There is so much in the world that needs changing. We want peace, good economic times, people of morality and character in government and business, better programming on television, cleaner movies at the box office, schools that support our values, the ability to pray in public and be open about our faith.

I will tell you that with all the change that is needed, I am skeptical that it will ever happen. I believe that we turned a corner several years ago as a nation and it will be almost impossible to reverse the trend. I hope I am wrong, but I will be surprised if it happens.

However, the fact that we cannot change the world doesn’t mean that we can’t help our friends and neighbors. We may not be able to change the world, but we may be able to change one.

We have people all around us who need help. You know the names of some people whose marriages are falling apart. You know people who are ruining their lives through bad financial decisions. You know people who are slowing killing themselves through alcohol or drugs. You know people who are following false religious teachers or have no relationship with God through Jesus Christ at all.

Do we care? Last week we spoke of our need to care about believers. This week God is challenging us to care about those who are not believers. You have a wonderful opportunity to help people. The greatest help that anyone can get is the help they receive from God. The Psalmist said, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.”

Would you not agree with me that many of the people who are in trouble are not even thinking about a spiritual answer. Many people who are in trouble would not think about going to church, reading the Bible or trusting in Jesus. They are drinking away the problem, seeking counsel from the world, checking the internet to see if they can find a way out of their financial situation. By definition a person who follows a false teacher is deceived. The person doesn’t know they are headed down the wrong path, but they are. And the barriers to them getting the help they need are very real.

I will tell you that you can do much to help prepare the way of the Lord. If Jesus is going to come into these lives and give the help he can give, there will need to be some groundwork. God has left it to you and I to do this groundwork, to prepare the way of the Lord in the hearts and lives of those we care about.

I will not exhaust this subject today. Some of you might add a lot to what I have to say. But today I want to show us what we need to prepare people to meet God. I want to show us what we might do to prepare the way of the Lord.

In order to prepare the way of the Lord we need

1. Prepared people.

God has chosen to use people in this task. He can also use circumstances, the Bible and other means, but he has also chosen to use people. So I am going to use a person to illustrate a little of what it looks like to prepare the way of the Lord. I am going to use John the Baptist to show us at least a part of what it takes to bring people to Christ.

In order to prepare the way of the Lord, we need to be prepared people.

John was.

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt round his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.

John was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah. John was the voice of one calling in the desert. John was prepared. He was probably a cousin of Jesus. His father was a priest and his mother was a cousin to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

We don’t know anything about his childhood. But when he comes on the scene, he is a prepared person. God had prepared him to do this task and he did it.

From the text we find some unique things about John. He preached in the desert. What a strange place to preach. I would have thought he would have set up his spot in Jerusalem. But he preferred the desert. He would not be welcome in many churches. His clothes were camel’s hair. He wore a leather belt around his waist. He was not in fashion. Actually, when a Jewish person saw him, they would be reminded of a fashion and style from long before them. He was dressed like Elijah the prophet. He was neither a vegetarian nor a carnivorous. He ate locusts and wild honey. This is a strange person indeed.

You might be uncomfortable around strange people. But God uses strange people in ways that he can’t use you or I. Some of you might be uncomfortable around “normal” people. But God uses normal people as well.

What is most striking is that John was willing to be used by God. He is ready to help people find Jesus and he knows what to do or say.

I hope as a result of this message you will have a greater understanding as well so you are prepared to help people find Jesus.

2. In order to prepare the way of the Lord we need to be prepared people who encourage people to confess their sin.

6 Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River.

Now some of you might ask why I will not be including baptism, as John used it as part of his message. The reason is simple. John is writing before Jesus ever preached a sermon or taught a parable. He had not arrived on the scene yet. John was his advance man, the one who was telling people that Jesus was coming. Their baptism by immersion with John came as they became followers of John. Later in Acts, some of his disciples realized that they needed to trust Christ. They then believed and were baptized. But for our benefit, I chose to focus on this issue of confessing their sins.

When was the last time you had someone confess a sin to you? I can tell you that it may not have been as long ago as you might think.

