"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand"

Do you have your Christmas tree yet? Have you found that perfect tree to adorn your home and impress family and friends? For many people, the tree is one of the highlights of the season. You might drive all over town or wander all over a tree farm in search of just the right tree. You might even go to several department stores, looking for just the right tree that will be the right tree for several years. Once you find it, you then manage to get all of its 9 foot branches tied to the roof of your sub-compact car, or the huge box your tree came in stuffed in your tiny little trunk, and begin the tedious journey home.

You bring it in, dry it off, maybe even thaw it out, maybe unpack it and try to put it together, and try and figure out how to get rid of all those loose needles, and then try to put it in the stand so it won’t fall over. And then once you have done that, you start praying that the cat and/or the dog doesn’t knock it over, especially after the decorations are on.

Which brings us to the next step; You dig out the decorations from wherever it was that they got put after Christmas last year, and cover the sap-laden branches with hundreds of lights. Then there are the ornaments. Some were made by the children from empty toilet paper rolls, and some have been passed down for generations.

All of them are hung in just the right spots, and now the tree is the focal point for your celebration. At the foot of the tree, all of the presents will be placed just so, and then, at just the right time, everyone will gather to open the gifts, large and small.

Now, those among you who consider themselves Christmas purists, are probably thinking that the second Sunday in Advent is a little too early to be talking about Christmas trees. Yet, trees are as much a part of our Advent preparation as they are a part of Christmas itself. Listen again to these words from today’s Gospel: "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."

With those words, John the Baptist calls us beyond the goings-on of the season to true preparation for the coming of the Savior. His message is summarized in one sentence; "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Hopefully, those words stir our hearts to be ready to receive our Savior. For John, the kingdom of heaven was synonymous with the reign of God.

The only way to be prepared to meet such a king, the Lord of history, the One who spoke at the beginning to create all things, and the One who will also have the last word, is in repentance. John sees the need for repentance as urgent, for the axe is laid to the root of the tree.

At this point, even Israel could no longer look back to their history as the children of Abraham. The time for nostalgia was over and it was time for true repentance and faith. The axe was laid to the root of the unfruitful tree, and Israel was not being fruitful. John tells them specifically too bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

On the streets of downtown Edmonton, Alberta, day in and day out, it was not uncommon to find a man named Ed offering passersby a "testimony of what Jesus did for me." Summer or winter, even in the bone-chilling days before Christmas, out in the bitter wind and cold, Ed was there.

He moved around from place to place, sometimes on one corner, sometimes on another. Sometimes he would stand at a bus stop and ask; "May I offer you a testimony of what Jesus did for me?" Almost as interesting as watching Ed was watching the people he encountered. Some took a pamphlet to be nice. Most people just ignored him. Some even crossed the street to avoid him.

Few people listened to the words of John the Baptist just to be polite. If you didn’t want to hear what he had to say, you could just stay home, instead of going all the way down to the Jordan River to hear him. But like Ed in Edmonton, he was there, speaking the message God had given him. Many people, crowds of people did come, did hear his words, and were baptized confessing their sins.

Those words of John the Baptist also apply to us. Each of us has shared in Adam and Eve’s sampling of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, our lives are unfruitful. We do not do the works that God requires; in fact, we cannot do them. We too are part of that brood of vipers that John condemns in his preaching. John condemns a repentance that is nothing more than a ritual - and calls for a repentance that is characterized by obedience and trust.

"Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." God’s righteous judgment would come on Israel. About 40 years after the time of John and the ministry of Jesus, Jerusalem would lie in ruins. Jesus warned them many times and even told parables that should have touched their hearts.

In the parable of the tenants recorded in Matthew 21, Jesus tells the chief priests and the Pharisees that the kingdom of God would be taken away from them and given to a people who would produce its fruit. Their reaction was one of anger. Instead of taking Jesus’ words to heart, they looked for a way to destroy him.

Much of what makes up our Christmas celebration is artificial. With lights and presents we cover our failures and our hurts. John calls us to confession in the face of our sins.

As important as it is that we hear John’s message again this Advent, John is not the last word, nor will he have the last word, and he is fully aware of this. He knows he is only the forerunner. He knows that his message will be proclaimed again in the One who brings the kingdom of heaven to us.

John points to Jesus, who will bring the judgment of God. But his coming is not just for wrath and judgment. Abraham’s descendants have failed, so Christ will make for God new descendants of Abraham, baptizing with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus will suffer and die on the cross for the sins of Abraham’s descendants, both his physical descendants, and us, his descendants in faith. Jesus is the new shoot from the stump of Jesse that restores to us the tree of life, the kingdom of heaven.

Even now, in Word and Sacrament we feast upon Christ as our tree of life. He is the vine and we are the branches. By Word and Sacrament, we bring forth the fruit of repentance and live in trust and obedience.

So go ahead. Put up your tree. Hang all the lights and ornaments you’d like. Light it up for all the world to see. Let this time-honored tradition point you to Jesus, who comes to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire and make you forever his own in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.