Matthew 3:1-12
December 7, 2025
When I was growing up recycling became a new phenomenon. I remember learning about it in school and then telling my parents that we could not throw away our soda bottles or soup cans in the trash anymore, they had to be recycled. Soon we received a blue bin at our house and we made sure we put the cans, bottles, plastic items, and newspapers into the bin and the rest of the trash into our trash cans. As the phenomenon grew, I remember seeing people at baseball games and the state fair walking around the parking lots picking up cans and putting them into plastic bags, because they would get money for them when they were turned into recycling centers.
At our church we would have special recycling days where people could bring their newspapers, cans, and plastic bottles and put them into a huge truck which would then be taken to the recycling center. This turned into a nice fundraising event for our high school youth group and we really got into it as we would then walk up and down the road where our church was located on those days picking up trash on the road hoping to find more items to recycle. We would bring bags of trash back to the church parking lot and sort through them, picking out beer cans and glass/plastic soda bottles for recycling. However, some things, we were told could not be recycled, such as Styrofoam and old winter gloves; they were considered to be worthless and we were told to just throw those things away.
We have a God who does a lot of sorting. He sorts through people, looking for those He can shape, mold, and use to share His Word and love with others. And He goes to great lengths to keep people, clean them up, and use them over and over again. God wants to use every person on this earth in special ways to serve others, but some people don’t want any part of our loving God. However, it is not God’s will that anyone should live his or her life in such a way that they end up in the spiritual trashcan, but some will. John the Baptist said in verse 10 of our Gospel lesson for today, “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.” So maybe the question we need to ask and answer this morning is this: “Is my life pleasing to God, that He would want to shape, mold, and use me?”
John was aware that time was running out. In his message that he shared with people, he knew he did not have time for the trivial things of life. People were coming out into the wilderness to see him as they were intrigued by this unusual man who was preaching a message of repentance. Some were more concerned about what he wore or what he ate, as compared to his message. Scripture says that many people wondered if John was the Christ or maybe Elijah, back from the dead. Many people had their doubts about John, because not only did he look different and act differently from others, but his message was different from anything they had heard. John told people to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Now, what did John mean by that statement? “Repent” sounds like a good word that you would find in the Bible, but I don’t think most of us use that word today in our daily conversations. If you know someone who is struggling, we don’t usually say to them, “Well, if you would just repent, you would feel much better.” But the word, “repent,” does mean to change, to turn around, and the season of Advent is a great time for us to look at our lives as we prepare for Christmas and to note the changes we need to make, and then to make them as we move into a new year. “Buy why?” you might ask, “What’s the rush?”
Think of it this way. When I was in middle school we had a teacher who often went to the office while we were in class. Before leaving she would tell us things like, “Please work on problems 1-10 while I’m at the office.” After a while we started goofing off while she was gone, so we always had one student stand guard by the door and look down the hallway. As soon as he saw the teacher coming, he would yell, “Teacher’s coming!” and we would quickly stop talking, go back to our seats, and act like we were working on our assignment the whole time she was gone. When John the Baptist announced that the “kingdom of heaven is at hand,” it’s like he was yelling, “God’s coming!” and everyone had better get back to doing what God wanted them to do.
Fortunately, many of the people who came to hear John took his message seriously as they confessed their sins and were baptized as a way to receive forgiveness for their sins, in order to prepare them for the coming of God’s kingdom in the person of Jesus. But there were others there that day who rejected John’s message, who saw no need for them to repent and they refused to be baptized, because they didn’t think they had any sins that needed to be forgiven.
So where do we fit in with this message from John? Do we take repentance and the forgiveness it brings from God seriously or do we just tell God that we want to change, we’re going to change, but continue to do the same thing or behave in the same way over and over again? I think of children who are fighting and are told by their parents to stop and apologize. Inevitably one will say rather sarcastically, “Sorry,” but will still be punished, not only for his wrong doing but also because he did not sincerely apologize or intend to change his ways. Are there times we have done the same thing toward God? Have we taken advantage of our relationship with Christ with half-hearted requests for forgiveness? That’s exactly what the religious leaders, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees, did when John told the crowds to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. They saw how people were flocking to John, so not wanting to lose their power over the people, they decided to go along with the crowd, to play the game, to go through the motions, but not really believing that they needed God’s forgiveness.
In their minds, their spot in heaven was secure because they were descendants of Abraham. But John sees right through their charade. He calls them a “brood of vipers.” This was actually pretty harsh; it was like calling them “children of the devil.” John’s point to them is that they were not living God pleasing lives. Just because they came from a religious bloodline and knew Scripture and acted holy did not mean that God was pleased with them. In other words, the God who sorts could easily throw them away, even though they looked nice on the outside.
There’s a story of two brothers who were convicted one day of stealing from several stores in the community. The brutal custom in this small community demanded that their foreheads be branded with the letters “ST,” which stood for “Store Thief.” One of the brothers tried to run from his past sin, but someone would always ask what the letters “ST” stood for on his forehead. He would tell them what he had done and then, out of guilt, would move to a different city. Life became unbearable for him as he constantly moved from place to place, and he died bitter and alone.
But the other brother repented of his sin, lived a life in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus, and worked hard to recapture the respect of his neighbors. Years later, a stranger came into town, saw the man with the letters, “ST,” on his forehead and asked what they meant. The man thought for a while and said, “I’m not sure. It happened a long time ago, but I think the letters are an abbreviation for ‘Saint.’” This man learned what it meant to be cleansed, recycled you could say, and made new and whole once again by God.
Joh the Baptist had a great message, he said, “Repent” – turn away from the things that stand between you and God; be Baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, and Share what you have with others in need. But Jesus had an even greater message, He said, “Repent” – but not in response to a command, but in response to what He has done for you. It doesn’t matter how bad we may look on the outside or the inside, we have a God who sorts, recycles, forgives, and makes us whole once again. Every week we have a chance to repent of our sins, to receive God’s forgiveness in the bread and wine of communion, and to return to our communities as chosen saints of God – cleansed and made holy by Jesus’ death and resurrection in order to live for Him and to serve one another.
