Repent

It can be hard to work with people. But God promises to fill our hearts with gladness. The first step is to “Keep Awake” to how you feel. Sometimes you feel angry, like John the Baptizer, because there is injustice in the world. Jesus can purify your heart from injustice with the fire of the Holy Spirit, and restore justice to the Earth. Listen to John the Baptizer. Repent from unjust behaviors. 

Feeling Angry 

John the Baptizer was angry because he saw and experienced injustice. He was a religious and spiritual man that lived in the wilderness area near the Jordan River outside of Jerusalem. He experienced an unfair difference between country priests like himself, and those who lived in the big city, Jerusalem. In Jerusalem the city priests, called Sadducees, were very cozy to the Roman rulers who had conquered and occupied Israel and Judah. Those priests were relatively rich and powerful. But because they were so close to this foreign power, their ability to care for the spiritual needs of the people was compromised.   

John the Baptizer wasn’t alone. There were other people who felt angry and disgusted by the injustices they saw in Jerusalem. They chose to live in the wilderness and focus on living a stringent and strict life according to God’s laws. This group of people were called the Essenes. Qumran, is the name of one such place where the Essenes were known to live. You might have heard of Qumran because some years ago that is where the “Dead Sea Scrolls” were discovered. The Dead Sea Scrolls were one of the greatest archeological finds of the modern era. They were original scrolls of the Hebrew Bible. They are still studied to this day. 

Because of Injustice

John the Baptizer was so powerful in his preaching that his life isn’t just remembered in the holy scriptures. He is also found in another historical record of that era. Flavius Josephus wrote about him in, “The Antiquities of the Jews” book 18, chapter 5, secion 2:  

“When others too joined the crowds about him, because they were aroused to the highest degree by his sermons, Herod became alarmed. Eloquence that had so great an effect on mankind might lead to some form of sedition, for it looked as if they would be guided by John in everything that they did. Herod decided therefore that it would be much better to strike first and be rid of him before his work led to an uprising, than to wait for an upheaval, get involved in a difficult situation and see his mistake.”

Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18.5.2

Shamefully Herod killed John the Baptizer. Herod was afraid that the people were so moved by John’s preaching that they would seek to overthrow him as king. It is totally understandable, therefore, that John the Baptizer felt angry. He lived in a deeply unjust world, and died because of it. 

God Purifies Hearts

John the Baptizer could have easily let his heart become filled with bitterness and cynicism. But his heart wasn’t filled with bitterness. It was filled with hope. John believed that God had the power to bring about a more just and righteous world one person at a time. He knew that the key to a better world wasn’t going to come from him alone, but from the heart of God. John said:

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 3:11-12 

Jesus is the one who is to come that is more powerful than John. He baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus clears his threshing floor with his winnowing fork. Our heart is his threshing floor. The chaff that he burns is the sin and injustice in our heart. The wheat that he saves is faith and good works. 

Justice in the World

Before John was killed by Herod he was imprisoned. 

‘When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy  are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.’

Matthew 11:2-4

It was critically important that John know what Jesus’ ministry was all about. John wanted to know if Jesus would continue the movement that he was a part of, namely, God’s justice. Jesus describes the kind of justice that he is about: healing the sick, and giving hope to the poor. This would have been very good news for John. You can imagine John the Baptizer, the greatest prophet and preacher of his generation bound and shackled in prison. He isn’t worried about himself. He is worried about God’s people. Those who suffer and cry out for justice. When he hears these words of Jesus you can imagine John smiling defiantly. No tyrant can stop the flow of God’s justice on the earth! John the Baptizer’s heart isn’t filled with rage or depression. It is filled by God’s grace with hope and peace.

Repent

No doubt you have felt “sad and mad” by injustice in the world. You have suffered injustice personally, and you are affected by the injustice you see in the world. You may not be able to wave a magic wand to make anger go away. You can live and act, however, trusting that Jesus has the power to purify hearts and bring about justice! John the Baptizer gives us a practical way to do this when he said:

Bear fruit worthy of repentance…Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  

Matthew 3:8-10

Imagine that your life and all of your behaviors are an orchard. Each habit and pattern of behavior that you have is like a tree in that orchard. Neuroscientists say that patterns of behavior look like trees of neurons spread across our brains. You might have a tree that represents your nighttime routine. You could have tree representing how you interact with a customer at work. Now think about which trees bear fruit in your life, and which don’t. Which behaviors yield positive results and which do not? If you have a tree in your orchard that doesn’t bear fruit chop it down. If you have a pattern of behavior that doesn’t get you the results you want, then stop doing it! That’s what John means when he says, “Repent”!

Being aware of how your feelings affect your behavior is huge. It will help you work with people in every aspect of your life. But we’ve only looked at one side of this equation, that is our own feelings. How do we deal with other people’s feelings. That’s what we will consider next week.