The following sermon was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia, on December 15, 1985. The title is, Ready or Not, Here I Come, and the scripture reference is Luke, Chapter 3, Verses 7 through 18. 

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke. The third chapter, beginning at the seventh verse, the words of John the Baptizer, the herald of Messiah. He said therefore to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bear fruits that befit repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

And the multitudes asked him, What then shall we do? And he answered them, He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none. and he who has food, let him do likewise.

Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them, Collect no more than is appointed you. Soldiers also asked him, And we, what shall we do?

And he said to them, Rob no one by violence or by false accusation, and be content with your wages. As the people were in expectation and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary. but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.

The Gospel of the Lord. If you ever played hide and seek when you were little you remember that whoever is it don't you love that? Your it has to count. And if it is very young, it might be one, two, three, you know, all the way up to ten.

If it is a little older, they might go one or three, up to 50, right? While everybody else scatters and finds a hiding place. And then when it gets to the appointed number with a very loud voice, he or she has to cry out, ready or not, here I come.

If you haven't hidden, you're in big trouble because you're going to get found and caught. Just hold that in mind for a moment. and come back with me to ancient Judea.

The year is approximately 26 A.D. By the way, we figure time now. They didn't count it that way then.

It's the reign of Tiberius Caesar and the Jews of occupied Palestine have been under severe oppression for over six centuries. There was a brief moment of what looked to be freedom during the time of the Maccabees, and then once again they were crushed. One dominating power after another came through and held them under oppression.

Think of it, for three times as long as America has been a nation, they've known nothing but oppression. And all that while they have lived in the light of a promise, In fact, a whole series of promises reiterated by God through His prophets that one day He's going to deal with that. One day He's going to send a Deliverer, a Liberator, a Messiah, who will throw off the yoke of oppression and set these, His people, free.

And yet for 400 years, the Jews, whose whole existence depended upon their relationship with a God who acts in history, a God who speaks, a God who makes promises and keeps His Word, for 400 years they've not had so much as a single comment from Him. These are called the silent years between Malachi and Matthew. There's been no prophet, no vision, no messenger from God.

Just this hope that they continue to cling to that God will one day honor His promise. And then suddenly, suddenly out of nowhere, there appears in the Judean wilderness a wild man. He's dressed in a hair shirt.

He's unkempt. He eats wild insects and honey. At first glance, he might appear a comic figure until you listen to what he's saying.

There's nothing funny about this man's message. We call him John the Baptist or better as Phil did, John the Baptizer. And he denounced sin with an authority from God that compelled people to listen.

All four Gospels say that all Judea went out to hear him. not only that we know from reading later that John had disciples and little communities of disciples as far north as Samaria as far south as Alexandria, Egypt he was a force to be reckoned with this was no laughing matter you didn't laugh at John and what a sermon he preached you bunch of snakes who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come God is angry with you and you think that because you've descended from Abraham he's going to somehow deal differently with you than he has with successive other nations who have known his judgment he is angry and unless you shape up you're going to be burned in unquenchable fire nice little Sunday morning sermon Don't you love it when the Gospel writer says, with many other similar exhortations, he preached good news to them? Well, it was good news.

It really was, because the heart of John's message is, God is going to keep His promise. Messiah is coming, and it's very imminent. But there's a warning attached to that good news.

Get ready. Get ready. He is the Holy One.

He is the Anointed One. And the oppression that He comes to lift is not primarily political, although it certainly has political ramifications. The oppression Messiah comes to deal with is the oppression of your own sin and compromise, your slavery to Satan, your bondage to sin, death, hell, and the grave, and the key to receiving the salvation that He comes to give is that you would repent of that sin before He gets here.

John's ministry was, in effect, God's warning cry, ready or not, here I come. Are you going to hide and try to cover up your shame? Or are you going to confess it and deal with it so that you can greet him joyfully when he comes?

There are three things I want you to notice about John's message. And it's interesting, having mentioned how important a figure he was. I don't think we tend to view him that way.

We're interested in the fact that Billy Graham is coming shortly to Washington, D.C. and gearing up for that visit. And we mean to be part of the crusade that he's bringing here.

And I met with him and a number of pastors yesterday. And he said, I'm really startled because I expected perhaps 70 or 80 people. There were about 600 pastors that came out.

Okay, John the Baptist was the Billy Graham of his day and then some. All right. There was no mass media coverage on television by satellite.

