Advent 2A, 2025

Text: Matthew 3:1-12

Title: Uncomfortable

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John the Baptist makes us uncomfortable. Everything about John is the opposite of comfort.

John lives in an uncomfortable place—out in the wilderness, far from the comforts of home.  No roof over his head, no bed to sleep in, no gardens for food or shade, just dirt and rocks and whatever scrubby plants can grow there.

John’s clothing sounds uncomfortable.  I’ve read that camel’s hair is actually soft, but the point is that he seems a bit wild and unrefined to dress in this way.  If someone were to walk in here looking like the guy on the bulletin cover, you might feel a little uncomfortable.

John’s diet probably makes you uncomfortable, too. You probably cringe at the thought of eating bugs, although locusts and grasshoppers aren’t too bad—crunchy and a little nutty.  You should try them sometime.

The most uncomfortable thing about John, however, isn’t where he lives, or how he dresses, or what he eats.  The most uncomfortable thing about John is what he says.

When the Pharisees and Sadducees come to check John out, he calls them a bunch of snakes.

He threatens people that if they don’t shape up, they will be burned up.

The heart and core of John’s message is in that opening statement, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The whole notion of repentance makes you uncomfortable, because repentance calls you to change your life.  You’re probably pretty comfortable with your life and how you’ve chosen to live, and so you’re likely to get angry or defensive if someone were to tell you that you need to change.

Repentance begins by recognizing that you’ve done something wrong.   You’ve made a mistake.  You haven’t lived up to God’s expectations for you and your life.

And when you realize that you’ve sinned, that should make you sad.  You should feel truly sorry for what you’ve done, the hurt that you’ve caused, the damage that you’ve done to your life and the lives of those around you.

And when you’ve realized that you’ve done something wrong, when you’ve felt that sorrow in your heart, the next part of repentance is to confess your sin.  Admit that you’ve done something wrong.  Not just generally, with words like, “Nobody’s perfect,” but specifically. What commandment have you broken?

Have you loved anyone or anything more than God?

Have you used God’s name to curse and swear, rather than for prayer, praise, and thanksgiving?

Have you failed to come to church to hear God’s Word and to receive the body and blood of Christ and made other activities more important than worship?

Have you dishonored your parents or other authorities?

Have you hurt someone with your words or actions, or failed to help those in need?

Have you slept with someone you are not married to or even desired to do so?

Have you taken anything that isn’t yours?

Have you told lies about someone else or spread rumors and gossip?

Have you desired what isn’t yours in terms of possessions or relationships?

Have I made you uncomfortable yet?

That’s what the law does.  That’s its job—to make you feel uncomfortable.  And it’s not done yet.

Repentance is more than just realizing you’ve sinned, feeling bad, and confessing it.

Repentance means changing.  Stopping anything that you’re doing that’s wrong and instead, doing what is right.

That’s the whole point of the law, to make you so uncomfortable that you change your life, that you stop doing what’s wrong and start doing what’s right.

Think of the law like a fire alarm.  A fire alarm that is calm and soothing doesn’t do anyone any good.

You need a fire alarm that is as loud and as annoying as possible, so that you actually leave to get away from it.  The point of the fire alarm is to get you out of the building and away from the fire.  The point of the fire alarm is to save your life by making you uncomfortable.

John the Baptist and the preaching of the law is your fire alarm.  “Repent, Repent, Repent” is what that alarm sounds like.  You need to hear that message from me and from every pastor.  You should leave church today ready to make any and all necessary changes in your life because you have heard the call to repent.

John the Baptist called the people to repent because Jesus was coming, and the way to prepare for that coming is to repent. 

Remember that Jesus didn’t just come once a long time ago.  Jesus is coming again, and you need to be ready for that second coming, too.

If you’re comfortable with your life and happy with how things are, Jesus comes as your judge, and that will be a fearful thing. 

But if you’re uncomfortable, if you see your need for forgiveness, Jesus comes as your Savior, sending you the Holy Spirit, who is your Comforter.

Twice in our Epistle lesson, St. Paul speaks of “encouragement.”  Another way to translate that same word is “comfort.”  Literally, it refers to someone who comes next to you to support you, to encourage you, to advocate for you, and yes, to comfort you. 

Jesus uses that same word to describe the Holy Spirit and what the Spirit does for you as your comforter.

Jesus comes bring His Holy Spirit.  And you receive that Holy Spirit, that Comforter in Holy Baptism.  That’s what makes Jesus’ baptism different from John’s.

When you were baptized by John in the Jordan River, you were saying, “I’m a sinner who needs to repent.”

When you receive Christian baptism, it is in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  In Holy Baptism, you are adopted as a child of God and He becomes your Father. In Holy Baptism, you are connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and your sins are washed away. In Holy Baptism, you are given new life, lived in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. 

That is why Violeta is baptized today, to give her the gift of eternal life and to fill her with the Holy Spirit. 

And that’s where the fruit of good works come from, through the Holy Spirit.

On your own, you cannot produce fruit, you can’t do any good works.  You’re like that dead tree about to be cut down there on your bulletin cover. 

But through the Holy Spirit, good works, good fruit are produced in your life.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

That is what your life looks like as you are filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Are you looking to bear fruit in life?  Repent and be baptized.  

Have you already been baptized?  Continue to receive the Holy Spirit through hearing God’s Word. 

The Holy Spirit is not something that you can possess, that you can receive once and be done.  The Holy Spirit is like the air in your lungs.  You are continually filled with the Holy Spirit as you hear the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit, working through God’s Word, gives you comfort and encouragement by producing the fruit of good works in your life.

And the Holy Spirit, working through God’s Word, gives you comfort and encouragement by giving you the hope of eternal life.

In that reading from Romans you heard, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement / comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.  5 May the God of endurance and encouragement / comfort grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Immersed in God’s Word, filled with the Spirit, you then live in harmony with one another, and give praise and glory to God. Your life is abundant with fruit, not because you’ve just managed to do it on your own, but because Jesus has filled you with His Holy Spirit.

Your comfort comes from Jesus Christ alone.

The Law, the preaching of repentance, is to make you uncomfortable with your life so that you look to Jesus as your source of comfort and hope.

Hear once more the comforting words that concluded our Epistle reading, “May the God of hope fill you with all you and peace in believing, so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.”

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