2nd Sunday in Advent
Mark 1:1-8
Illustrations
A legend tells of the heavenly Father telling a man, if he would bring
up to the gate of heaven the most precious thing that could be found in
this world, it would gain his admittance into heaven.
"Then I am sure of heaven," he said. "I know what the most precious
thing in the world is."
He went to a mint where the best specimens of gold could be found, and
obtaining the purest piece possible, flew up to the gates of pearl,
sure that heaven would be opened to him, but found the gates closed and
bolted against him. He was told that was not the most precious thing;
that their streets are paved with gold, as it were transparent glass.
He came again. This time he obtained the most exquisitely beautiful
specimen of jewelry; nothing richer or more beautiful on earth of its
kind. He carried this up, but found the door still shut against him.
He was told that no one used jewelry there. It was really of no value
in heaven. He must go again.
This time he was walking on the beach, under the shade of beautiful
trees, thinking over what that most precious thing could be, when his
attention was attracted to a beautiful little child lying on the grass
under the shade of these trees, with its innocent face upturned towards
heaven, in a sweet sleep.
Just then a robber came to this little child, and stood over it for a
moment, apparently in deep thoughtfulness, gazing on its innocent face,
the child unconscious of any danger. The robber, reviewing his own life
in his guilt and wickedness, and contrasting it with the innocence of
that little child, drew a deep sigh of regret and sorrow over his life
of sin, when a tear of penitence dropped from his eye.
The man in search of earth's most precious thing, caught this tear, and
flew up to heaven's gate with it, when he found the gates thrown wide
open to him, with a hearty welcome from the heavenly ones, saying:"Yes,
you have brought the most precious thing t hat can be found on earth
the Tear of Repentance."
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Repentance
Joe Pennel describes the time he led a Sunday School class that was
studying this passage on John the Baptist. Dr. Pennel writes, "After
giving some background information and interpretation, I asked the
class to give me some help in preparing a sermon on the theme of
repentance." He said, "If you were in my place, what would you say to
this church about repentance?" He reported blank, sheepish stares on
their faces. One person said, "We are like the people of John's day. We
are so close to it that we cannot hear the message." Another person
said, "It is like preaching to the choir. No one listens because we
have been conditioned to hear something else." Yet another said,
"Repentance is something we do in the corporate prayer, not something
we do in our hearts.
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We often see in others what we want to see, not what's really there:
At the turn of the century, the world's most distinguished astronomer
was certain there were canals on Mars. Sir Percival Lowell spent his
life studying the solar system with the biggest telescopes available.
Mars was his favorite target. When he looked at Mars, he saw a maze of
channels & canals. He was convinced the canals were proof of
intelligent life on Mars. Perhaps they were a race of creatures older
and wiser than humans. Lowell's observations gained wide acceptance. No
one dared to contradict him.
But now we know that he was wrong. Spacecraft was gone to Mars and
landed on its surface. The whole planet has been mapped, and no canals
have been found.
How could Lowell have seen so much that wasn't there?
There are two possibilities: 1. He wanted to see canals so badly, he
did, over and over.
2. He had a rare eye disease, which made him see the blood vessels in
his own eyes. The martian canals he saw were nothing more than the
bulging veins of his eyeballs.
Over and over, we "see" faults in others because we don't want to
believe anything better about them. And so often we think we have a
first hand view of their shortcomings, when in fact our vision is
distorted by our own disease.
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True repentance
True repentance goes beyond making some flip comment about being
"sorry". Sorry is what we are if we burn the toast for breakfast. The
repentance that John preaches is better understood by the phrase "a
contrite heart". This is a heart that finds its present condition
unacceptable. A heart that seeks real and substantial change. A heart
that is prepared for the coming of the Christ. This is a repentant
heart for the forgiveness of sins. What are those areas in our lives
that need purifying? Where are the crooked places, the hills and
ravines? Does our greed stand in the way of our small steps toward
purity? Does our indifference to the injustice and oppression that
others must endure stand as mountainous roadblocks to God's rule on
earth? Let's change those things. Let us have repentant hearts so that
we may prepare the way for the Christ Child.
Matthew T. Robinson First Presbyterian Church, Hobbs, New Mexico
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Repentance
A Hindu said to a native missionary, "I am sure if I lead a good life
and do what is right, giving up my bad habits, God will be pleased with
me and receive me into heaven."
"That is the way most people reason today," replied the missionary.
"You know the babul tree (a tree with long, sharp thorns). Now, suppose
you break off from its branches a hundred or more of the nasty thorns,
then will the tree cease to be a babool tree?"
"Certainly not."
"Suppose you should apparently stop one or another or even many of your
evil ways and habits, you would still remain the same like the babool
tree. You must have an entirely new nature, must become a new man, in
order to please God. Only Christ can give you a new heart."
Repentance
A visitor to a sculptor's studio commented, "I saw some blocks of
marble lying off in a corner. Out of one a hand emerged, out of another
was a head, with face unfinished. Others had unfinished work. Why the
abandoned pieces?
The artist answered: "All those pieces showed great promise on the
outside, on the surface. But as I chiseled deeper, flaws and defects in
the marble that were not visible on the surface showed up. They had to
be abandoned."
The difference between marble defects and human defects is that the
marble cannot repent and be cleansed, but the human can. The defective
heart becomes the perfect heart at the touch of the Master.
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"True repentance is to cease from sinning."
- Ambrose of Milan
- _Instant Quotation Dictionary_, p. 255.
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Luther's Prayer of repentance
"Behold, Lord, an empty vessel that needs to be filled. My lord, fill
it.
I am weak in faith; strengthen thou me. I am cold in love; warm and
make me fervent that my love may go out to my neighbors. I do not have
a strong and firm faith; at time I doubt and am unable to trust Thee
altogether.
O Lord, help me. In Thee I have sealed the treasure of all I have. I am
poor,Thou art rich and didst come to be merciful to the poor. I am a
sinner; thou are upright. With me, there is an abundance of sin, in
Thee is the fullness of righteousness. Therefore I will remain with
Thee whom I can receive, but to Whom I may not give." amen