Repentance is Good

Repentance is Good

The Second Wednesday in Advent – 12/10/2025

Malachi 3:1-5, 4:5-6a, Matthew 11:11-15

Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer

                That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this evening is our second lesson from the Prophet Malachi in the third chapter with special emphasis on verse one which reads as follows:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”[1]

Thus far the Scriptures.

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Advent is a season of preparation. It is a season of expectation, of longing, of hope. But Scripture does not speak of preparation in vague spiritual terms, Advent preparation is concrete. It involves repentance. That is why John the Baptist stands so prominently in these Sundays before Christmas. John does not offer sentimentality. He does not point us toward nostalgia or warm feelings. He calls us to repent because the Lord is near.

Malachi foretold this: “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.” John is the messenger. Christ is the Lord who comes. And the way is prepared by repentance, a repentance that is not man-made or self-generated, but a repentance that is itself a gift of God.

Repentance is Good

Today we consider repentance not as something dreadful, but as something profoundly good, good for the soul, good for our relationships, good for our sanity, and good for our faith. And finally, we will see that repentance is never an end in itself. It aims at the Gospel. Repentance clears the rubble so Christ’s entrance and healing can be grabbed onto in Christian faith.

Repentance is God’s gift because it is God who brings the sinner to confess sin by the Law of God with all its sternness. And, after all attempts at self-righteousness have been cleared away, it is God who comes to us with His saving Word so that faith can take root and grow in our hearts. Sin clings to us. It burdens our consciences. It corrodes joy and peace. We carry guilt far longer than we need to, and we try to manage our sin instead of confessing it and having it taken from us.

But the Lord, in mercy, brings repentance in us through His Word. When the Holy Spirit exposes our sin, He is not attacking us, He is freeing us from the burden of having to shoulder our sins alone. Like a doctor who reveals a hidden infection so it can be treated, the Spirit reveals sin for the sake of cleansing. And knowing the problem, we are then free to admit it and seek the remedy that comes in the Gospel

David writes in Psalm Thirty-Two that when he kept silent, his bones wasted away. But when he confessed his sins, he found relief, “You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”[2] Repentance is like opening the windows of the soul. Light comes in. Fresh air returns. The soul breathes again.

Repentance is not only vertical, between us and God, it is also horizontal, shaping how we live with one another. When we repent, we acknowledge that we are sinners who fail others. That humility softens our relationships with others. It becomes easier to admit to others wrongs, to forgive, and to seek forgiveness when we first admit to God these things.

Pride destroys families, friendships, and vocations. But repentance cracks pride’s shell. A repentant heart is a heart that seeks after God, and as God has reconciled Himself to us, so too do we try and reconcile with each other. The Lord uses repentant people to bring peace into marriages, households, and congregations. It really is a simple matter: repentance means admitting wrongs, seeking forgiveness, and trying to do what one can to make amends.

There is a word of caution here. Real repentance does not think that restitution, that is, paying back what is fair after a wrong, can undo the sins of the past. This is simply a gesture to do what one is able to do for the problems caused by sin. For example, thieves should repay what they stole with extra for the stress and time. The dept incurred by words should be repaid with kind words and actions. But these do not change what was done. Repentance does not use restitution as an excuse to downplay what was wrong, rather, it both does what it can to make up for the fault and clearly confesses wrongdoing without excuse or blame.

This is all to the same end as John the Baptist was foretold to bring. That is, he was sent to the people of Israel to “turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” Repentance restores relationships to health and goodness.

Repentance is honest. It is truthful. It is a recognition that we are not the righteous ones, God is. This may be the most difficult part of repentance. No one likes admitting wrong. Few of us are OK with our sins being laid out before others. We live in a culture that instinctively hides guilt and excuses sin. Everything is someone else’s fault. We rationalize, justify, and downplay our wrong doings. But the repentant person says, “No excuses. I have sinned. I have failed. I am sorry. I need mercy.”

This confession is not morbid. It is simply the stating the truth our sin is real, and we need Christ to deal with it. Repentance puts us in the only posture where Christ can be received: empty-handed, humble, needy. It is the posture of the soul that knows it is unable to do anything about its condition other than appeal to Christ.  We confess reality so that God may address reality with His grace.

Repentance and its truthfulness brings clarity. When we hold onto sin, when we hide it, it fogs the mind with excuses. Unrepentance often means that we become defensive. We worry about being found out. We justify ourselves endlessly. It is exhausting mentally, morally, and spiritually. This exhaustion and the anxiety of being found out often lead to lashing out at others in frustration, anger, or pride.

But confession breaks the cycle. Sin loses its power when it is dragged into the light. The mind clears when sin is confessed. Life becomes simpler. We do not need to maintain a facade any more. The weight that is lifted when these pretenses are dropped is immense.

Repentance also brings resilience. After all, once you have confessed your sins before Almighty God, there is little anyone else can accuse you of that is worse. Repentance steels the soul because it teaches us to face the truth without collapsing under it. As a pastor I know offhandedly said once, “people think that they can get to me with insults; I sing worse about myself every Sunday!” This is not an attitude of masochism, rather, it is freedom that comes by the truth. Admitting I am a sinner, that I did wrong, frees from pretension, anxiety, and mental suffering of many sorts. It is difficult to do, yes, but by God’s grace making this confession leads to peace, clarity, and stability. The Christian who repents is not weak, he is strong in Christ, grounded not in illusions but in God’s mercy.

The Goal of Repentance

The center of all of this is deceptively simple: repentance prepares us for Christ. It is the clearing of the debris, the leveling of the mountains, the straightening of the crooked paths so that the good word of the Gospel might land in fertile ground. John the Baptist does not preach repentance to make people despair but to make them ready. Repentance makes room for Christ by removing the obstacles of our sin, not that we remove them ourselves, but that we let go of the sins we cling to and Christ clears them away. To repent is to surrender the counterfeit righteousness we try so hard to maintain. It is to confess that our hope is not in ourselves but in the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Repentance empties our hands of empty works and futile efforts so Christ may fill them with mercy, grace, and forgiveness.

Repentance always aims at the Gospel. Its purpose is not sorrow but salvation, not shame but forgiveness, not despair but hope. John’s preaching is preparatory. Christ’s preaching is fulfillment. John called sinners out; Christ gathered sinners in. John exposed sin; Christ removed it. John announced judgment; Christ bore that judgment on the cross.

To repent is to turn from sin to Christ. The goal is always absolution. The goal is always Baptism’s promise. The goal is always the body and blood of Jesus given and shed for you. If repentance is the plow, the Gospel is the seed. If repentance is the winter soil being broken up, the Gospel is the spring rain that brings life. And when the Gospel enters a repentant heart, it brings confidence, comfort, and joy that no earthly Christmas sentiment can match. It brings the peace that surpasses understanding. It brings the assurance that you are forgiven, loved, and redeemed by the crucified and risen Lord.

Conclusion

As we journey through Advent, the Lord prepares us by repentance, which is His good and gracious work in us. Do not fear repentance. Do not resist it. It is God’s good gift. It is good for your soul, good for your relationships, honest and truthful, clarifying and strengthening, and it makes your heart ready to receive the Gospel. And the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins in Christ, is always the aim.  So hear John the Baptist’s call. Confess your sins. And then hear Christ’s greater Word: “Take heart, your sins are forgiven.” Behold, the Lord is near. Blessed are those who are found ready in repentance and filled with faith.

In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] Malachi 3:1 English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.

[2] Psalm 32:5