Matthew: Making Room For God
March 10, 2020
Change. Have you ever had someone try to change you or get you to do something you’re not ready to do? Does it work? Sometimes. But if you’re like me, the moment someone tries to get you to do something you’re not ready to do, or don’t want to do, you resist. You dig your heals in the ground. You’re not moving, you’re not budging and you’re definitely not going to change. That’s why I find it so amusing that during this political season, candidates think they can persuade you by bombarding you with political adds. Or friends think they can persuade you with their political posts on Twitter or Facebook. That doesn’t do it for me. If anything these posts irritate me rather than persuade me. But that’s just in the political realm.
What I find amazing about life today is that there are thousands of voices trying to get our attention so that we might change what we think, what we value, how we live, what is good for us or what’s not good for us. In fact, we live in an age where young people have a new career option: To be an internet influencer. What do these “Influencers” do? They post videos or snapshots of their life, showing how they live, what they value, what they purchase, and a lot of people their age follow them, find things they like about them, and change their lives to be like them. Some focus on travel, others on cooking, fashion, cosmetics, or personal training. They are the new entrepreneurs of our day. And some of them have become household names. For example, Kylie Jenner has become one of the most powerful internet influencers. How powerful? She makes one million dollars per Instagram post. She posts her snapshots to get her followers to do something or purchase something – to get them to change how they live and she’s getting filthy rich doing it.
Now here’s the thing about her followers – they follow her because they want to change – they want the kind of life she’s living. And that reveals a couple truths about change. 1. No one can force us to change. 2. Something or someone has got to create the “want to” in us, before we are willing to change.
So this morning as we return to the Gospel Matthew, we’re going to meet a spiritual influencer. A man, whose sole purpose was to prepare God’s people for change – to create in his followers the “want to.” So they would make room in their hearts for God. So if you brought your Bible today, let me encourage you to find Matthew 3:1-12 where we’re going to not only see how John’s message is meant to create the “want to” in us, but also reveals what hinders us from change.
So, if you’ve found Matthew 3, let’s begin by looking at God’s Catalyst for Change: The Good News In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3:1-3
Before we get into the good news, let’s look at this spiritual influencer, John. He is described as the one Isaiah spoke of as “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” John was the voice that came crying out to God’s people. The Greek word for “crying” is boao, meaning “to cry out with great feeling.” John’s message was full of emotion and urgency. It was meant to prepare God’s people to make room in their hearts for the Messiah.
How was this to come about? How were the to prepare their hearts for the Messiah? The word “prepare” means making something ready. And the word “way” could be translated “road.” What Isaiah described was the ancient Middle Eastern custom of sending servants ahead of a king to level and clear the roads to make them passable for the King’s journey. The people of Israel needed to prepare their hearts and minds for the coming of their King. They needed to make room for their Messiah by removing the sin in their hearts. So, John comes announcing a message of good news to prepare the way for the Messiah.
And the first thing we see in his message is this command to repent. Repent: Now this word repent is one of those words that conjures up some pretty extreme images: the first image I see when I hear that word is of some seedy guy holding a sign and saying “Repent the End is Near.” The guy holding the sign looks like a nut job. He’s looking down his nose at you, condemning you. Not a pretty picture. It’s too bad though, because the word repent isn’t supposed to be so narrow or condemning. It’s really a word of opportunity that points out another way – a better way. I like Pastor Rick McKinley’s description of repentance. He says, “To repent means to turn around, to stop what you’re doing and do the opposite. To repent means that even though you used to assume one thing was true, you now know it’s wrong – all wrong – and you will now believe and act upon something totally different. Repent is a good, strong word, full of hope and new beginnings.” It’s a call to change and change that is good.
We don’t often think of the word “repent” in that light, but John’s hearers did. When they heard “repent,” it meant a new day had dawned; hope was in reach, their king was coming. They were hearing what they had hoped beyond hope to hear: “No longer will you have to go it alone.” “No longer will you have to labor under oppression – the King who loves you is coming to be with you – good times are coming – the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” This is good news. A new day is at hand.
The Kingdom of Heaven: What is that? If you’re like me, the only kingdom you’ve had experience with is “the magic kingdom,” and the only king you’re acquainted with is the Burger King. We live in a democracy that champions freedom We have no king because our country came into existence because we rebelled against a King who abused his power. So we don’t look favorably on Kings. In fact, more often than not, when we think of a King ruling over people, what comes to mind is a tyrannical dictator where there is no freedom.
But that’s not the case with the Kingdom of Heaven. To John’s listeners, the message of the kingdom was music to their ears. To hear that the kingdom was at hand meant a time of peace and prosperity was coming; a time of joy and laughter, and everything good associated with it. To the average Jew, it was like telling a four year old to go to bed on Christmas Eve, “cause Santa will be here in the morning.” It was good news. It was what they’ve been waiting all their lives to hear. And John was God’s spiritual influencer, the voice of God calling them to make their hearts ready to receive their King by repenting! So what was their response? Verses 4 through 6 tell us
The Response: John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. Matthew 3:4-6
Before we unpack their response it’s important for us to make this little observation: John’s wilderness ministry has started a movement. Matthew tells us that a constant stream of people were flowing out of Jerusalem and all Judea to hear John’s message. This verb “went out” reflects a continuous action. So people were continually coming out to hear John’s message. This would cause quite a stir among the religious elite. And we’ll get to that in a minute, but first let’s look at how they responded: They repented. They turned from their sin and turned to God.
