Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks.
Welcome to day 15 of our Advent 2025 series,
Waiting with Matthew.
Today our focus verse is Matthew chapter 3 verse 2,
Where Matthew writes,
Quoting John the Baptist,
Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
So as we begin I invite you to settle yourself,
To close your eyes,
To sit and to allow yourself to be in the presence of the one who wishes to speak to you today,
As we ask God to open our ears,
Our minds and our hearts.
When John the Baptist stands in the wilderness and cries,
Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near,
We mustn't be mistaken,
He's not simply offering a moral instruction,
Or a call to feel guilty,
Or a command to straighten up spiritually.
He's actually making a declaration,
He's announcing a reality,
Naming a presence,
He's proclaiming that something is already happening,
Something so near,
So close,
So at hand,
That only a shift of heart is required to perceive it.
Repent,
Not as punishment,
But as awakening.
Now in the Greek,
The word repent comes from the Greek word metaneo,
Which means to change one's mind,
Or to see differently,
Or to think anew,
Or to turn towards something you've not seen before,
Or you've forgotten,
Or you've been unable to recognize.
You see repentance isn't about shame and guilt.
Repentance is about new sight and vision.
The kingdom is not far off,
It's not distant.
John doesn't say repent because the kingdom will come one day,
He says repent because the kingdom has come near.
Advent is filled with this tension.
The kingdom is coming,
And the kingdom is near.
It is approaching,
And it is at hand,
It is promised,
And it is present.
The kingdom is the reign of God,
The presence of God,
The life of God breaking into the world,
Not by force,
Not by spectacle,
But by proximity,
Quiet,
Steady,
Persistent proximity.
John's proclamation in the desert doesn't point us to some faraway dream,
But to a present reality we can enter even now.
The kingdom is near,
But we don't always see it.
We're often too distracted,
Too hurried,
Too anxious,
Too entangled in lesser visions to notice that grace is brushing against our lives like the hem of a robe passing by.
Advent invites us to turn our attention,
To shift our gaze from what drains us toward what draws us into life.
Repentance in this advent sense is the practice of becoming available to what God is already doing.
Imagine standing in the wilderness hearing John's voice for the very first time.
You've come out of the city,
Away from the ordinary habits and expectations.
The desert air sharpens your senses,
The horizon stretches wide,
And into that space a voice says,
The kingdom of heaven has come near.
What does that mean?
What does it mean that the kingdom is near before Jesus' ministry has begun,
Before any miracles,
Before any teachings?
It means that the kingdom is not an event,
But a presence,
A presence embodied in a person,
A presence already growing in Mary's womb,
Already wrapped in human form,
Already living in Nazareth's quiet streets.
The kingdom is always tied to the nearness of Christ.
Where Christ is,
The kingdom is.
And that is why Advent's so powerful,
Because in Advent we train ourselves to recognize the nearness of God even before the fullness has been revealed.
John's message is not only radical,
It is deeply hopeful.
It tells us that God is not waiting for us to perfect ourselves to draw near.
God has already drawn near and repentance is simply the act of turning towards that nearness,
To recognize it,
To see it,
To become conscious of it.
Repentance is the doorway through which we enter divine proximity.
The kingdom isn't imposed from above,
But it's invited from within.
And I know John's command might sound sharp,
But the heart of it is tender.
Wake up,
Turn around,
You're closer to God than you realize,
You're more held than you know,
You're standing on holy ground and you haven't even noticed it yet.
The kingdom is near in every quiet act of compassion,
Every choice towards mercy,
Every movement away from fear towards trust,
Every moment we listen rather than rush,
Every time we let love guide our response instead of insecurity.
The kingdom is near in the places we least expect,
The margins,
The wilderness,
The ordinary days,
That feel too small to hold divine glory and yet they do.
Advent waiting is not inactive,
It's watchful.
It's the waiting of someone who knows that something is already happening and wants to be ready to receive it.
The kingdom comes quietly,
Like dawn seeping over the horizon.
It can't be hurried,
But it can be noticed.
And John is calling people to notice the dawn,
To turn their faces towards the light,
So that when Christ steps into the scene,
Their eyes are already open.
Repent,
For the kingdom of heaven has come near.
This is not a threat,
It's an invitation,
A reassurance,
A declaration of hope,
Breaking open in the wilderness.
In Advent,
We stand on the threshold of the kingdom,
Not in theory,
But in reality.
We wait for the fuller revelation of Christ while recognizing that he's already moving through the quiet corners of our lives.
Advent teaches us to wait with our eyes open,
Our hearts soft,
Our posture turned toward God.
It teaches us that the kingdom is not just something we anticipate,
But something we can participate in right now in small,
Faithful ways.
Repentance becomes the practice of aligning our lives with the nearness of God,
Letting go of what blocks our sight and embracing what deepens our love.
This,
My friends,
Is Advent's call,
To wait not passively,
But purposefully,
To prepare room within ourselves for the kingdom that is already drawing close.
And John's voice echoes across the centuries into our own deserts,
Inviting us again to take notice,
To awaken,
To turn,
Turn towards the one whose presence is nearer than our breath.
The kingdom has come near.
You are closer to grace than you know,
My friend,
And the one who is coming is already here.
So as we breathe deeply the whisperings of the Spirit and hold the truth of these promises,
We dare to pray together.
God of the coming kingdom,
You draw near with gentleness and with holy fire.
Your presence disrupts what is false and awakens what is true.
Turn our hearts towards you.
Open our eyes to the nearness of your kingdom in our relationships,
In our work,
In our longing,
In the quiet corners of our day.
Give us the courage to repent,
Not with fear,
But with hope,
To turn away from what diminishes life and turn towards what restores it.
In this Advent season,
Let your kingdom come near to us again.
Let your presence take root in our waiting and reshape us into people of light.
Amen.
So as we rise from our time together,
May you see the nearness of God in places that perhaps you once overlooked.
May your turning toward the kingdom bring freedom,
Clarity and joy.
May Advent awaken you to the presence of Christ already rising in your life.
And may the grace,
Peace and love of that presence be with you and go with you every step of every day,
Today and always.
Amen.
Until tomorrow,
My friends,
God's peace be with you.
