behaviors. In this process, Chirst's spirit is in us and with us to guide us and help become sin free. This is a lifelong process, but it begins now at Christmas when Jesus enters your life to free you from sin.

“What do you want for Christmas?” is the question Santa asks little kids. As your pastor I must ask you what you want for Christmas. Some of you might want a Lexus with a big red bow. Others might jewelry with glittering diamonds. Some of you might just want to see a smile on your grandchildren's faces. But the best gift waiting for you under the tree this Christmas is a savior, born in Bethlehem, who will free you from your desires for sin and deliver to you the life God's created for you. Merry Christmas!