The first part of their repentance was turning from their sins. They confessed their sins. Their confessing shows a remarkable change of heart. That’s what confession reveals. It’s reveals contrition – a deep acknowledgement that the sin in your life is a sin against God. It’s like how King David cried out to God in his brokenness over his sin saying, “Against You, You alone I have sinned.” Psalm 51:4 But confession is more than sorrow over your sin. It involves a change of mind, agreeing with God’s verdict on sin. And it involves a change of the will. Expressing the desire to renounce your sin, turn away from you sin and live for God. As a visible sign of their confession, their change of heart, was their willingness to be baptized.
And by their baptism, they revealed their desire to wipe the slate clean and enter into a new relationship with God. By being baptized they declared they now wanted the life God wanted for them, and they were turning away from their old life. Now, that’s quite a change – that’s making room for God. For them baptism wasn’t a spiritual hoop to jump through; it was an action they took to tell God they were ready for His kingdom, they were ready for God to change them, they were ready for the Messiah.
But quickly we see, that this spiritual change didn’t sit too well with the religious establishment. The religious leaders could clearly see that they were losing control of their constituency, so they came out to where John was baptizing. And as they did, John confronted them with what I would say is:
Our Biggest Hindrance to Change: Empty Religion But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:7-10
Ouch! “Brood of vipers?” John wasn’t exactly putting out the welcome mat. He takes of his grace gloves and smacks them down with a brutally condemning insult, calling them “the offspring of vipers.” How bad was that? When Arabian vipers were born, they chewed their way out of their mother’s womb, killing them in the process. Thus, in calling these leaders “offspring of vipers,” John accuses them of killing their own mothers, which is the most immoral act imaginable.
What John was doing was accusing them of teaching a way of life that produced death. His message of the kingdom was in direct conflict with the dead religiosity these leaders taught. These leaders, who had direct access to God’s Word, led people away from God by focusing on the letter of the law rather than the fruit of repentance. And he tells them in no uncertain terms, that if they fail to change and start producing “good fruit” they are as good as dead. The only thing they are good for is the burn pile. They will be condemned.
This should jolt us a bit. What John is awakening us too in his scathing rebuke of these religious leaders, is the one thing that keeps us from change. Empty religion: Focusing on religious rules rather than loving relationships. This is our biggest hindrance to change. These leaders made “rule keeping” the measure of your spiritual life. If you were zealous in keeping the letter of the law, then you’re good. But in emphasizing law keeping, these leaders missed the heart of the law: loving God and loving your neighbor. If you’re not loving your neighbor, then your religion is worthless, it is dead.
What John is telling these religious leaders is this: it doesn’t matter how religious you are, that’s not what counts. And it doesn’t matter if you have family connections to Abraham. “Being born a Jew doesn’t save you.” The only hope for salvation is God. So you too need to repent and bear the fruit of repentance. You need to do what these people have come to do: confess your sins and turn to God. You keep saying that Abraham is your Father, but you need God to be your Father. For with God as your Father, He has the power to change you.
Sometimes people who are most resistant to change are those with all the religious trappings. No wonder John is so hard on them. He’s trying to wake them up to hear the truth, so they might repent and begin a new life. So let me ask you? Are you hearing what God’s Word is saying? Are you relying on your religious acts to save you? Are you trusting in your church attendance to save you? Are you relying on your moral behavior to save you? Are you trusting in your family heritage to save you? God’s Word says that none of those things save you. So who will? That’s what we see as John wraps up his message
God’s Power for Change: Look at how John wraps this up.Everything he’s been talking about is pointing to a person. He doesn’t name him. But we know who he’s pointing to. He’s pointing to Jesus. He is the source of true change: “I baptize you withwater for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you withthe Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matt.3:11-12
I want you to note two phrases here. First, But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. John paints a picture of someone who is so powerful, that he is unworthy to do the most menial of servant tasks: carrying his sandals. This is quite a picture. Everyone who has been listening to John, knows he’s a prophet of God. And God is using him to change lives and prepare them for the Messiah. I love John’s humility here. Later he the will say this about Jesus: He must become greater; I must become less.” He is say, the Messiah will be great. He will be powerful. He is someone worth following.
Now lets look at the second phrase: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He is announcing that the Holy Spirit will accompany the Messiah’s arrival. Up till now the Holy Spirit only came upon a few select leaders or prophets. But now with the coming of the Messiah the Holy Spirit will be given to the followers of the Messiah. Ezekiel recorded God’s promise to us: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27 John is telling us that when the Messiah comes He will give us the power to live the new life of the Kingdom. He will give us a new heart. He will pour out the Holy Spirit. He will make us spiritually alive. So then, those who make room for God by repenting: confessing their sins and turning to God, will receive this powerful new life from Jesus when He comes. This is good news. God will change those who receive His Messiah.
So let me ask you: Have you made room for God? Do you want God to change you? He wants to give you a clean heart and a fresh start. He wants to give you a new heart and a new power, so you can live the life He created you to live – with Him. Do you want that? Do you want God to change you?
If this is what you want, then you need to get honest with God today. Get honest about your sin before God. Confess that you have sinned against Him and turn to Him, and open your heart to Jesus. Receive Him by faith, and all that comes with Him. For God wants to wipe away your sins, remove your guilt and shame, and give you a new life with Jesus. If that’s what you want, this is the gift of eternal life that He gives to anyone who calls on the name of Jesus. If this is what you want, you can make room for Jesus right now, here today, by praying with me this prayer of repentance:
Father I have been wrong in thinking I could run my own life. I have been wrong in thinking that my moral behavior is good enough. I have been wrong in thinking my religious works were good enough. And I know I have sinned against you. So I want what you want to give me – a new life, a clean heart, by receiving Jesus. I know I can’t change myself. But you can. So I receive the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ, by faith. I believe in Jesus and am trusting him to help me life this new life. So thank you for the new heart and new life He is giving me today. Help me now to turn away from my old life and begin living the new life you have for me with Jesus. For it’s in Jesus name I ask these things, Amen.
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