A number of years ago a couple traveled to the offices of an Adoption Society in England to receive a baby. They had been on the waiting list a long time. They had been interviewed and carefully scrutinized. Now at last their dreams were to be fulfilled. But their day of happiness was another's pain.

Arriving at the offices of the Society they were led up a flight of stairs to a waiting room. After a few minutes they heard someone else climbing the stairs. It was the young student mother whose baby was to be adopted. She was met by the lady responsible for the adoption arrangements and taken into another room. Our friends heard a muffled conversation and a few minutes later footsteps on the stairs as the young mother left. They heard her convulsive sobbing until the front door of the office was closed. Then, there was silence.

The lady in charge then conducted them next door. In a little crib was a six week old baby boy. On a chair beside it was a brown paper bag containing a change of clothes and two letters. One of these, addressed to the new parents, thanked them for providing a home for her baby and acknowledged that under the terms of the adoption each would never know the other's identity. Then the young mother added one request. Would they allow her little son to read the other letter on his eighteenth birthday? She assured them that she had not included any information about her identity. The couple entrusted that letter to a lawyer and one day the young man will read the message which his mother wrote on the day when with breaking heart, she parted with him.

I wonder what she wrote? If I had to condense all I feel about life and love into a few precious words what would I say? I would have no time for trivia. I would not be concerned about economics, politics, the weather, the size of house or the type of car. At such a time I would want to dwell on the profundities, on what life was all about and what things were absolutely essential.

John in the desert was in the great tradition of the Hebrew prophets. He was aware that time was running out. In his burning message he had no time for peripheral matters. He was not playing Trivial Pursuit nor was he prepared to splash about in the shallows. Soon the sword of Herod's guard would flash and his tongue would lie silent in the grave. Superficial people came out from Jerusalem to see him. They were intrigued by this strange phenomenon of a wild man preaching repentance. They were fascinated by frivolous things such as his dress, his diet and his fierce declamatory oratory. They wanted to interview him and then tell all their friends about their remarkable experience. "Who are you?" they asked. His answer was curt: "I am not the Christ." "Are you Elijah?" "No!" "Then who are you?" they persisted. They had their doubts about who he was but his message to their ears was clear: Repent.

There comes a moment when the preacher longs for his hearers to lose sight of everything except his message. "Don't listen to my accent. Don't look at my clothes. Don't comment on my style. Don't search my biographical details for my University pedigree. Just listen to what I am saying. Repent!

I would like to suggest this morning that Repent was the first component of John’s message. There are two others. Let’s take a look at the first.

I

John's message called people to repentance. One of the towering marks of this age is the absence of guilt. Not many people would deny that fact. Some are pleased that guilt has been dethroned; others see it as a bad sign. The absence of guilt in today's society makes it very difficult to talk about repentance. For if there is no feeling of guilt, then the need for repentance is greatly minimized, if not altogether eliminated.

For many the word repentance is a word that belongs to yesterday. It is equated with sackcloth and ashes and mourners benches. Some see repentance as something that we do only if we get caught. But repentance is far more than simply blurting out "I'm Sorry" if we get caught cheating on the IRS or our wife. Nor is repentance merely turning over a new leaf. I will have to admit that one of my favorite times of the week is Sunday after the evening worship service. The pressure of the day has been lifted and it is like starting all over again. It’s like putting a clean page in the typewriter. It’s a great feeling. But repentance is far more than just starting over again. Repentance is also far more than simply reciting with every one else the prayer of confession that we pray each week.

In John Steinbeck's story "The Wayward Bus" a dilapidated old bus takes a cross country shortcut on its journey to Los Angeles, and gets stuck in the mud. While the drivers go for assistance, the passengers take refuge in a cave. It is a curious company of people and it is obvious that the author is attempting to get across the point that these people are lost spiritually as well as literally. As they enter into this cave, the author calls the readers attention to the fact that as they enter they must pass a word that has been scrawled with paint over the entrance. The word is repent. Although Steinbeck calls that to the readers attention it is interesting that none of the passengers pay any attention to it whatsoever.