And yet, look at his influence. And yet, what we have recorded in the Scripture is just a snippet of what he had to say. Yet, I want you to notice three things about it.

The first is, repentance means change. Repentance means change. It's not enough to be sorry for your sin.

that's good that's not enough it's not enough to be filled with remorse Judas was filled with remorse and he went out and hanged himself we have no evidence that he went through a repentance that led to reconciliation with the Father there's no evidence that he received from God forgiveness of his betrayal of Jesus maybe he did one would hope he did but there's no evidence of it he knew remorse and he killed himself. That's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about wallowing in guilt, beating my breast, what a horrible person I am.

We're talking about a change of lifestyle. It's interesting, the whole thing is cast in agricultural imagery. Bear fruit that befits repentance.

Let it issue in a change in your life. Bear fruit that befits repentance. what you plant is what you harvest John says even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire I don't want that to happen to me do you?

be cut off at the root and thrown into the fire yet that's the word of God pay attention to the roots what's planted is what's going to grow what's planted in your life what are the roots of your life they may be hidden nobody else can see them they're underground but what are the roots of your life that's going to determine the fruits and if it's not good fruit God's not going to be pleased with it Jesus picks up on this theme I don't know if you ever read the Beatitudes in quite this way but it's really the same thing He says, plant meekness, and you'll inherit the earth. Plant mercy, and you'll obtain mercy. Plant purity of heart, and you'll see God.

What you plant is what you harvest. John goes on, even now Messiah's winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His granary, but the chaff He'll burn with unquenchable There it is again. A separation between that which is good, which will endure, and that which is chaff, which has to be burned up.

I remember the very first time I met Joe Kitts. It was about 13 years ago and he visited St. Stephen's Church and it was during Advent and he preached on this passage and he quoted a five-year-old girl who was asked to define the word repentance and she said to repent is to hate the sin enough to stop it. That's pretty good.

I don't know how many people remember my sermons 13 years later. Repentance means change. Repentance means change.

And let me tell you something, friends. There are an awful lot of people who at one level or another have fallen in love with Jesus and have thought they could bypass repentance. I can love Jesus and go on living the same way.

You've missed something. Repentance means change. John says, prepare the way of the Lord.

Straighten out those kinky things in your life. Fill up those valleys of despair. Knock down those mountains of pride.

Get ready, the Holy One comes on a road that has been prepared for Him. You're just fooling yourself if you think you can love Jesus and bypass repentance. Secondly, I'm interested that in this very brief account, and it is very brief, John had to preach many, many sermons.

We just have one briefly recounted. And this, in fact, this passage from Luke, is the longest account out of the four. But I'm interested that in this very brief account, when folks say, okay John, but what does that mean?

All of his examples have to do with money. All of them. I'm interested in that.

If you've got two coats, give one of them away. if you've got more food than you need share some of it with those who don't have enough you tax collectors stop taking your own slice off the top and collect only what is appointed you you soldiers rob no one by violence or false accusation and worst of all be content with your wages you might escape all those others you know haven't collected any taxes recently haven't robbed anybody by violence haven't even falsely accused and then he gets you be content with your wages I'd submit to you that money that money isn't the only problem that most of us have but most of us have a problem with money am I right? no no not me right Those guys have problems with money.

I usually say that I'm awfully glad we don't have to deal with John's ministry until after Stewardship Sunday is over. But maybe I need to rethink that. John says bear fruits that befit repentance, and the only elaboration that he gives us is in the area of material possessions.

We need to bear fruits that befit repentance in every area of our lives, but let's not try to duck this one. We are the most wealthy people that the world has ever known. We make most kings in all of history look like paupers.

We live in a world that is starving to death and most of us have far too much. Do you realize that almost exactly half of Jesus' parables deal with money? Do you know that?

That's like having a stewardship Sunday every other week. I was interested. One man came up to Billy Hutchison a couple of weeks ago and turned in an extremely large pledge, the largest one I've ever seen.

and made the comment, as he did, God has liberated me from my money. Praise God. How many of you know that you can be possessed by your possessions?

And this man said, God, I don't know how it happened, I don't know any of the details, he just said, God has liberated me from my money. Praise God. May that happen for many of us.

I've said over and over and over again God doesn't need our money but we really do need to give it isn't it interesting that John's ministry comes in our liturgical calendar during that season that precedes Christmas which our secular culture has turned into the biggest materialism orgy in the history of the world and most folks have to borrow money to buy presents to pay off that money all during the next year. They spend more on Christmas one day than they spend on the Lord in the whole year. Something's very wrong, and we call it the celebration of Jesus' birthday.

