Dear Christian friends:

We are all busily preparing for Christmas. We are sending Christmas cards to family and friends and making plans for our big Christmas dinner. Some of us are staying awake at night trying to decide what gifts we want to give to family members and friends. The children are very excited, telling mom and dad what gifts they want to receive - like the little boy Tommy. Tommy looked with longing at his friend's dog, and said, "My mother won't give me a dog for Christmas." His friend replied, "Maybe you're not asking your mother in the right way." "What way?" asked Tommy. His friend answered, "Don't ask for a dog; ask for a baby brother. Then you will get a dog."

Truly, we, our children and our grand children are excited as we make plans for Christmas. I'm sure that we all will prepare our homes for Christmas, but will we prepare our hearts for Christmas? If we fail to prepare our hearts for Christmas, we will not receive the true joys and blessings of Christmas. It is not enough for us to look back and remember what happened 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem. Something must happen today in our hearts and in our lives. God's Christmas gifts must come to us this Christmas season. Jesus must come to us and live in us. Almost two thousand years ago Jesus was born in Bethlehem. This Christmas He wants to be born in you, and live and rule in your heart.

And that will happen if we now prepare our hearts for Jesus to enter in. Our text tells about John the Baptizer. God sent John to prepare the Jewish nation for Jesus' coming. (verse 2) John can also help us to prepare our hearts for Jesus' coming again this Christmas.


John preached to the people: "Repent, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins." (verse 4) And all the people confessed their sins and John baptized them in the Jordan river." (verse 5)

Therefore, the first thing we must do to prepare for Christmas is to "repent." Like the people who listened to John's preaching, we must confess our sins to God and to one another. We must confess that we are born with sin, that we daily sin much against God and our neighbor.

We really don't want to confess our sins. Why? Because we are proud. We don't want others to know about our bad thoughts, desires and our wrong deeds. So we try to hide our sins and wrongs from one another. We don't want to confess, and we don't want to tell someone, "I have sinned against you. My fault! I am sorry."

We do the same with God. Perhaps we are not aware of it, but we really do. Often we do not pray to God. Why? Too busy? No time? That's our excuse, but really we are ashamed and we are really avoiding God and trying to hide from God, the same as Adam and Eve did when they first sinned and hid from God in the Garden. (Genesis 3:8) We don't feel comfortable praying to God. We know that we have sinned against Him, breaking His Commandments. We try to forget God and get busy doing something: work, sports, hobbies.

Many try to forget by drinking or using drugs. Now we have more and more people hooked on booze and drugs, trying to forget their sins and wrongs. We don't want to know and confess our sins. We want to forget. We don't want the preacher to remind us. It hurts our pride. Because of pride we don't want to confess our sins to God or to others.

Also because of fear we don't want to confess our sins. We don't want to confess to others because we fear shame and perhaps punishment. It is the same with God! We fear His anger and punishment. We hope He did not see or notice our sin, or if he did see it, we hope He will forget, like we try to forget. We know that He is holy and powerful and can easily punish and destroy us.

Because of pride and fear we don't want to confess our sins. Also, sometimes our sins seem exciting and much pleasure, and we don't want to quit doing those wrong things. Therefore we don't confess our sins to God or to others. But we feel guilty and our conscience blames us too much!

But John the Baptizer's preaching can help us to confess our sins and quit them. John told the people that God is merciful and forgives sins to those who honestly and humbly confess their sins to Him. John told the people that they need not fear God's anger and punishment although they truly deserved that. He told them to believe in God's love and mercy, confess their sins and wash them away in the Jordan river, the same as a Syrian General, Naaman, believed God's prophet, Elisha, and washed away his leprosy in the Jordan river 700 years before.

John also told the people why God can forgive sins now. He told them about the Savior God had promised through the prophets. He said that the promised Savior will soon follow him. John preached, "After me comes One who is greater than I. I am not good enough to kneel down and untie His shoes." (verse 7) John told the people, "The Savior God promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to King David, that Savior now at last is coming. The Great Desire of Nations is following me. I am now preparing the way for Him." Then the people confessed their sins and John baptized them in the river. Now they were not proud or afraid.

In this way John prepared the Jewish people for Jesus' coming almost two thousand years ago. John also prepares our hearts for Jesus' coming this Christmas. We, too, can confess our sins to God. We can say, "I am sorry. I have sinned against You. Show mercy to me and forgive me." And we can say this because we know that God is merciful and forgives sinners. We can also confess our sins to one another, to other Christians, because we expect them to understand and forgive us, the same as God has forgiven us and them. Our heavy sin-burden is removed and we have peace with God and peace with one another.

Knowing this good news and believing it prepares our hearts for Christmas. By faith in Jesus the Savior who died on the cross for the world's sins, we can truly celebrate Christmas and receive the true blessings of Christmas: sins forgiven, peace with God and one another, love for God and one another, new holy living, eternal life!

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray,
cast out our sin and enter in,
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Immanuel!
(O little town of Bethlehem, hymn verse 4)

Amen.