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“WHAT MAKES YOU READY?”
Text: Matthew 3:1-12 – Advent 2
Sunday December 7, 2025
Trinity - Creston
Grace, mercy, and peace is yours from God our Father and from our crucified and risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Our text for this 2nd Sunday in Advent is the Gospel Lesson from Matthew 3 that was just proclaimed.
Let Us Pray: Dearest Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to remind us that we are made ready by your saving work when we repent of our sin not continuing in sin, but striving to lead a life that avoids sin and serve others. Amen.
Dear Fellow Redeemed in Christ:
Christmas shopping, Christmas baking, Christmas decorating. Are you ready?
Semester finals, semester papers, semester break. Are you ready?
Year-end filings, year-end closings, year-end contributions. Are you ready?
Christ coming, judgment coming. Are You Ready?
I. Are you ready for what, exactly? (vv 1–2).
A. On this Second Sunday in Advent, John the Baptist wishes us to be ready for what really matters. What God has promised is coming!
1. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v 2). The kingdom is the rule of God.
2. God’s coming rule is both in grace and judgment—grace, because God is saving his people from their sins, and judgment, because those who reject the Son are judged (Jn 3:18).
B. John announces the one who comes after him who will establish the reign of God.
In Christ, the kingdom of God has come.
1. The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that grows. It is among us where the Gospel is preached and the sacraments administered and received in faith, so that people receive God’s gracious gift and live as his people.
2. “God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity” (Small Catechism, Lord’s Prayer, Second Petition).
C. The rule of God will culminate in the second coming of Christ, when God will do away with all evil and create a new heaven and a new earth. Therefore we pray: “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22:20).
II. Are you made ready by John? (vv 3–4).
A. John was a preacher called by God. God sends John to prepare people for his coming kingdom. There is a specific way to be prepared, and God must tell us through his messenger.
B. John was a preacher like Elijah. His garment looks like that of Elijah (2 Ki 1:8), to show that he is the promised Elijah who announces the coming of the Lord (Mal 4:5; Mt 11:3–6).
C. John is the very opposite of a fashionable preacher who preaches what people want to hear in order to make a living, as his food shows.
D. John preaches at the Jordan. As Israel took possession of the Promised Land after crossing the Jordan, the people will receive the promise of the Messiah when they come to the Jordan to be baptized.
III. Are you ready by repentance (vv 5–10)?
A. Repentance is how we get ready for God’s rule.
1. God comes to sinful man to redeem him. But natural man doesn’t think he needs to repent. He thinks he’s just fine with God. Such a person is not ready for God, who comes to save him; such a person does not want a God who saves him.
2. Getting ready for God means to see oneself as God sees him—as one who has gone astray, who has defied God, who has ignored God, who is not ready to receive him.
B. Then God readies us for his rule by Baptism. John not only preaches; he also baptizes. There were ritual washings in the Old Testament, but this Baptism is different. It happens once, not repeatedly.
John baptizes; the people don’t wash themselves. The people don’t take or make themselves what Baptism gives; they receive it: the forgiveness of sins.
C. Some refuse to get ready: Sadducees and Pharisees. Many people come, but not all for the right reason. Many repent, but not all. The Sadducees and Pharisees, religious leaders, do not truly repent. They think they’re fine as they are, that because they’re children of Abraham, they don’t need to repent.
D. But true repentance is shown by fruits.
1. Repentance is more than saying “I’m sorry.” It is turning away from sin and turning to God in faith, receiving his forgiveness. A visible consequence of this is a life that strives to do what God wants us to do.
2. If somebody continues a life that defies the will of God, this is a sign that the repentance is not genuine, but fake. So John calls out those who have a fake repentance and calls them to true repentance.
IV. Are you ready for Jesus?
A. Are you truly sorry for the sins Jesus comes to forgive? Repentance is John’s message to us too! (Give specific examples of sins common among us.)
1. Repentance is not something Christians ever get done with. God comes to you with his grace every day, and you come to him, confessing your sin to receive his forgiveness. This goes through your entire life as a Christian.
2. There is the danger that one gets used to it, that one goes through the motions. A sign that one has fallen into this danger is that one has made peace with one’s sin and no longer fights it. One might even justify it. (Give examples.)
B. You are truly ready for Jesus’ coming by Baptism into his death. John calls the people to be baptized to be ready for the coming Savior.
1. If you are not yet baptized, then come to be baptized, not with the Baptism of John but with the Baptism of Jesus.
2. There you will receive everything Christ has gained for your salvation on the cross and in his resurrection. You will be washed from your sin, reborn, and made God’s child.
2. Those of you who have been baptized: You are ready for Jesus when you trust what God has promised to you in Baptism. Therefore, live a life of daily contrition and repentance that will bring forth the fruit of a holy life.
Conclusion: Being ready for Christ is far more important than our shopping, baking, decorating, tests and papers, and finishing the year in the black.
But it’s not stressing, scurrying; it’s receiving, believing what he has done.
Amen.
The Peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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