“REPENT!” – AN OVERLY DRAMATIC, ARCHAIC EXPRESSION?
(revision of a 1991 sermon)
"Repent” is
a word that stirs memories from my New York years in the early 1960s.
Wild-eyed fanatics would bellow at passers-by on many streets to “repent.” On
one occasion I stopped for a moment to listen and was immediately targeted
for a scolding.
Because
we are most likely to hear "repent" or "repentance" in
such settings, or from television preachers, or in routine Bible readings,
you and I are likely to be indifferent. If we were to give such words
a moment's thought, we might conclude that repentance is what hardened
criminals, corrupt business and professional people, dishonest politicians,
international terrorists and sleazy philanderers should do. A call for
repentance seems just too archaic and dramatic for us ordinary folks.
Or, is it?
In
the Bible "repentance" means "to make an about-face," to
alter our ways of looking at life, to take on God's viewpoint. To repent
is to feel deep and genuine regret for what we have done and for what
we have left undone, and, with the Holy Spirit’s help, to align
our hearts and minds with God's purposes. To repent is to choose to accept
the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as "the way, the truth, and
the life," and to live and act accordingly. Yes, it is true, we
have heard this before, too, probably as a vague objective.
Nonetheless,
you and I do overlook some significant ungodly ways, because they have
become commonplace. They infect our lives subtly and diminish our very
humanity. Yet, such ways do not come to mind when we hear "repent." Explore
with me now some needs for repentance.
Whenever
we individually or as a nation live by any number of godless, familiar
guidelines, we need to “make an about-face,” not because
we might be breaking a religious or ethical rule, but more importantly,
because they diminish our own lives and the lives of others seriously;
unsurprisingly such maxims are at odds with the Way lived and taught
by Jesus.
Give
some thought to the bearing of these guidelines on anyone’s life.
(1) “Get whatever you want by any effective means.” (2) “I
have an inalienable right to have whatever I desire or need.” (3) “Deception
that benefits me is all right as long as it goes unnoticed.” (4) “God
will provide everything I require; all I have to do is wait for it to
happen.” (5) “A fully satisfying life consists primarily
of eating, sleeping, recreation, and financial security.” (6) “Winning
and setting new records are always admirable.” (7) “Addictions
to honest work, professional sports, nourishing food, traditional religion
or spirituality, and legal substances are all right.” (8) “Basically,
I am what I possess.” (9) “One person's opinion is as worthwhile
as another's.” (10) “Continual self-pity is realistic, given
my circumstances.” (11) “I strive to understand most matters
with absolute certainty.” (12) “All unhappiness in my life
is caused by circumstances beyond my control.” (13) “Most
basically, I am my work.” (14) “Most fundamentally, I am my sexual orientation.” (15) “Everything I do in private
is my own business and no one else’s.”
These
widely held self-defeating, often self-centered, principles or guidelines,
along with many others, need drastic revision among individuals of all
ages. They represent “sin” in practical and recognizable
language. As individuals, as a nation, indeed as a church, it would be
to our own advantage to alter our ways of experiencing life with such
life-crushing views. (Perhaps in a future monthly forum, we might examine
this list for its justification.)
During
Advent we prepare to celebrate the birth of an individual
who came to us as God's life-giving Word. In Christ we are
offered the Creator's
true Way and genuine fullness of life. By beholding the Christ,
our hearts and minds are opened to perceive significant matters
needing urgent realignment
with God's revitalizing purposes. By embracing him through
Word and Sacrament, we experience genuine regret, mercy,
forgiveness, an ongoing “spiritual
makeover,” and hope. By journeying gracefully on the sometimes
difficult path to Bethlehem, you and I can choose God's transforming
viewpoint instead of harmful distortions and misleading notions
about our lives. In short, during this Advent season, we
are preparing for
God's healing Gift of Him who offers powerful salvation from
grim self-deception, mean-spirited brokenness, and overwhelming
misery. In this sense, “repent” is
not an overstated, demanding, wild-eyed, overly dramatic,
archaic command; rather, it is an invitation to hopeful turnarounds
that can truly benefit
and enrich our daily lives at every level. To repent as often
as we perceive ourselves missing the mark of Christ is to
be baptized with the power
of the Holy Spirit over and over again.
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The Reading from Isaiah (40:1-11)
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
" In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
" Here is your God!"
See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
The Gospel Reading from Mark (1:1-8)
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
" See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘ Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’"
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people
from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going
out
to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around
his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The
one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not
worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized
you with
water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. "