Roger Lynn
March 26, 2017
The last time I preached on this topic I mentioned to someone that I was thinking of doing a sermon on repentance and they responded by saying, “You are not!” They simply could not conceive of me preaching on such a dreadful topic. Their response convinced me that such a topic was, in fact, exactly what I needed to preach on.
The problem is that repentance has been so twisted and abused and misused over the years that in the minds of most people it is either a bad joke or a painful memory. From the cartoonish caricature of the wild-eyed fanatic wearing a sandwich board proclaiming “Repent! The End Is Near!” to the finger-wagging, sour-faced preacher who shouts, “Sinners repent or face God’s wrath!”, for most of us, repentance has become something best ignored and avoided. It does not seem to fit with our understanding of a loving, gracious God.
Listen to the words from the prophet Isaiah. “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1) The call to repentance is someone standing by the well in the middle of the desert, shouting to the people who are lost in the sandstorm, “Hey everybody! The water is over here! And it’s free!” The picture that Isaiah paints is of a God who is so loving, so compassionate, so abundantly gracious, that of course we want to orient our lives in God’s direction. Repentance is believing God’s word as spoken by Isaiah, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.” (Isaiah 55:2-3) How incredibly different repentance becomes when we hear it this way instead of as finger-wagging, guilt-inducing threat. There is life here. There is love here. There is longing and desire here. God’s ongoing desire for us is that we find our way back to the path when we’ve strayed. Repent, God calls to us. Turn around and come back home to abundant spiritual connection with me, with each other, and with yourself.
Which brings us to one of my very favorite passages in all of scripture – Jesus’ parable of the prodigal and the father. It is, above all else, a story of repentance, captured in clear terms which lay before us what is at stake. The younger son is living the good life. He has a father who loves him. He is cared for and protected, well fed, and has honorable work to do. And then he forgets who he is and what he has. He wanders off and gets lost. Finally, when the path he is on runs out completely, and he finds himself feeding pigs and wishing he could eat their food, he has a moment of clarity – a moment of repentance. I love the way the NRSV translation puts it, “But when he came to himself...” (Luke 15:17) He not only recognizes that he has lost his way, but he also begins to remember the way back, the way home. He is not there yet. He still thinks he has to come up with an appropriately remorseful speech in order to get back into his father’s good graces. What he has not yet realized is that he has never been out of his father’s good graces. But he has turned the corner, which is all that repentance ever requires, because it isn’t about changing God. It is about changing us – opening us so that we can receive what has been there all along. Like the father is Jesus’ parable, God is always waiting, longing, anticipating the moment when we “come to ourselves.” “But while he was still far off, the father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.” No speeches required. No penitence necessary. No remorse mandated. All that is ever needed is to turn once again into the ever-present embrace of God’s love. And as the tears of joy stream down God’s face we hear the proclamation, “Let us eat and celebrate, for this child of mine was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found!” (Luke 15:24)
Life so often seems to be an endless string of occasions when we stray off the path. Sometimes we wander just a little ways into the bushes before we remember to look up and find our way back again. Sometimes it’s not until we are lying face down in the mud at the bottom of a long, slippery slope that we start to wonder if perhaps there is another way to get where we want to go. Always, and as often as necessary, God is waiting and watching and inviting us to repent – to turn around and come once again to ourselves.
So, let us begin to reclaim the word repent as a powerful invitation to experience the light of God’s love whenever we find ourselves wandering down dark and frightening alleyways. All we need to do is turn around once again and seek the God who is already seeking us. Listen as God whispers in your ear, as the father gently reminded the older brother, “You are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” (Luke 15:31) When we remember that, turning around is easy. Repent!
Bravo.
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