An Urgent Call From God

"Today's Devotion" For November 18, 2005

Read: Matthew 3:1-12; Isaiah 40:1-11, 28-31

AN URGENT CALL FROM GOD

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Mt. 3:2)

We live in a day and age where urgency is the status quo. Television, radio, newspapers, and other media bring us advertisements that attempt to instill an urgency for a product or service that will get us to "Buy Now!" Statistically, the highest paid, most successful sales people are those who are "one-call closers" - they get the sale on the first try because they have a knack for tweaking a prospect's emotions with such a sense of urgency that they "Buy Now!" At the same time, many people who have purchased under such a "push" by a salesperson have experienced "buyer's remorse," believing they made a poor decision that they felt "pushed into." While they may not have made a poor decision - the product may in fact be as worthwhile and valuable as it was claimed to be - they nevertheless feel they've purchased something they don't really need, at least not right away.

In six days we'll again be celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States. That means that right around the corner is Christmas. Already we see the urgency of retailers in the shopping malls seeking to capitalize on the season with record sales. Already we are seeing Christmas decorations (our next door neighbor had her's up this past Sunday), hearing Christmas music, and experiencing Christmas advertising all over. Sadly all this urgency is badly misplaced. What our world really needs to be urgent about comes to us in John the Baptist's message to the people of Israel when he proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Mt. 3:2).

John the Baptist's task was to prepare Israel for the coming of their Messiah, the Christ. He shared a message of repentance - a turning around of their lives and hearts - and turning to God in obedience and trust. John's message rings with urgency - God's plan is ready now; our salvation is on its way; we need to be getting our houses in order now; God's promised redemption will soon be here. While many who heard John's message listened and responded, not everyone was "taken in" by his "sales pitch." Too many, especially the leaders of Israel, refused to heed his call and warning. Visually, John's message suffered because he looked and behaved like a "kook" dressed in camel's hair and eating berries and wild honey. John was pointing to Jesus as the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, but too many were unable to hear the message and its urgency. It can be reasonably said that John was not a "one-call closer" and there weren't a lot of people who experienced "buyer's remorse" from "buying his message."

You may not be "gung-ho" on Christmas just yet. At our house we like to get through Thanksgiving first before we pay attention to the hubbub and chaos that has become the hallmark of the Christmas season in the United States. Yet, sometime in the next week or so, that "Christmas urgency" will most likely be setting in. The frenetic activities surrounding the season will grab most of us and find many of us frantically searching for the right gift for those "special" and "not-so-special" (office gift exchanges for instance) someones. Plans will be made to visit friends and relatives, or preparations will be made to entertain, hold parties, and have children return home from school or with grandchildren in tow.

In the midst of all this inevitable activity ("inevitable" that is, because we've allowed it to be so), we need to hear John the Baptist's call and heed it. We need to put urgency into listening and responding to God's call to repentance. It's an urgency that is essential for us on a daily basis, not just in the "run up" to Christmas. It's an urgency that often goes missing during the humdrum of daily living. Yet God's call to us in the Gospel is a call to daily repentance and absolution. It's a call to godly living, in word and deed, as we walk with Jesus and touch the lives of others with His love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness in myriad ways everyday. God's call is immediate and urgent. He calls us to repentance and faith now - today - not next week, next month, or next year. By the power of the Holy Spirit in our Baptisms, through the washing of the water and the Word, God has made us His very own, redeemed children in Jesus Christ. As we approach this new Christmas season, may we do so with a sense of urgency focused on Jesus and His love for us. By God's grace may we receive the strength to let all other "urgencies" go by and only focus on Jesus.

Prayer: Father, I can honestly say that I don't always have a sense of urgency about my relationship with You. Too often I let the allure of the world get in the way of Your love and blessings to me. Too often I allow the world to sell me "a bill of goods." Forgive me for not staying focused on Your Word. Forgive me for too often forgetting Your blessings to me. Help me, Father, to pay closer attention to Your Word and Will, and have a continued sense of urgency about sharing Your love and forgiveness in Jesus with others. Guide me to live more fully and urgently as Your redeemed child and an heir of eternal life with Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright ©2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.