in this season in which we prepare for a rich, renewing celebration of Christmas.
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
This season is a season in which we prepare for a rich, renewing celebration of Christmas. Part of our preparation involves repentance, turning away from our sin in order to seek the Lord and his ways. In Advent, we remember just how much we need salvation, which prepares us to welcome the Savior born in a manger.
Many Christians describe Advent as a season of preparation for Christmas. In Advent, we prepare our hearts for a rich, renewing celebration of the birth of the Savior. We do this, in part, by getting in touch with ancient hopes for the coming of the Messiah, and, also, by attending to our own hopes for the coming of Christ, both in the future and in our own hearts today. Advent experiences of waiting, hoping, grieving, and at times, rejoicing, prepare us to meet the Lord anew at Christmas.
Preparation is also a major theme in Luke’s telling of what happened in the months before Jesus was born. Consider, for example, what the angel said to Zechariah as he was in the temple: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:13-17). John, whom we know as John the Baptist, would play a crucial role in God’s plan of salvation. But John was not the Lord. Nor was he the Savior. He was not the star of the show, but rather a chief supporting actor. His main task was preparation. He would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (1:17).
John’s role, therefore, is essentially “Adventish.” He is all about preparation, about getting people ready for a transformational encounter with God. So, given how much John’s ministry will focus on the Advent theme of preparation, we ought to pay close attention to what it is that John will do.
According to the angel, John will “turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:16). This is the language of repentance. Repentance, simply stated, happens when we are going in the wrong direction and then, realizing our error, make a U-turn to get onto the correct course. The angel’s statement to Zechariah assumes that many of the Israelites had turned away from God and needed to be redirected. The angel mentioned two specific examples of repentance that John would facilitate. First, he would “turn the hearts of parents to their children” (1:17). This quotation from Malachi 4:5 envisions parents reclaiming their responsibility to help their children know and serve the Lord (for example, Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:2, 7). Second, according to the angel, John would turn the hearts of “the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous” (1:17). Those who had gone their own way, disregarding the way of God, would change course, looking to those who were right with God for wise guidance about how to live.
These examples do not exhaust the work of John, of course. They represent two among many ways he would “turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God,” and in this way “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:16-17).
For Western Christians, repentance is a relatively minor theme of Advent. Not so for our Eastern Orthodox sisters and brothers, however. What they call the “Nativity Fast” is a 40-day period of fasting and penitence. During this time, the faithful give up rich foods (yes, in the weeks right before Christmas!). Some Orthodox believers even abstain from sexual intimacy during the entire period of the Nativity Fast. They fast so as to be spiritually prepared for a full, twelve-day celebration of Christmas (December 25 – January 5).
Though we may not join our Orthodox brothers and sisters in their Nativity Fast, we can let the angelic description of John’s ministry guide us in Advent. We can ask the Lord to show us where we are going in the wrong direction in life. We can feel Spirit-inspired sorrow over our sin so that we might, by the Spirit’s help, turn back to the Lord and walk in his ways.
We might, for example, consider our relationship with our families (not just parents with their children). Are we loving our family members with the love of Christ? Sometimes loving those who are closest to us is quite hard. Are we who are older making sure the younger members of our family are growing as disciples of Jesus? Are we who are younger spending time with our elders?
Similarly, even if we are not blatantly disobedient to the Lord, all of us turn away at times, choosing our own way rather than the way of God. Perhaps it’s time for us to turn back to “the wisdom of the righteous,” especially as found in Scripture.
The preparation of repentance isn’t only a matter of turning away from sin, however, so that we might seek the Lord more faithfully. It also involves recognizing just how much we need a Savior. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot live rightly without a Savior who frees us from sin and guides us in the way of God. This is exactly what we have – or Who we have – in Jesus. Thus, our penitence prepares our hearts to welcome Jesus, the one who saves us, teaches us, turns our hearts to what’s right, and gives us abundant life.
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