John was Jesus' second cousin. He was probably associated with the Essenes of Qumran and he had an iron-clad commitment to the law of God. He took the commandments seriously, even the lesser one, and like others who shared his view, John was sure that God was coming soon and very soon. John was a "piece of work," but he spoke in a passionate and urgent way... to people who desperately needed a change. They were living under Roman rule. They were taxed into debtors' prisons and they were treated disdainfully, day after day. They hadn't seen hope or experienced a moment of joy in a long, long time. So, when John called them to come to the river and undergo a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. they came! They came in great numbers, to be dunked in the Jordan, and cleansed of their sin by a God of new beginnings. There was an urgency in John's call and there must have been a sense of anticipation in their hearts.They were willing, even anxious, to do business with God and get rid of their sins, even the ones they enjoyed, because they needed to repent, change their direction, and prepare themselves for God’s coming!
John was a prophet- a truth-teller that is. He was the bridge between the Old and New Testaments and he was the one who paved the way for the coming of Christ. He lived aesthetically and he offered a simple message with conviction and passion. Come to the river, he cried. Come to the Jordan and undergo a baptism... of repentance... for the forgiveness of sin. Come now... because God will soon be here! Come now because the old is dying and the new is beginning! Come to the river and get clean. God is coming and you don't want God to find your life cluttered with sin. God is coming and you don't want your heart to be at odds with God's. So, come to the river. Let God cleanse you and when you get home, live and think as a person who is clean through and through.
I've been blessed to go to Israel twice and on both occasions, I was blessed to baptize adults in the Jordan river. In some ways the setting is commercial. There's bleachers for the rest of the group to set on and there's dressing rooms in which the participants put on their robes. There are also steps into the river... but the Jordan is the Jordan. Baptism is a holy sacrament and God joined us both times. Are you ready to be baptized in the names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? Are you ready to give up your sins? From now on. will you live as one who is forgiven and renewed? Yes, yes, yes. Then, one by one, they were submerged three times in the very water where John baptized Jesus. It was touching and meaningful for everyone, and it was powerful to see ordinary, mainline, 21st-century, Christians experience a life-changing moment!
Come to the river. Let us gather at the river. God is coming- get ready! Repent and change your ways! Let old things and habits go. Live in a way where everyone will say, "There goes a man (or woman) of God." And practice justice and righteousness in your daily lives. Bear the fruit of repentance, John said, and when the people asked him what he that meant, John told them to be kind, thoughtful, fair, forgiving, and generous. Treat others as if they are children of God. Treat them like you want to be treated, and be alert... when Jesus appears to you in need of food, clothes, healing, love, or simply company.
John was a prophet- a truth-teller that is. He was the bridge between the Old and New Testaments and he was the one who paved the way for the coming of Christ. He lived aesthetically and he offered a simple message with conviction and passion. Come to the river, he cried. Come to the Jordan and undergo a baptism... of repentance... for the forgiveness of sin. Come now... because God will soon be here! Come now because the old is dying and the new is beginning! Come to the river and get clean. God is coming and you don't want God to find your life cluttered with sin. God is coming and you don't want your heart to be at odds with God's. So, come to the river. Let God cleanse you and when you get home, live and think as a person who is clean through and through.
I've been blessed to go to Israel twice and on both occasions, I was blessed to baptize adults in the Jordan river. In some ways the setting is commercial. There's bleachers for the rest of the group to set on and there's dressing rooms in which the participants put on their robes. There are also steps into the river... but the Jordan is the Jordan. Baptism is a holy sacrament and God joined us both times. Are you ready to be baptized in the names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost? Are you ready to give up your sins? From now on. will you live as one who is forgiven and renewed? Yes, yes, yes. Then, one by one, they were submerged three times in the very water where John baptized Jesus. It was touching and meaningful for everyone, and it was powerful to see ordinary, mainline, 21st-century, Christians experience a life-changing moment!
Come to the river. Let us gather at the river. God is coming- get ready! Repent and change your ways! Let old things and habits go. Live in a way where everyone will say, "There goes a man (or woman) of God." And practice justice and righteousness in your daily lives. Bear the fruit of repentance, John said, and when the people asked him what he that meant, John told them to be kind, thoughtful, fair, forgiving, and generous. Treat others as if they are children of God. Treat them like you want to be treated, and be alert... when Jesus appears to you in need of food, clothes, healing, love, or simply company.
History, both Biblical and secular- records that John had a huge following. They came by the thousands- those who were weary and burdened, those who wanted to live fuller and freer lives, those who believed that God would come soon, those who wanted to be ready when their Lord appeared! They came as they were, from all of Judea, with willing hearts, and when they came up from the water, they were challenged to live as new creations and to bear the fruits of repentance when they returned to their daily lives. God is coming. In the form of a vulnerable baby soon now. You may hear the angels shout. Maybe God will come as a beggar, or a waitress, or a sales clerk. And who among us doesn't know that God will call us home someday soon. When Sherry was in the hospital with sepsis and pneumonia, she says that a visitor came to her and bid her to come along, but she resisted and the visitor left. It wasn't her time... then... or mine or yours, but it will be. Paul and others in the New Testament believed that God was coming to claim his people at any moment. Tomorrow maybe or the day after. They thought that God would be coming any day now, and from some people ar some point in time, that will be so.
God is coming quite soon for each of us and when we see God face-to-face, we may well be asked these three questions: 1) what did you do with my Son, 2) what did you do with the gifts I gave you, and 3) what did you do when you saw me hungry, naked, sick, or imprisoned? Did you as someone who had been to the river? O Lord, let it be that we will live as people who have been to the river! Amen,
God is coming quite soon for each of us and when we see God face-to-face, we may well be asked these three questions: 1) what did you do with my Son, 2) what did you do with the gifts I gave you, and 3) what did you do when you saw me hungry, naked, sick, or imprisoned? Did you as someone who had been to the river? O Lord, let it be that we will live as people who have been to the river! Amen,
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