Having a Change of Heart
2 Sunday in Advent, December 8, 2013
nd
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12
Two sizes too small. That’s how the heart of Dr. Seuss’s “The Grinch” is described in the iconic
children’s holiday classic story, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.
The Grinch, if you remember, does not like all of the celebrating and festivities surrounding
Christmas in the town of Whoville. He sees Christmas as a bothersome time of year. He does not like the
noise, the singing, the decorations, or the feasts, one little bit.
Thinking himself to be wise, the Grinch decides to end the Whoville’s celebration of Christmas.
He decides that he is going to steal everything he possibly can about Christmas – including the nails that
hang the stockings by the chimney.
With the help of his faithful companion dog, Max, the Grinch makes a Santa Claus suit. Together,
they go into town to steal Christmas. From house to house they go, taking trees, decorations, presents,
and food that has been prepared for the upcoming celebrations.
After a long night of work, the Grinch and Max return to the Grinch’s home – but not without a
few mishaps with the sleigh in going back up the mountain. As they arrive back to the Grinch’s cave, the
Grinch and Max hear the Whoville’s singing.
In that moment, the Grinch realizes the true meaning of Christmas: it is not the decorations, or the
presents, or the food that brings Christmas. Christmas comes because of love and the joy that is in one’s
heart.
On that day, the Grinch’s heart grew. It went from being two sizes too small to three times as
large.
That, dear friends, is a serious change of heart. It is also the change of heart that John the Baptist
is referring to in our Gospel reading from Matthew today.
John the Baptist, has been telling others about Jesus. He has been telling others that Jesus is
coming. As John has shared this news with others, he has invited and encouraged others to repent, to
have a change of heart.
Some who heard John the Baptist’s message truly believed and repented.
Pharisees and the Sadducees came to John the Baptist with other intentions in mind.
Others, like the
These intentions may have been to have John the Baptist look like a false prophet. John the
Baptist was a little unusual – even by our standards today. First of all, he was a Nazarite. Nazarites did
not shave their heads. With a long flowing beard, and even longer flowing hair, John the Baptist looked
like a wild man. Second, John the Baptist’s diet was unique – a diet of locusts, an insect from the
grasshopper family, and wild honey. Food John the Baptist could easily find in the wilderness. Third,
John the Baptist wore clothing made out of camel’s hair. Not a camel skin, but camel hair – coarse, rough
hair.
John the Baptist sees the Pharisees and the Sadducees coming, and stops them in their tracks. He
knows why they are there to see him, and has a few things to say to them. “You brood of vipers” he calls
them.
In other words, John the Baptist challenges the reasons why they have come to him seeking
repentance. He does not think they are truly repentant of what they have done. Nor does he think their
search for repentance to be sincere. He invites them to reconsider and to have a change of heart. In
having a change of heart, John the Baptist invites them to repent in a way that will bear fruit.
When the Grinch had a change of heart, he returned everything he had taken from the town of
Whoville. As he returned everything he had taken, his heart was filled with joy and love for everyone and
everything.
But what about us? Repentance is more than feeling guilty for something we have done, or
something, in the words of the confession of sins and forgiveness that we have left undone. Repentance is
more than saying we are sorry for what has or has not been done. Repentance is more than recognizing
the error of our ways, or promising we will do better, or promising that we will not make the same
mistakes from our past again.
Repentance is a change of perspective. It is a matter of recognizing while mistakes are made, that
they will not be made again.
And, repentance is difficult. It is difficult because it means making a commitment, a promise, to
turn one’s life around, and to live differently. Saying one is going to live one’s life differently is different
than actually following through on this.
Repentance is a matter of not only walking the talk, but talking the walk. For example, the person
who is a substance user and promises to seek help for their addictive habit without actually doing so has a
difficult time repenting and changing their ways. But if a substance user recognizes their need for help
and healing, and seeks help for this, they are well on their way to repentance and a change of life.
To think about repentance during the season of Advent is often a difficult thing to do. What
makes it so difficult is that the entire theme of repentance, change of heart, and turning one’s life around
seems out of place next to our preparations for Christmas. There are, after all, plenty of things to do over
the next two and a half weeks. These things can keep us plenty occupied and pretty distracted. Who has
time for repentance? That’s a resolution for the new year, not something to think about during the month
of December!
To think that way about repentance is to miss the mark. To think that way about repentance also
places us in the same camp as the Pharisees and Sadducees who approached John the Baptist. The
Pharisees and Sadducees thought repentance was a one time event. Once they repented, they could be on
their way.
John the Baptist saw repentance as something different. He saw it as a change of heart. A change
of heart that lasts a lifetime.
For various reasons, our hearts can become hardened to God’s love within our lives. We may
have been hurt by others in our past. We may find ourselves being guarded, even jaded because of things
that have happened. We may have tried repentance a time or two before, only to find our attempts
insincere and difficult to maintain.
Saying this is not to create guilt or induce further anxiety. If anything, it is a reminder of the times
where our hearts, like the heart of the Grinch is smaller than what it is intended to be.
In the hymn “Here I Am Lord”, there is a line that always catches me short. The line is, “I will
break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for love alone. I will speak my word to them, whom shall I
send?”
Repentance is a matter of hope. It is a matter of God having hope in us. It is a matter of God
taking the hardness and the bitterness of our hearts, breaking through, working through us, in us and with
us. As God works through the hardness of our hearts, a seed is planted. This seed is a seed of hope, and a
seed of new beginnings.
In this hope, in this small seed planted within the hardness of our hearts is an invitation from God.
It is an invitation to leave behind that which is familiar and to join God in an adventure that goes beyond
our wildest hopes and dreams. It is also an invitation, not only to truly experience Advent repentance, but
to also experience a change of heart. A change of heart that will last forever as we wait for the coming of
the Christ child, and as we hope.
This indeed is good news! Thanks be to God! Amen!