God used John the Baptist to prepare hearts for the arrival of Jesus, and he did it in ways that made sense to people. He didn’t tell folks to offer sacrifices, follow formulas or recite endless prayers for their sins. He didn’t tell people to fast, mourn or mortify themselves in order to make amends to a God they hardly knew or understood in the first place.
Instead, he called people to turn from sin by loving one another, because we come to know God through love. God is revealed to others through our love too- by treating one another with kindness, honesty, fairness, compassion, generosity and respect.
Repentance is an act of love. Sin closes us off from love. It complicates things. It distorts things. It destroys us and others through us. Sin interferes with our connection to God, it limits God’s reach through us, and it harms others too.
When we choose to replace sin with love, the heart cracks open like an eggshell, and it’s transformative and contagious. We become content, grateful, humble and forgiving, and others are drawn to God by our example too.
Many who followed John the Baptist were expecting a messiah who would rule and reign in the here and now- a savior who would set captives free and bring the righteousness of heaven to earth. However, few understood how building that kingdom would be a centuries-long process, and John was preparing hearts and souls to participate in that work.
Advent reminds us how we prepare the way of the Lord in our hearts by replacing sin with God’s goodness, so God can be made known to and through us. Our lives are living, breathing Christmas miracles when we choose to live in love and continue to build God’s kingdom on earth until Jesus returns again.
Luke 3:10-18, cycle C
Leave a Reply