Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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Most great religious leaders were thought to be crazy.  (Which is not the same as saying, "Most who are thought crazy are great religious leaders".)  But it is true: a price we may pay (one cross we may bear) for believing in spiritual things, is that some will think us mad. Indeed, if we didn't know better ourselves, we might be tempted to characterize this man John the Baptist as a raving maniac: an hermit from the dessert, with a rough coat of camel's hair, eating wild honey and bugs, and shouting bitter invective at those who came to watch him. But John had the Word of God in his mouth, and some of his listeners knew it.

He appears at the very beginning. When I hear the Baptist's name I think, "Curtain going up!" The great salvation drama is about to begin, John steps out from behind the curtain, into the spotlight, and says the first line: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." He is the Master of Ceremonies. He presents Jesus to the world. We meet John in Advent, of course, because he is one who prepares us for the coming of Christ.

And, as such, Luke says, John came "proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." Repentance -- it is the front porch of our faith -- not the faith itself, but the way in. And no other door exists. Today, Christians have a hard time with repentance. We were raised on Freudian dogma, that "guilt" is the ultimate enemy, and to look at our sin would only make us feel guilty, we think. We have embraced many therapies to ease our guilt and lift our self-esteem. Moreover, we've been told if we can't say something nice not to say anything at all, and to talk about sin is not to talk about something nice. We're supposed to accentuate the positive. But, here we arrive, at the front door of our faith, and are told to get down on our knees and ask forgiveness. How can we do that and maintain our self-respect? I would answer, how can we not do it and respect ourselves? Who are we kidding?

I sometimes think you can measure a person's distance from God by the size of his ego, by how much he boasts. Because, the closer we get to God, in truth, the better we see our sins, and the less we boast and brag. That is what prevents many people from coming to Christ. They want to think themselves good. They live in darkness, Jesus said, and can't stand the light of truth. For in God's light, our faults and failures, our mistakes and misjudgments, our fear and ignorance are all exposed. In the bright light of John the Baptist's laser preaching, Israel's failures were clearly seen. Some understood, repented, and were baptized. Others, like the self-important scribes and Jewish officials who came to hear him, were too proud to repent, thought too highly of themselves, had to maintain their images, and lost their chance to be saved. One thief on the cross cursed Jesus, the other repented, asked for grace, and was promised paradise. That is the story of mankind -- a story that repeats itself time and again.

Some years ago, as I was driving to work, I saw, written with spray paint on an overhead bridge, in letters as big as a person, these words: "Judy, I'm sorry." I'd give a lot to know the story behind that. What had he done? Was his repentance sincere? Would it win her back? It was surely a good start, to say, "I'm sorry." It is interesting how often people cannot say "I'm sorry," cannot repent even at a human level, have to maintain the fiction of perfection, cannot say to their spouses, or their children, "I'm sorry. I was wrong." It is also interesting, when repentance does take place (when people do apologize to each other and forgive each other), to see what a healing balm it can be. The Bible says, "If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him. If he repent, forgive him." That is a simple formula that could prevent a lot of heartache. It makes us like God when we forgive people their sins and no longer hold their trespasses against them.

The traditional words inviting people to the Communion table begin, "Ye that do truly and earnestly repent of your sins." Repentance (which means being honest about ourselves) is the key that opens the door. It is a paradox: when we finally give up the game, the pretense, the joke of our own goodness, we are then better than we have ever been before. When we see how dirty we are, then, in Christ, we become cleaner than clean. The first Pope was a braggart and a coward who had denied Jesus three times, even after being warned and swearing he would not, and everybody knew about Peter's sin, and they loved him. Today, the largest church in the world is build over this sinner's bones. The first leaders of the church were those who had run away and hid when Jesus needed them most, and everybody knew about that, too. The first great missionary and theologian was a zealous persecutor of Christians, who had held the coats of those who stoned poor Stephen to death. They were sinners, every one -- they knew it, and so did everyone. But, for that condition, they had received the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of their sins. They would say they had been "washed in the blood of the lamb." They were strong, confident, courageous people -- some of the best the world has ever known. They had gotten past their own issues. They weren't mired in guilt. They looked at their own sins and frailties, shrugged their shoulders and said, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" If God loves us, what's not to love?