Shaking the Cobwebs Off: Preparation for the Wilderness

 

By: Rev. Dr. Adam Knight

In our house, we have a bi-weekly ritual. Every couple of weeks, a professional comes over to give our home a deep, general cleaning. It’s a service we love, but it leads to a funny phenomenon: the night before she arrives, our entire family spends the evening frantically cleaning the house.

We organize the shoes, fold the clothes, clear the magazines off the coffee table, and scrub the bathroom counters. We work incredibly hard to get the house “clean” just so the professional can come in and clean it the next day.

The funniest part? This day always seems to “sneak up” on us. Even though we scheduled it, it’s as if it magically appears on the calendar.

The Danger of a “Sneaky” Easter In the same way, we don’t want Easter to sneak up on us. The celebration of Christ’s sacrifice is far too important to let it catch us off guard. It is too meaningful for us not to spend time asking a difficult question: What exactly have we been saved from?

To fully understand God’s salvation, we have to spend time with our sin. We need to consider how we were once separated from the Almighty, and how—through Jesus Christ—we have been invited back into a restored relationship. Lent is the season for that introspection. It is the time to identify the areas of our lives we are still clutching tightly, rather than leaving them with Jesus to be redeemed.

The Voice in the Wilderness

Before Jesus began His ministry, He was led into the wilderness. But before the wilderness, there was preparation. John the Baptist emerged from the desert with a ministry that was anything but subtle. He wasn’t inconspicuous; he was a “call to worship” in the flesh.

As New Testament scholar Eugene Boring writes, John wasn’t a “benign and cheesy ‘Good Morning'” greeting. He was a call to worship that shook the cobwebs off the pews.

John’s message to the religious leaders of his day was a gauntlet thrown down: “Bear fruit worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

The Pharisees and Sadducees rested on their laurels. They believed their bloodline—being descendants of Abraham—made them safe. Today, we see people doing the same thing. We rest on “perishable things”: having the right political view, the right theology, the right traditions, or being in the “right” church. John makes it clear: The right pedigree is not enough.

What is Fruit Worthy of Repentance?

In the Bible, “fruit” is the result of a life of discipleship. It is the produce of a transformed life. Being “worthy” means being in line with a set standard.

Therefore, to bear fruit worthy of repentance is to live a life that aligns with a heart that is truly sorry. It’s about more than just saying “I’m sorry”; it’s about meaning it.

John called the religious leaders a “brood of vipers” because they loved the show of repentance without the reality of it. It’s like the story Jesus told of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Pharisee boasted about his goodness, while the Tax Collector beat his breast and cried, “Lord, have mercy on me.” Only one of them went home justified.

The Power of Confession

The purpose of Lent is to shake the cobwebs off our souls and face the ways we’ve said we are sorry without actually being sorry.

John knew a secret that the enemy wants to keep from you: There is real power in confession. On the other side of baring our sins to the Lord, there is freedom from shame and guilt.

The enemy wants to keep you shackled. He whispers lies:

• “It’s too shameful to confess.”
• “You need this vice to survive.”
• “You’re active in the church; you’ve earned the right to this sin.”

But history shows us that renewal always starts with confession. The great revivals at Asbury University—in the 1950s, 1970s, and recently—all had one thing in common: they began with the confession of sin. In 1950, 50,000 people were impacted because people were willing to unload their sins to Jesus Christ.

Don’t Rush the Preparation

Even Jesus submitted to the work of preparation through His baptism. When the Holy Spirit descended, it marked the beginning of a journey that passed through the wilderness before reaching the victory of the Resurrection.

We cannot rush the work of preparation. It is what gives way to the transformative power of God. As much as we want to get to the joy of Easter, we must first pass through the honest, heart-cleansing work of repentance.

If we focus on being genuine in our confession, we are promised that the Holy Spirit will form His character in us—the fruit of love, peace, joy, and self-control. This Lent, let’s focus on the fruit. Let’s do the housecleaning.

You Are Invited

If you’re feeling lost, weary, or unsure where to begin, visit Coker. You don’t have to have the answers. You don’t even have to be sure. Just come as you are.

• Address: 14630 Wurzbach Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78216
• Service Times: Sundays at 8 AM, 9:30 AM, and 11 AM
• Online Worship: Available live and on-demand at coker.org

You matter to God, and you matter to us. When you’re ready, we’ll be here—with open doors and open hearts.