We all change our minds at times.  At times, we should.  But then, there is also a deep change of mind.  Such a deep change of mind is what the Bible calls “repentance.”

Luke 3:1   In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

⁵           Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall become straight,

and the rough places shall become level ways,

⁶           and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

Luke 3:7   He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Luke 3:10   And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ¹² Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Luke 3:15   As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” (Luke 3:1-17, English Standard Version)

According to Luke 3:8, John the Baptist talked about “. . . the ax being laid to the root of the tree.”  It sounds serious, doesn’t it?  That is because it is.

When I was growing up on the farm, my dad decided to build a fence to keep our cattle in a field that he was turning into pasture.  I was about fourteen, so Dad decided that it was time for me to learn how to chop down saplings in preparation for putting in the fence.  He handed me an axe, and stepped back a respectful distance.  I was so honored that my dad was letting me handle the axe!  I was going to impress him with how fast I could cut that puppy down!  I reared back and swung the axe mightily, hitting the tree about a foot above the ground—and almost broke the axe handle.  I had missed with the axe blade entirely, but not with the axe handle.  In fact, I’m surprised that I didn’t break the handle.  I still remember the tremendous jar, the pain in my hands and arms and shoulders as a result of that miss.

My dad said to me, “Here, son, let me have that axe and show you how it’s done before you do some serious damage to the handle or yourself.”

He said, “First, you need to aim for the roots, not the trunk.  Second, you need to measure your swing before you actually swing.  You lay the axe at the root of the tree like this,” he said, demonstrating.  “That way, you won’t miss and maybe end up cutting off your foot.  Third, you let the axe do the work.  The blade is plenty sharp enough to cut down this sapling.”

I tried it, and (much to my amazement) it went much better.  My dad was smarter than I had thought!

Laying the axe to the root of the tree just before you swing is a wonderful metaphor, and John the Baptist was not shy about using it.  You lay the axe to the root of the tree when you’re just about to chop it down.  Not prune it; chop it down!  John’s words suggest the imminence of judgment.  The time for repentance is now—or never.

None of us has long on this earth.  That’s neither pessimism nor a scare tactic, I hope.  I think that it is simple reality.  I am probably more aware of this than I used to be, since I am an old guy.  However, it is true for everyone, no matter how young they are.  If we are going to put our past behind us (which is one aspect of repentance), and live differently and better in the present and future (which is another aspect of repentance), it might be helpful to meditate on the brevity of life.

But John the Baptist is not leaving us at a loss to know what this repentance, this change of mind, is about.  For John, repentance is primarily shown by what we do, especially how we treat others.  Thus, he says that repentance is about sharing food and clothing, about treating people fairly, about not accusing people falsely, about being content with what we have.  Apparently, repentance is about positive actions, rather than “sorry” feelings and words.

Let me go back now to my story about my dad and me building fence together.

There were some of the saplings that Dad spared.  I would be about to cut one of them down, and Dad would say, “Leave that one, son.  That one is straight and sturdy enough to serve as a fence post.”

My dad valued usefulness.  Perhaps so does God.  And usefulness, in God’s eyes, is not that difficult.  It boils down to fairness, contentment, and sharing what we’ve got with others.