Today is the Second Sunday in Advent and we lit the Candle of Love. So why are we hearing about repentance and the return of the Lord? In our contemporary mindset this just does not even come near to defining the word love for us. So today we are going to look into these scriptures and try and figure out how repentance plus the Lord’s return equals love.  

In the gospel reading from Mark we read these words, “John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”  When most of us think of John the Baptist somehow the image of a loving prophet does not come to mind. Instead, for most of us the image of an unkempt man dressed in animal skins with a full beard looking like a cave man and crying out “Repent!” comes to mind. Yet, the scriptures tell us that folks from all over Judea and even Jerusalem were flocking out into the wilderness to be baptized by this strangely attired prophet. Mark writes, “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

This man, born the only son of a priest, Zechariah, who was in the priestly order of Abijah and whose mother was a descendant of Aaron, John by birthright would have in ordinary circumstances been brought up as a priest.  However, John’s birth was foretold to his father by a messenger of God, an angel. The angel told Zechariah that his barren wife would give birth to a son who was to be brought up under stricter conditions even than one being trained as a priest. Those being reared as priests were allowed to drink wine and strong drink, but Zechariah’s son was not going to be like other priests. Zechariah’s son was forbidden to drink any wine or alcoholic beverages.  This is because Zechariah and Elizabeth’s son was being born to fulfill ancient prophecy spoken by the prophet Isaiah and confirmed by the prophet Malachi.

In the gospel of Mark we heard the words of this ancient prophecy read. Reading from the Amplified Bible, Mark writes: “Just as it is written in the prophet Isaiah: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will make ready Your way-- A voice of one crying in the wilderness [shouting in the desert], Prepare the way of the Lord, make His beaten tracks straight (level and passable)!”

Before Christ could begin His ministry on earth, the hearts of the people had to be prepared to receive Him. John the Baptist was the person sent from God to do that. John was like the one who plows a field before the planter comes in and sows the seeds.

Before we can even acknowledge the need in our lives for God’s saving grace we have to come to the point of realization that we cannot save ourselves. We have to comprehend the fact that we have sinned against our Creator and that we are held accountable for our sins. Until we realize that we are not perfect and that the secular belief of “I’m Okay and You’re Okay” is a false step that misdirects us into eternal damnation we are unable to receive the gift of salvation. The misguided teachings of our contemporary society that declare there is no such thing as sin hardens people’s hearts against even the need for a Saviour in our lives. These false teachings are like stones in our hearts that need to be plowed up and taken away in order for us to even be able to repent of our sins against God. This is where conviction of the heart comes.

John the Baptist was sent to convict the people of their sins in order for them to repent. Only after they repented of their sins were their hearts then open to receiving God’s gift of salvation through Jesus the Christ. Without the ministry of John, the people would have not have been ready to receive the Messiah as their Lord and Savior. This is why John the Baptist’s ministry is a ministry founded in the very love of God for all of us. The Father God desires for all of us to receive forgiveness of our sins, but forgiveness can only be received as a result of repentance. Conviction plus repentance equals forgiveness.

In our contemporary society we too often want to put the cart before the horse as a matter of speaking. We are taught by false prophets that all have been forgiven so there is no need to repent. Yet, that would be like sowing seed in a field that has not been plowed. From such a planting how could we ever even expect to see any kind of harvest?

Today, John the Baptist’s cry of repentance continues to convict our souls of our need for salvation. Just as John’s ministry of conviction was important for the preparing of the Messiah in his time; so too his ministry of conviction continues to be important in preparing our own hearts to receive Jesus Christ. John’s cry of repentance is the cry of God the Father beckoning us to return to the loving embrace that our spiritual ancestors Adam and Eve once knew before they disobeyed our Creator. Our repentance is actually a loving response to God’s love for us. Repentance is admitting that we need God’s gift of salvation.

In the New Testament reading for today, Peter writes concerning the return of the Lord: “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.”  When Peter wrote this letter many in the Church were already grumbling about the delay of Christ’s return. It is to those words of discontent that Peter is responding.

Today, almost two thousand years later, some who say they are Christians do not even believe in the physical return of Christ, because He has not yet come. These folks teach a false doctrine that Christ’s return is only symbolic of the Kingdom of God being established by believers here on earth. While it is true that the Kingdom of God is within the hearts of all believers, the physical return of Christ is a prophecy and promise by our Lord Jesus that has yet to be fulfilled.

Out of God’s love for all peoples, the Father God has held back the day of Jesus’ return to earth. Not to test our faith - although the wait indeed has done so for some, but to allow time for more people to be saved through repentance and acceptance of God’s forgiveness of our sins in the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

Peter continues in his writing to tell us what will happen to the heavens and the earth when Jesus does return. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire…”  For those who have not repented and accepted the forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ, the return of the Lord is not going to be a happy ending. Instead, a fiery death awaits those who reject Jesus as Lord and Savior on the Day of the Lord.

As we learned last month, when Jesus returns before any of this fiery destruction takes place those in Christ both dead and alive will be spared.  St. Paul writes in his letter to the Thessalonians, ^“For the Lord Himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever.” The return of Jesus is a rescue mission for those who have repented and accepted the forgiveness of the Father God through the blood of Christ. This rescue mission is God showing His ultimate love to all who have accepted His gift of salvation. This is why Repentance plus the Return of Jesus equals God’s Love.