You were riding in the car with a friend who said something like this, “Man, did I mess up with my wife! She nagged me to put the toilet seat down, so I screwed it to the toilet. My bad!” You might not recognize that as confession, but it is. To confess something is to agree with God that it is wrong. People say, “I shouldn’t have…” “Why did I do that…” These are all confessions of sin. When was the last time you heard someone say, “I know I drink too much…or spend too much time at work…or stayed out later than I should have…” These are all confessions of sin.

If we want to help people, we need to hear them when they confess and encourage them to take responsibility for what is wrong. Until a person understands what is wrong, they can never make it right.

If we don’t listen well, we may hear people confess sin, express remorse, and it will fly right over our heads. So we come at them and say, “You are a sinner and need to say so.” What sets wrong is that they have confessed sin and we have not heard what they have said.

But there is a second set that does not believe that what they are doing is wrong. If we care about them, we can’t just let them believe that we think everything is all right. We can love them, be with them, but we cannot condone bad behavior.

This is an Ed Hatch thing, but do you know why I believe that so many people are living together? Because no one is telling them that it is wrong to have sex outside of marriage. Do you know why I believe that so many people are getting into deep debt with credit cards? Because no one is telling them it is wrong. Do you know why I believe that so many people are addicted to drugs and alcohol? Because there are not enough people who are saying, “this is wrong.” Now I know the argument that people are going to do it anyway. But that is only partially true. In our world where the spiritual influence is very low, most people will adopt the morality of those around them. Some still will do what is wrong, but others will not. We live in a society where no one can make moral statements without being attacked.

However, when people see the downside of their behavior, when the Spirit of God kindles an interest in spiritual things, you will have a great opportunity to help them if you can help them say out loud, “I have sinned.”

3. Let’s take this a step further. In order to prepare the way of the Lord we need to be prepared people who encourage people to confess their sin and to make changes.

That is what repentance is. John came preaching repentance, he did not come preaching remorse. Remorse is when people feel bad about what they have done. Repentance is when they change.

The Greek word literally means, “A change of mind.” But when we change our mind, the actions soon follow.

If you have a person that you care about who is feeling remorse over what they have done, encourage them to change. Encourage them to repent.

A group of people came to watch his baptism. They were not interested in either confession or change.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptising, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

These Pharisees and Sadducees were coming to watch and to criticize. As snakes would run ahead of flames, John lashes out at them. I love the picture of this rugged man who smells of wild honey telling the religious leaders “You brood of vipers!” Have you ever felt like saying something like that? John did.

Notice his big issue with them. It wasn’t their religion, it wasn’t their understanding of the Bible. It was their unwillingness to change that becomes the focal point of his message.

They thought that being Jewish, being children of Abraham, was what was important. John says, “If you want to prepare for the coming of the Lord, you need to be willing to change.”

This is the message and challenge we need to give out to people if we are going to help them. You say you have done wrong, are you willing to change?

An answer I have heard sounds like this, “I’ve tried everything, but nothing works. I don’t know what to do, what changes to make.”

4. So now we take it one step further. In order to prepare the way of the Lord we need to be prepared people who encourage people to confess their sin and to make changes as followers of Jesus Christ.

11 “I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Notice that John asked people to confess and be willing to change. But when it came to what changes should I make, the first changes was to believe in Jesus. John, a very popular preacher, says, “He must increase, I must decrease.” People may be won to you. You need to that those who are won to you and introduce them to Jesus.

When you put your trust in Jesus, he start pointing out the changes that you must make. But right change begins with Jesus.

This is the strength of modern day psychiatry. They can help you identify and solve many of life’s problems. But psychiatry is unable to give you life. Jesus can give you life. When you come to realize you need change, God says, trust in Jesus. As you look at Jesus you will be changed from glory to glory.

I encourage you to invite troubled people to church. I encourage you to listen to their problems and promote change. I beg you to tell them that Jesus is the one who can truly help them.

Which leads to a last question. Where does this process start? With prepared people. If you are not conscious of how important your role is in this, if you don’t understand that confession followed by a willingness to change will lead people to Jesus, then you will be ineffective in preparing the way of the Lord. But if you proclaim Christ, if you are a living example of someone who is stepping out by faith, you can do a great service for your family and for our community.

John prepared the way of the Lord and you can too. Trust him. And do it.