The Wilderness Calls

Date: Sunday, December 7, 2025 – Second Sunday of Advent

Readings: Isaiah 11:1–10 | Psalm 72:1–7, 18–19 | Romans 15:4–13 | Matthew 3:1–12

Matthew brings us into the wilderness for a close encounter with John the Baptist; a wild, unfiltered prophet who refuses to sugarcoat the truth. His message is simple but deeply disruptive: real righteousness begins with repentance. Isaiah 11 widens the picture, promising a Spirit-anointed ruler whose justice and dominion covers all of creation.

With the backdrop of Isaiah’s prophetic words, John confronts the religious elites, and us, with the question: Are we producing fruit worthy of repentance, or are we coasting on spiritual credentials and acts of religious routine? Today, repentance is often misunderstood as guilt or self-loathing. But biblically, it’s a radical reorientation; an internal turning toward the best life God desires for us, which overflows outward in attitudes and works that are truly pleasing to God.

In our current cultural moments of polarization, John calls for something real: a transformation that starts in the heart but refuses to stay there. The kingdom Christ brings is not an add‑on to our existing priorities; it’s a holy disruption to the motives that drive us. Advent invites us into that disruption. It compels us to let God reshape our desires, our habits, our relationships, and even our ideas about power and justice, pride, and good deeds.

This is not about self‑improvement, it’s about surrendering to the Spirit who makes all things new within us, resetting the purpose that drives who we are and what we do.

Devotional Prompts:

• What does genuine repentance look like in your life right now?
• Where might God be inviting you to release old patterns or assumptions, or the pride of current convictions?
• How does John’s boldness challenge your understanding of faith?
• How do these readings reshape your vision of justice?

Prayer:
God of truth and mercy, turn our hearts toward you. Tear down what is false within us and plant what is good and just. Shape us into people who bear the fruit of your kingdom with courage and humility.