What would Christmas be without the beloved Dr. Suess story of The Grinch who Stole Christmas? Did you know that the Grinch, his dog Max and the charming Cindy Lou Who have been around since 1957?

   Well today, we are more than halfway through Advent and we come face to face with the bible's version of the Grinch-John the Baptist.

  The very first words we hear from his mouth in Luke are about as unchristmasy as you can imagine, "You brood of vipers! Repent!”

From what I can see, people are not banging down the doors of the church to hear this kind of stuff, especially not this close to Christmas. We never see beautiful Christmas cards with the word repent scrawled on them. So what are we doing mucking around in this unsettling text about John the Baptist instead basking in the soft glow of Christmas peace and joy? We want cute babies and familiar carols at this time of year. How is repent good news? 
    There's good reason for hearing from the Advent Grinch. John comes before Jesus in all four gospels. Wherever the story of Jesus is told, it begins with John the Baptist. The gospel of Luke, the only gospel that has the familiar Christmas story, actually has two birth stories, John and Jesus. From the time of their birth, these two boys are linked together, so that John is the forerunner, the prophet who prepares the way for the coming of Christ.   
     To prepare the way of the Lord, John says we have to repent, because something is about to happen, the Kingdom is coming. I'm afraid that the word repent has lost its edge these days. To many of us, it just means feel bad, feel guilty. John sounds terribly judgmental. Did you know that prior to 1975 dictionaries didn't even contain the word judgmental? But today judging evil is considered worse than doing evil. Instead of John we hear, “You do your thing and let me do mine.” Just be sincere and you will be fine.” “I'm okay and you're okay.”

     We live in an age which thinks that the way to preach the gospel is to soft-pedal it. Believe me; it's very tempting to try to make it all nice and smooth, and attractive. It's all about acceptance. It's all about feeling good about yourself. It's seeker friendly, market driven.

     But deep down people know that what we might want to hear is not the same is what we need to hear. We still regret the mistakes we have made. We still ache when we remember that we hurt the people we love most. We would love to have a second chance. 
    Every true revival of faith starts with the hard-edged preaching of repentance, not the soft, rounded preaching of positive thinking. It begins not with smiling testimonies to the love of Jesus, but with a great reawakening to the reality and power of sin in our lives. It began with repentance. We may come to John the Baptist singing "Just as I am", but before you leave you better realize that things have to change.

Repentance is not just some testimony of wrongs committed in the distant past. Confession and repentance is our daily spiritual discipline. We need to be confronted again and again with the stinging indictment of God's law. Whenever the preaching of the church loses that quality of searing judgment against sin, that bony pointing finger of John, we lose the gospel itself.

     After John had warned the people of the judgement that was coming, they didn't argue or protest their innocence. They simply asked, "What then should we do?" That is what we really want to know. Haven't we about had our fill of those who tell us we aren't so bad and we should blame someone else for our problems? We know what we have done! What we don't know is what we should do about it. To the people's question, John replied, "Whoever has two coats should share with anyone who has none. Tax collectors should not cheat. Soldiers should not bully people. And be content with your wages." These prescriptions are striking in their obvious simplicity. John is not telling people things they did not know. He is not asking them to withdraw into the desert or to do anything heroic. He is simply telling them to do the right thing. To this list we could add other things that we know to be right. "Don't steal time from your spouse or children. Stop complaining so much. Always be gentle. Give freely to those in need. Honour your commitments." Doing the right thing isn't complicated. No, but it is hard. Because it asks us to keep giving.  
    When I was in Seminary  I had a friend who was from China. I noticed at a Christmas party that when he passed out his presents he always used two hands to do it. That night I asked my friend why he always used two hands to pass out gifts. He said that it was more than a matter of being polite. "We always give and receive gifts with two hands because for a moment we share the present, not hiding or withholding anything."  
     This week we are about to do a lot of giving. We will give to our friends and family. We will give to the church. We will give to the kettle in the mall. But how much of it is really two handed giving? It isn't complicated. "If you have two coats give to anyone who has none." But it is hard to give without hiding or withholding. If that is what John means by repentance, then we are in big trouble.

    I often see examples of this two handed giving. I remember a wife who had followed her husband around the globe for 49 years and spent the last years giving all her attention to the overwhelming demands created by one stroke after another. Eventually it robbed her beloved husband of his mind, finally after two years of suffering he died.

     Death is never pretty or romantic. It is always messy. It smells bad. It drains all the energy out of those who care for the dying. But at the end of this man's life I saw his wife caress his brow, moistened his lips with a cloth, and whisper things in his ear until he had gone home. She hid and withheld nothing from him. At the funeral his widow told his friends and family, "It hasn't always been easy, but it was never a burden. It was just love."  
     That is what we want. Who doesn't want to spend life giving and receiving that kind of love? The problem is that we have been so hurt so many times, that we close our hands around our hearts too tightly. If you have been hurt by someone you once trusted, or by someone at work, or even by the church, you know how awful it feels. You don't ever want to be hurt like that again. So instead of really giving yourself to others, you make a fist to shake at anyone who may take something away from you. But when you are clutching at something, you can neither give nor receive love which always requires two open hands. So when John tells us just to do the right thing, we have to say, "I know what I ought to do, but I can't." The problem isn't knowing what we ought to do. The problem is whether we even want to do what we ought to do. The problem is taking the risk in doing it. It's just too frightening. We need help, more help than John and his warning of judgement can give us. We are going to have to find someone more powerful than John.  
    Now you and I are ready for Christmas. Now we are ready for a Saviour. Now we are ready to receive God's two handed gift of himself. He held nothing back. In the birth of Jesus Christ, God gave you himself, all that he had to give. Until you have personally received that love, you will never be able to make the changes you want to make in your life. Because until you have received his love that forgives, and gives and gives again, you will never become a changed person. You see, real religion is not about making changes in your life. It is about being changed by God's love.  
    So come this week and join Mary and Joseph, and the shepherds and wise men from of old, and bow your knee before the manger. At last, you will then find the powerful love of God is born in you as well. It will change everything. 

     And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, 
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so? 
It came without ribbons! It came without tags! 
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!" 
And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore. 
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! 
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. 
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"