All too often this is our story. Yet, John the Baptist calls upon us to take our sinning seriously. Why? Because God does? Repentance is not just changing our minds, or feeling sorry for something that we have done, or even making bold resolves that we will never participate in certain conduct again. Instead, repentance means to turn around and go in another direction. What John the Baptist wanted his audience to hear was: Turn your life toward this one called Messiah. This is not negative or down-faced. Rather, it breaks the chains of oppression and death that hold us back.

Several years ago I had one of my parishioners tell me after a sermon during Advent: The problem with John the Baptist is that he takes all of the fun our of Christmas. He couldn't have been further from the truth. I submit to you that it is this weird eccentric called the Baptist who puts the joy back into Christmas. For he is the one who calls us not to Christmas the way it is, but to Christmas the way it is meant to be.

II

First, John admonished his listeners to repent. Second, he told them to share. In Luke 3:10 we read where a crowd approached John and asked of him: "What shall we do then?" In other words, what is expected of us. To this John responded: He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; he who has food, let him do likewise."

Sharing is so basically fundamental to our faith that anyone who somehow has not grasp this principle will miss a major thrust of this Advent Season.

One of my favorite Christmas stories is O. Henry's short story The Gift of The Magi. You are all familiar with it. A story about a desperately poor young couple living in New York around the turn of the century. Neither had money sufficient to buy a gift for the other so they each secretly went out and sold something of worth. He sold his prized pocket watch to get her a braid for her long hair. When he presented it to her she removed her scarf to reveal that she had had her hair clipped and sold to purchase a chain for his pocket watch. The thrust of the story is obvious. It is not what you give that is important, but the sharing spirit of love in which it is given.

One of the messages of Advent is that we are called to be a sharing people. Not just at one special season of the year, but to live a life of sharing.

In the latter part of the 17th century, German preacher August H. Francke founded an orphanage to care for the homeless children of Halle. One day when Francke desperately needed funds to carry on his work, a destitute Christian widow came to his door begging for a ducat--a gold coin. Because of his financial situation, he politely but regretfully told her he couldn't help her.

Disheartened, the woman began to weep. Moved by her tears, Francke asked her to wait while he went to his room to pray. After seeking God's guidance, he felt that the Holy Spirit wanted him to change his mind. So, trusting the Lord to meet his own needs, he gave her the money. Two mornings later, he received a letter of thanks from the widow. She explained that because of his generosity she had asked the Lord to shower the orphanage with gifts. That same day Francke received 12 ducats from a wealthy lady and 2 more from a friend in Sweden. He thought he had been amply rewarded for helping the widow, but he was soon informed that the orphanage was to receive 500 gold pieces from the estate of Prince Lodewyk Van Wurtenburg. When he heard this, Francke wept in gratitude. In sacrificially providing for that needy widow, he had been enriched, not impoverished.

And let us be clear. What enriched his life was not that he received all these gold pieces, it was that he had shared with someone less fortunate. The abundance of gold which followed only confirms the deep meaning of the act of sharing.

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”

III

Repent. Share. And the third thrust of John's message was serve. In Luke 3:12-14 we learn that tax collectors came to John to be baptized and said to him: Teacher, what shall we do? And he said to them: Collect no more taxes than is appointed to you. And soldiers also came and asked: And what shall we do? And he said: Rob no more and do not make false accusations.

In other words, whatever your role or task is in life, do it ethically to the best of your ability. If you are a tax collector, then be an honest tax collector. If you are a soldier, be a good soldier and not a cruel, corrupt one. In whatever role you are in, do what you can where you are. Christian service is not just a missionary in a foreign land. Indeed, sometimes it is easier to go to a far away land than it is to go next door. You may serve God in whatever situation you find yourself, in the home, in the market place, in school, by doing the best that you can for God where you are.

John was a great man and he preached a great message. But Jesus was a greater man and he delivered a greater message. John's message was one of glad chidings. Jesus' message was one of glad tidings. There were differences in style. But John laid forth the fundamentals. Someone once asked the late Vince Lombardy what was the secret to his coaching career. He responded: I had my team constantly concentrating on the fundamentals. What are the fundamentals of our faith: Repent. Share. Serve.