Daniel Slaughter
Advent 2
12-5-2021
Text: Luke 3:1-6
Theme Heart Under Construction
One thing I have to say about moving out here from Michigan to Minnesota is, “Man, the roads are so nice.” For a place that prided itself on their cars, the roads are terrible. It seemed like wherever you drove you were dodging potholes. And these just weren’t any potholes…at times they seemed like they were the size of a swimming pool. The roads out there were rough and bumpy and not smooth and level. It seems like the only thing those roads were ready for is to make sure you had to fix your suspension on your car every year.
Advent is season of preparation. Are your hearts ready for Jesus or are they like those Michigan roads? Have we grown complacent as we continue to wait for Jesus to return thinking we have more time? Is there a giant pothole of sin we are still holding on to and not really wanting to fix? Are we prepared for Jesus to come or do our hearts need a little construction work to be done? Our theme for today is a heart under construction.
The time was drawing near for Jesus to come on the scene and begin his ministry. Every time I sit and think about the history that leading up to Jesus coming, I am just left astounded. One of those key factor that made sure everything was ready for Jesus to come on the scene was John the Baptist. Even the Old Testament prophets pointed ahead to a forerunner, someone to prepare the way for the Messiah!
Luke quotes from the Prophet Isaiah, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth. And everyone will see the salvation of God.’”
You have this really cool picture that Isaiah uses. When a king was going to a town or a city you would have someone that would go on ahead and prepare the road for him. They didn’t have nicely paved paths like 169. They would send someone who to clear the road of any objects. They would fill in the low spots, so the king ride smoothly to his destination.
John the Baptist was the fulfillment of that prophecy and was the one who would come to prepare the way for Jesus! John wasn’t picking up sticks or filling in pot wholes but he came to prepare people’s hearts for Jesus. The very fact that John needed to come to prepare the way shows that there was something in the hearts of people that needed to change.
So what was going on in the hearts and minds of the people that kept people from being ready to meet the king of glory? What construction work needed to be done on their hearts to be ready for Jesus?
Was there that sense of complacency among them that they did what they were supposed to. They went to church (at least every once and while), they were dependents of Abraham, members of the synagogue. Did their status as members of church or being related to Abraham lead them to a false sense of complacency where they did not see the giant pothole of sin?
Maybe it wasn’t complacency, maybe there was that mountain of pride inside some of their hearts. Pride that ultimately says to God, “I don’t need you. I don’t need your forgiveness.” That heart of pride that doesn’t care what God’s Word says. That heart of pride that doesn’t see a need for God. A heart of pride that focuses on what they do or don’t do and comes to the conclusion that they don’t need repentance because they don’t have anything to repent for.
Or maybe it was the opposite of pride and it was despair. Where people were so burdened by their sin and so weighed down by the guilt they feel, that they are in a valley of despair. They feel the sorrow for their sin, but they either miss or simply can’t accept the forgiveness.
What is the spiritual condition of your heart this morning? Is there some construction work that needs to be done? Are you complacent and just going through the motions holding on to a little sin here or there because Christ’s coming doesn’t seem imminent? Does your heart have a mountain of pride where you don’t see your sin? Or is your heart in the valley of despair and you don’t see the wonderful gift of forgiveness.
John the Baptist came to prepare hearts for the coming Savior. He didn’t mince his words when talking about sin and even later in the chapter when addressing sin he says, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” The first step to perform that road construction on our hearts is to recognize our sin. Complacency holding on to sin, eh its good enough mentality. Pride where we don’t recognize our sin. Despair when we think we are beyond salvation.
So what is the road construction that needs to take place in our hearts? How did John prepare hearts for Jesus? The Bible says, “He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The road construction in our hearts that every one of us here needs is repentance.
Here repentance does not simply mean to have a sorrow over sin (although it is involved) but it includes a call to faith in the coming Savior. Response to John’s preaching of repentance included both sorrow for sins and faith in the good news of forgiveness of sins. This repentance involves turning away from sin and believing in the Savior Jesus Christ.
How does that construction take place in our hearts? We need to go back and remember what took place in our hearts. John was preparing the way by not only by preaching but by baptizing. This was an added means by which John made ready the way for the coming of Jesus. The assurance that people’s sins were washed away.
You and I need to daily go back to our baptisms as well. At our Baptisms God works forgiveness of sins, delivers us from death and the devil and gives eternal salvation. We need to constantly go back to our baptisms where each day sin should be drowned by contrition and repentance and all its evil deeds and desires be put to death. And each day the new person should arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
How does that construction take place in our hearts? We need go back to the one who came into this world, the one that John pointed ahead to. We need to go back to the one who lived the perfect life that we could not. We need to go to the one who secured the forgiveness of sins on the cross. We need to go to Jesus and see the salvation of God.
When we see what our savior has done, it leads us to put aside a life of complacency and replace it with a life of service. It leads us to put aside our pride, because Jesus did everything necessary for our salvation. It pulls us from the pit of despair because Jesus has freely given us the forgiveness of sins.
My family in Christ, Jesus came nearly 2000 years ago to bring to us salvation. John was preparing the way for him by preaching a baptism of repentance. He was preparing people’s hearts by calling people to repentant of sin and believe the good news of the forgiveness of sins. Jesus has promised to come back again. In a similar way, let us be prepared for his return by each day remembering our baptisms and repenting of our sins and believing the good news of the forgiveness of sins.