“Bear Fruits of Repentance.”
Luke 3:1-25
Advent is a season of hope and expectation. We look forward to Jesus’ coming, both at Christmas and on the Last Day. Besides these hope and expectation, Advent is also a season of repentance. Advent is a guilt-ridden season. And this mood of repentance is also tied to Jesus’ coming. For it is by truthful repentance that we prepare the way of the Lord.
Rev. If I heard you right you said we look forward to our Lord’s coming, both at Christmas and on the last day. Kindly clarify these points.
Thanks for the opportunity: Jesus had come for the 1st time already as a baby born in the manger in little Bethlehem. Christmas is a memorial event which we remember Jesus and the works He did to free mankind from satan and his weapon death; through His birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. Also believers are in expectation of Jesus’ 2nd coming on the last day as He foretold us.
Repentance is the proper preparation in keeping with the hope of Jesus’ return other words His 2nd coming. And not just a vague, unclear feeling of repentance. But more than that, a repentance that takes particular shape in the way we live.
Rev. thank you for the explanation
Mr. Kyei, friends and cherish listeners: Year after year, on the Second Sunday in Advent, whether one is reading the Book of Matthew, Mark, or Luke. The sermon of John remains the same “Bear fruits of repentance”. Per the church schedule, this year the Gospel according to St. Luke is where we find John doing his thing.
Mr. kindly read for us Luke 3:1-16
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And 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 Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,[a]
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall become straight,
and the rough places shall become level ways,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?”
11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”
12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.”
14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Thanks be to God. “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
Listeners: You heard John’s message. What he preached is connected to baptism. In the wilderness by the Jordan River, John was calling people to repent of their sins. By so doing, John was fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah who states “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord.’”
Mr. Kyei John was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. John’s ministry, if you like John’s assignment in life, was to prepare the way for Jesus’ coming. John’s ministry was in the form of preaching and baptism of repentance.
Rev. Why was John’s ministry of the form of preaching and baptism of repentance and not maybe raising the dead ect.
I commend you for the question. Preaching and baptism of repentance is the best act prior to Jesus saving sinners like you and me from the wrath and judgment of God.
Yes, I say to you all listening, repent! We should all recognize and confess our sins and our sinfulness. We should accept that we need a righteousness greater than our own doings. Jesus’ righteousness is what we lack and we must receive it from outside of humanity. We need an objective righteousness coming from Jesus Christ Himself, in order to stand justified before God on the last Day- which is the Day of Judgment.
Hmmm. Rev. That day of judgement is coming.
It is coming and it will be a day of wrath. “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees saith John the Baptizer. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John is so serious, that statement sounds scurry!
Really scurry! Repentance is how the way of the Lord is to be prepared.
John preached it boldly and I echo it. Baptism places the believer into safety… lesson from Noah and the Ark, lesson from Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea… more so Mark 16:16 teaches that Baptism saves.
• And Isaiah tells us what this Baptism of repentance means:
• “Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.
• Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways.”
Friends and listeners, repentance involves:
“The crooked becoming straight.” There is too much crookedness in this world. This implies we ought to straighten-out the crooked ways in our lives.
With self-examination; there are always means in which we all, have been deviating from the straight road? There are crooked paths in our dealings that need to be made straight? Amending our crooked and corner cutting ways is where and when true repentance happens. And the rough places becomes level ways.”
Rev. What are those bumps and rough places in our lives that need to be put right or leveled?
Mr. Kyei, Friends and dear listeners, how about this? “Every mountain and hill shall be made low.” Our high vain and conceited ways need to be cut down to size. Humbling oneself is part of repentance. With Humility: “Every valley shall be filled.”
Where we lack the love and good works expected of? Those places need to be filled in.
Rev. We are taught that all of these things are involved in repentance.
• Yes, that is the way of life into which the believer is baptized.
• As baptized children of God. This should affect and transform our lives, daily.
Rev. We have learnt in the Catechism: “What does such baptizing with water indicate?
Explanation is, It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”
Baptism puts us into a whole life of repentance, an every-day dying and rising with Christ. Every day we put that old sinful self to death. Every day we rise to newness of life as a new persons in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah
Amen!
