The Unlikely Messenger

It is amazing that people would come to hear and see John the Baptist.  He was not exactly the kind of guy who would be invited to come home with us for dinner.  Neither is he one concerned about dressing for success, or climbing the ladder which leads to success.  Most likely he would be smelled before he was seen.  And when he was seen, those who saw him surely looked away in disbelief saying to themselves, "I can't believe I came all this way to listen to him!"  His breath smelled like dried locust and his beard was always matted with honey and other stuff.

 

Yet, he had a message which drew people to the Jordan where he was preaching a hard message about the necessity of a changed heart.  With Jesus coming it would no longer be possible to continue living life according to the status quo.  No longer would religious law be enough.  Someone new was on the scene and something new was being preached.  It was not a pie-in-the-sky kind of message, but one which was as down to earth as giving away one of your two coats to someone who had none, or being fair in business dealings, or choosing not to exploit others from a position of power. 

 

It was not that these kind of things had saving power, but that they were the kind of things which would come from a heart that had turned away from looking out for self to one which was bent on looking out for the concerns of God.  Repentance does this in our life.  When we repent, there is a fruit which is produced.  When we repent, our heart is changed and what comes from the heart is different.  What comes from the heart is not a response which is planned and pre-meditated, but one which comes forth spontaneously.  Such is always the difference between those who have truly repented and those who are still talking about it.