Motivation (Matt 3:1-6)

Many of you reading this will know that at the end of last year I finished up as OT lecturer at Carey Baptist College, which meant moving my office to the spare bedroom at home. I ordered some bookcases from IKEA but did not expect them to arrive before Christmas and my books were sitting in cardboard boxes in the hall for weeks. Every time I went past the spare bedroom, I looked at the clutter that accumulated over the years and wished I had the will power to clear it out. Then a week before we were to travel to see family, I got a text one evening: Your bookcases will be delivered tomorrow! I spent the next morning frantically sorting through the piles of stuff, finding new space for some things, getting rid of others. Suddenly I was highly motivated and in less than a day the place was emptied out and the bookcases were being assembled.

My story illustrates that we do not turn our lives upside down just for the sake of it. Usually we are motivated by the hope of a better future, whether it is in a new job, a new home, or a new relationship. In today’s reading, we see crowds streaming to the Jordan to hear John and be baptised by him (Matt 3:5-6). As discussed in my last post, this meant a radical turning of their lives over to God in anticipation that God’s kingdom rule will finally be established.

Baptism marks the occasion and in this form the act is an innovation of John’s. Jews used ritual bathing as a way of being cleansed from ritual impurity; a condition that interfered with the worship of God. Such bathing was repeated as necessary rather than done once and for all and it did not involve sin. Perhaps an action that is closer to John’s was proselyte baptism, which expressed a similar re-orientation of one’s whole life but this time by a Gentile converting to Judaism. John’s innovation is that baptism is for sins and it is a once-for-all action for Jews, God’s own people. Perhaps it is motivated by such passages as Ezek 36:25-27, which speaks of the renewal of Israel, of cleansing from sin by water and the giving of God’s Spirit (cf. Matt 3:11).

There are several lessons that we can take from this. First of all, the call to repent, i.e. to re-orient our lives towards God is given because it is possible. This may be self-evident, but many feel that a deeper relationship with God is not an option for them, perhaps because of past mistakes and failures. But John’s message is to all who desire that relationship with God. He can deal with our clutter, past mistakes and sins, if we are willing to let go of them. Unlike in our passage (v.6), these days most Christian churches do not practice public confession of sins except in the most general of terms. Nevertheless, it is helpful to acknowledge sins even if only to ourselves and God. We may have guilt feelings or we may not, but that is not what matters. Rather, it is the recognition that our attitude, actions or words were wrong, and we now turn away from these and allow God to cleanse and forgive.

Secondly, God calls not only outsiders, but also those who profess to be His own people to hear the news that He is coming, He is here; He is with us and for us. So many who profess to be Christians live a life that is only a shadow of what it could be. Christianity is not about rules but a relationship with the One who fulfils all our longings. He is everything that is right and true and loving, and our hearts can fully find our home in Him. If we look at the clutter in our lives and despair, let’s look again but this time at Jesus Christ. He is our motivation for a new start.