Repentance is not some vague feelings. No! There should be evidence of action. The reason John says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance”.
True repentance will show up in how we live, the evidence is found in the things we stop doing, and in the things we start to do. Don’t forget Mountains need to be brought low. Valleys need to be filled in.
Cherished listeners: Hear the tax collectors asking John, “Teacher, what shall we do?” John replied, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Perhaps, currently looking around us in Ghana E-levy was in the mind of John the Baptizer. Those were and still are some specific tax-collectors crooked ways that needed to be straightened out isn’t it.
Some soldiers also ask John “And we, what shall we do?” interestingly John said, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” Mr. Kyei, I believe the police and the law enforcing agencies are listening to John on “Bearing fruits of repentance”.
Shall we take a break!
Rev over to you
Thank you: please get this right! Repentance is not just about stopping to engage in bad deeds. Repentance is equally about the good things you start to do. Applying the test: the crowds ask John, “What then shall we do?” And John answers them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Love, mercy, good works–these are how those valleys are to be filled in.
Important lesson is, don’t let your repentance remain at the general level. Jesus coming into your life will work repentance in you at particular and specific levels. Both in terms of the peculiar sins you struggle against and in terms of the good works you take up. That is what John is preaching when he says, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.”
• Beloved, what will that look like in your life today and this month?
• How are you going to bear those fruits?
• Are you just going to look for your willpower and resolve to do better?
• “This time I have to do away with my sins! Or to say, “now I’m going to become a merciful and loving person!” Well, willpower alone is not the answer.
• You need help. You need the help of the Holy Spirit to live this life of repentance, day by day.
We ought to be thankful to God; we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit in our baptism.
The Spirit is there to help us along the way.
The Spirit will guide and strengthen us, and help us to live as the new person in Jesus Christ.
Rev. Another name of the Holy Spirit is the Helper, your comment
Good Mr. Kyei, indeed the Holy Spirit will help us to live the life of repentance and to bear those fruits, which, after all, coincide with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as recorded in (Gal. 5:22-23).
Let me ask Rev. How does one bear these good fruits?
Simply stay connected to Christ, abide in Jesus. For apart from Him, you can do nothing. But abiding in Jesus, you will bear good fruit, and bear it in abundance.
Jesus is the source of our new life. And we stay connected to and in Him by abiding in His word.
Word and Sacraments; are the means that God has established to keep Christians alive and flourishing and bearing fruit. There is no other way to be a fruit-bearing Christian without Jesus connected to you.
It must be clear that: As baptized, Spirit-helped, abiding-in-Jesus, fruit-bearing Christians, we’re still going to mess up and stumble and fall in our walk. We will always be discovering more rough places in need of smoothing out, more sins we will encounter which needs forgiveness.
- It is important at this juncture to note that the baptism of repentance is tied to, and leads to, the forgiveness of sins.
John came, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” - The Christian life is a constant pattern of repentance and forgiveness.
- Repentance and forgiveness is a recurring movement throughout our journey in this life.
Wuow: Repentance and forgiveness is a recurring movement throughout our journey in this life. It is like a never ending story!
Exactly why Jesus came. Due to the weakness of man…Jesus, the one mightier than John came to win that forgiveness for us. Jesus won the repentance that John preached to prepare the way of His coming.
And when Jesus came even-more as He shall come: Isaiah says, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God,” in the flesh of the man Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Savior who delivers the salvation. Christ Jesus took our sins in His body on the tree, and suffered and died for those specific sins of ours. And by so doing, He saves us from the wrath our sins deserve.
In place of wrath, now we receive salvation.
In place of death, now we receive life. In place of judgment, now we have Jesus to be our righteousness on the Last Day.
John the Baptizer has been telling us: “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” And real repentance will always lead the believer to the forgiveness of sins, which is ours as a free gift in Jesus who is our salvation, and He is the source of our life. It is the new life that is ours in Jesus which keeps true believers in bearing good fruit, the fruits of repentance. May the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be praised now and forever more Amen! Amen!
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you repented
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you in bearing fruit
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and grant you His peace which surpasses all human understanding, in the name of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen!