the movement of the heart

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Psalm 78:40-72; Matthew 3:1-12


Repent, for the kingdom of heaven in at hand...
bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
(Matthew 3:2,8)

For John the Baptist repentance was the entrance requirement and only appropriate response to the King who was coming whose kingdom was breaking in upon them (heaven here, for Matthew, is a substitute for "God").

Everyone was coming out to the Jordan River and people were baptized, "confessing their sins." But John recognized that the religious people who came out were not (or at least likely were not) sincere in their actions. They got themselves from their homes and synagogues out to the Jordan, they got themselves down into the river and up and out again, but apparently there was no movement toward God.

John says that the King's coming involves a bunch of apocalyptic images: axes and fire specifically. And that God where God will cut off and burn fruitless, unresponsive people, He can raise up new children to Abraham from the stones (just as He once did with the stone-dead reproductive systems of Abraham and Sarah). Children intimates relationship with the Father, and the likeness of their father of faith.

In Hebrew, the root word for repent is "shuv" which means "return." Return sounds like a movement (as does our Greek word for repent, "metanoia," which means to change one's mind or turn around). Both imply a change of direction and movement. John recognizes as did the prophets before him that you can have religious looking movement with no internal movement toward God, in fact it can involve moving away from God (there's no standing still, really).

For me, today, I remember that my actions are wedded to my heart, and that true repentance involves these heart corrections as well as the actions of ceasing certain deeds and embracing others. It calls for me to cast myself completely on God in utter dependence and put my trust in his love and power, to serve God and not my selfish desires or fearful cravings.

The fruit of repentance that John points to is not some exterior ornament on my life, like pinning an apple to a tree. It's innate, intimate to the deepest part of me, it comes from a heart that is at peace with God, filled with life and love and Spirit of Christ. And repentance is the necessary movement or action, like a farmer or vinedresser must do certain things to have a harvest, but he can't make the fruit grow - that's a mystery, that's a gift. Thanks be to God.

The Hymnal (Episcopal) # 76

On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry announces that the Lord is nigh;
awake and hearken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of kings.

Then cleansed be every breast from sin; make straight the way for God within,
and let each heart prepare a home where such a mighty guest may come.

For thou art our salvation, Lord, our refuge, and our great reward;
without thy grace we waste away like flowers that wither and decay.

To heal the sick stretch out thine hand, and bid the fallen sinner stand;
shine forth, and let they light restore earth's own true loveliness once more.

All praise, eternal Son, to thee, whose advent doth thy people free;
whom with the Father we adore and Holy Spirit evermore.