Some of us need to repent of our materialism. Some of us are just as much in bondage to other things as to materialism. I got a letter from a young woman last August which has sat on the top of my desk ever since it was an incredible letter it was unsigned she wrote and she said I write on behalf of many other young women as well she said I want you to know my story she said an older man a Christian man befriended me and led me to the Lord Jesus and I discovered what it means to know Him and then I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and it was wonderful.

And then that same man led me into sexual activity with the promise that he was going to marry me and then suddenly he dropped me saying I was interfering with his spiritual life. Some of us need to repent. of our sexual indulgence outside of the marriage commitment.

Some of us need to repent of grudges that we've borne toward one another that clog and hinder the life flow within the body of Christ. Jesus says, where there is unity, there I am in the midst of you and I'll answer your prayers power. What's the corollary?

Where there's brokenness of relationship, there is a hindering of God moving in power. And some of us have grudges against each other, and they hinder God doing in our midst what He wants to do. Some of us may need to repent of other things, of alcohol abuse, of gluttony, of pride, of arrogance, maybe of spiritual pride.

How many of us have been inordinately proud of our church or proud of some spiritual ministry that we're involved in. God's going to humble us if that's our attitude. Bitterness, sarcasm, manipulation, whatever.

You fill in the blank. Better yet, let God fill in the blank. The point is, when are we going to hate the sin enough to stop it?

the third thing about John's message is that it's preparatory it's preparatory repentance isn't an end in itself it isn't just repent so that you can feel bad it's repent so that you can be ready to receive what God wants to give C.S. Lewis commented on Jesus' statement, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Lewis said, only the pure in heart would want to.

Can you imagine facing the Holy One? The unspeakably, unimaginably Holy One of Israel while we're still embracing all manner of sin and compromise? St. John said, little children abide in Him so that when He appears, we may have confidence at His coming and not shrink back from Him in shame.

That's what repentance is all about. Clean it out so that when He comes, we can greet Him with joy and confidence. John says, after Me comes One who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie.

I baptize you with water for repentance, but He's going to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Isn't it interesting? We call John the Baptist, but the only thing that he says about Jesus' ministry is that He's going to be the real baptizer.

He wants to baptize you not with water on the outside, but with the Holy Spirit on the inside. That's the only thing John says about Jesus' ministry. He doesn't mention His teaching, His moral example, His miracles.

He doesn't mention His taking our sin upon Himself, dying on a cross, the vicarious atonement. He doesn't mention His burial, death and three days in the grave, His mighty resurrection, His glorious ascension, His coming again in power and glory. He mentions one thing.

Jesus wants to fill you, saturate you with the Holy Spirit. The implication is unescapable, I think. You can't fill the glass unless it's already been emptied.

If it's half full, you'll only be able to fill it half full. Clean it out. Empty it that it might be completely full.

If you're clogged with sin and compromise and materialism and lust and adultery and all the rest of it, God can't do what He wants to do in your life. Get rid of it! So that Jesus can pour His Spirit into you and make you a new creature from the inside out.

You can't bypass repentance. You really can't do it. You may think you can.

You'll end up fooling yourselves. If you don't have the right things planted, you're not going to produce the right fruit at the end of your branch. Jesus says, here I come.

Ready or not? John says, get ready. Because He is coming.

I found this poem in the bookstore just yesterday. You might want to get a copy. It was the night before Jesus came and all through the house not a creature was praying, not one.

in the house. Their Bibles were laying on the shelf without care in hopes that Jesus would not come there. The children were dressing to crawl into bed, not once ever kneeling or bowing ahead, and Mom in a rocker with baby on her lap was watching the late show while I took a nap.

When out of the east there arose With such a clatter I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but angels proclaiming that Jesus was here.

With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray I knew in a moment this must be the day. the light of his face made me cover my head it was Jesus returning just as he'd said and though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth I cried when I saw him in spite of myself in the book of life which he held in his hand was written the name of every saved man he spoke not a word as he searched for my name then he said it's not here and my head hung in shame the people whose names had been written with love he gathered to take to his father above with those who were ready he rose without a sound while all the rest were left just standing around I fell to my knees but it was too late I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight Oh, if only I'd been ready tonight In the words of this poem, the meaning is clear The coming of Jesus is drawing near There's only one life And when comes the last call will find that the Bible was true after all. Amen.