Scripture
1In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 3The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’ Matthew 3:1-3
Observation
John the Baptist was a strange character to be sure. Camel hair and locusts for lunch are not my thing, but when you’re living out among the rocks, weeds, and lizards and ministering under the hot Judean sun you aren’t worried about appearances. John the Baptist wasn’t there to win any popularity contests. He had one message and he was going to be laser-focused on it until God took him home- prepare the way for the Lord’s return. How? Repentance. Matthew quotes Isaiah 40:3 to confirm John’s identity in scripture. All of the readers of this Gospel would have been familiar with this Messianic prophecy. As you read the next couple of verses in Isaiah you begin to see that what John spoke of was not some gentle change, but a massive upheaval. “4Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. 5Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!” This not only speaks to Christ’s First Coming but also to His second coming. There’s going to be a great leveling that takes place prior to Christ’s return for His Church. How will “all the people see it together?” The internet perhaps? The point is that the Church of the 21st Century is also called to prepare the way for the Lord’s Return? How? Repentance. The Greek word for "repent" is a 180-degree turn. Paul writes it this way in Titus 2:11-15, “11For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. 15You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them.” Notice Paul doesn’t say, “maybe teach this” or “if you have time teach these things”. No, we must teach that the time to turn is now! It’s our turn to be John the Baptist and prepare the way. It’s time to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. There is no time to waste. Jesus is coming and we must be ready.
Application
I know there have been a lot of end times preachers pointing to this Pandemic as a sign of the beginning of the end. There’s a lot that lines up with the prophetic markers of the end times. I grew up in a very charismatic, very prophetic church and I’m grateful for the exposure. There were many prophecies, both personal and global, that came to pass and built my faith. There was also excess, hype, and false words as happens when there’s flesh involved. So, I learned to have a balanced approach to the prophetic making sure everything lines up with Scripture and with the Holy Spirit. Consequently, I have been slow to jump on the “the end is near” bandwagon. There’s still no bandwagon jumping happening, but there is a serious wake-up call going on in my head and heart. I won’t go in to detail, but last night I had what could be described as an “end times” dream. A series of natural disasters, lives in peril, praying with people and it all seemed so real. I woke up before my alarm, which is a minor miracle in and of itself, and my first question to the Lord was, “What in the world was that about?” All I can say is that God is saying, “Get Ready.” I don’t normally get dreams. When I do they are usually a message from the Lord. Taking that to heart I knew the best way to ready myself in that moment was to start with a cup of coffee. I checked my phone and found a text message from a friend. It had a link from an article about Francis Chan asking “What if God Doesn’t Want Us To Go Back To Business As Usual?” (https://churchleaders.com/news/373965-repent-what-if-god-doesnt-want-us-to-go-back-to-church-life-as-usual.html). Then my friend said, “This could be our future as the Church.” In the article, “he says he was never one to proclaim the end times is near, Chan says perhaps “this could be the beginning of the end.” Speaking to the unprecedented nature of these times we’re living in, Chan says “God is doing something now that I’ve never seen in my lifetime…It feels like we’re headed into a new season.” His point was the same as John’s and Paul’s in scripture. It’s our turn. It’s time to turn. Instead of waiting for things to go “back to normal” let’s embrace the landscaping of the soul this worldwide Pandemic has afforded us. I have found people are much more willing to pray in these times of uncertainty. Sure, people may look at us the way they looked at John the Baptist, but the Church was never put here to win popularity contests. We were put here to win souls and prepare the way for the return fo the Lord.
Prayer
Lord, forgive me for sleeping through what You are trying to do. Thank you for the wake-up call this morning. Literally. It’s time to turn. Show me where I need to repent, where I need to turn my attention back to you. Let me live in the ever-present reality of Your return. If I can’t see the change here at home then I didn’t truly change in my heart. I've got my marching orders for this new season. It's our turn. It's time to turn. It's time to prepare the way for the Lord's return.
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