Repent! Repent! Every one of you! Repent from sin! Now! And........freeze! At this very moment a snapshot of your thoughts would be priceless. I wonder what images get conjured up in your imagination every time you hear the dreaded "R" word, repent?
When I was in grade school I used to walk to and from school by a Catholic Church. The priest there seemed like a nice man. He had one of those little dogs with a smashed-in face, a pug. He warmly greeted everyone before and after school. People really liked him from what I could tell. But there were these joyless women in black and white attire at the church who were nuns. Each day they stood behind a large picture window overlooking the churchyard. They would stare at us kids with a watchful eye, crossed arms, and cross faces. They seemed distant and detached and so authoritarian. They didn't trust us. I used to think, "They're scowling at me. They're judging me. I'm not good enough."
I never attended the Catholic Church, but I had a lot of friends who did. The nuns taught them rules. They had them memorize the ten commandments. Everything was black and white. A thick dark line of obedience was drawn in the sand for them. The pressure was on. They obsessed about confession and following rules. They didn't want to make a mistake. For them, church was a guilt trip. They got beat up with repentance. Many of them fell away from the Church because they couldn't measure up.
For some, repentance is joyless.
This is precisely the image many people have when they hear the word repentance. To many, repentance represents everything that is wrong with religion today. To many, repentance is joylessness. It is institutional. It is authoritarian. It is heavy-handed. It is manipulative and coercive. It's pressure. It's nothing but a guilt trip. It's black and white, on or off, yes or no. And there's no grace in between!
Perhaps for you, repentance is something that conjures up negative thoughts about yourself. It something that propels you deep into defeat and despair. Perhaps for you, the first word that comes to mind when you hear the "R" word is condemnation and judgment.
Another image that percolates in our imaginations is that of a fanatical prophet. In the New Testament we meet a preaching prophet named John the Baptist. The gospel of Matthew in Matthew 3:4 (NIV) tells us, "John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey." He would shout out to people as noted in Matthew 3:2 (NIV), "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." One time he spotted some religious leaders and said in Matthew 3:7-10 (NIV), "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 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. The ax 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."
Talk about a guilt trip. It's a good thing that John came in Jesus' day. If he came today he'd be placed in a mental institution! He would be given shock therapy or heavy medication or a straight jacket perhaps. Animal rights groups would condemn him for eating live locusts and for wearing the skins of endangered camels. He would be branded intolerant, politically incorrect, a bigot, a religious fanatic, a threat to civilization, or something worse. He wouldn't be taken seriously!
Which brings me to my second point about the dreaded "R" word. I spent quite a bit of time this past week looking through the Christian bookstore for a book on the subject of repentance. Nowhere among the Prayer of Jabez paraphernalia or the Precious Moments figurines did I find a single book on repentance. Such a book wouldn't sell today! Truth be known, for many believers today repentance is relegated to the realm of fanatics like John the Baptist. It is just too extreme for normal devotional consumption.
And so on the one hand repentance is too cold, impersonal, and judgmental. And on the other end of the spectrum, it's so radical and extreme that it is deemed irrelevant.
Repentance and relationship.
This morning I want to talk about the second step to becoming a Christian. Last week I talked about the first most important step of trusting Jesus Christ. I told you that trust is the foundation of every relationship and that this is especially true of our relationship with God. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) tells us, "And without faith (trust) it is impossible to please God." To build a personal relationship with God, we must first learn to trust Jesus Christ. This week I want to talk about the second step to becoming a Christian, which is repentance.
It is absolutely imperative, and I say this with bright red print, 100 point, bold type! Imperative! It is absolutely imperative that we view repentance in terms of relationship, lest it have a lethal impact on our relationship with Jesus Christ. When God calls us to repentance he isn't perched high up in heaven, looking down at us through a large glass picture window. He isn't looking down his nose at us with crossed arms and a cross face that is condemning us for our imperfections. He isn't detached and distant and joylessly beating everyone into submission. He is not foaming at the mouth shouting, "Turn or burn you sinning piece of trash!" Because of your sin and guilt you may feel like God is doing those things. Or because of some church experience you may believe that is how God is. But this is not the image of repentance that God wants you to have. In reality, repentance is an invitation to an eternal relationship. It is positive. It is constructive. It is relevant. It is relational. It is personal. It is warm.
Whatever baggage you brought this morning concerning repentance, let me encourage you to leave it at the terminal before your relationship with God goes terminal. Consider some of the relational dynamics of repentance for just a moment.
Repentance as turning to God.
The classic definition for repentance is turning away from sin. We all know how extremely difficult it is to turn away from something that we have been enticed by for our entire lives. Our old life has a pull all of its own. Herein lies the problem with the classic understanding of repentance. It puts too much emphasis on what we are turning away from instead of who we're turning to.
The average person, when contemplating this classic understanding of repentance, often struggles with a parallel thought process. On the one hand she is caught up in thinking about a personal relationship with God. But on the other hand she is still eyeing the very sins she turned away from. The danger is that we might end up like Lot's wife. As she was fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah to begin a new life with God, Lot's wife just had to look over her shoulder. That momentary glance back at her old life, with all its enticements, cost her the saving of her very soul. She perished and shared in the fate of those two evil cities.
A better definition of repentance is "turning toward God." This helps us put the emphasis where it belongs. It focuses us on the relationship that is being opened up to us because of a different attitude about sin. As you read scripture, you will discover that this better definition has really been God's definition all along. Consider two passages. In Isaiah 45:22 (NIV) God says, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other..." Notice the relational language. God says, "Turn to me", "I am God", "Be saved."
In Acts 14:15 (NIV) Paul explains, "...We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them." We aren't turning to some detached, demanding God. We are turning to a living God who made us, who created us for relationship, and who wants us. Through repentance our living God invites us to make ourselves at home in heaven.
So when we repent we are turning away from sin, but most importantly we are turning toward God and opening ourselves up to a new relationship. Relationship is the substance of Christianity. Consider a second dynamic.
Repentance as treasuring God.
One of the most memorable passages found in all of scripture is in Matthew 6. In Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) Jesus says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Admittedly, this isn't the first passage people turn to when talking about repentance. But it reveals the very heart of repentance. Repentance is all about treasure. Treasure can be a noun that refers to a person, place, or thing. We typically think of gold and silver as our treasure, things and stuff or our home as a treasure, a place. But in this case Jesus, a person, is asking to be our treasure.
Treasure can also be a verb. When we treasure something, we make that something the center of our entire lives. We cherish it. We value it. We love it. Jesus wants to be the noun that receives the action of our verb. He wants to be the treasure that is treasured by us more than anything else in the whole world. Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV) says, "... set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Therefore, repentance is a matter of affection. It is like saying "I do" in a wedding.
To treasure someone is to put that relationship first. Because I treasure my wife Lara, I do my best to put our relationship before everything else. Now I love doing ministry. I love fishing. I love woodworking. I enjoy bike riding and yard work (mine, not yours). But I do not love any of these things at the expense of the relationship I treasure most, which is my relationship with Lara. But as much as I treasure my wife, I treasure my relationship with Jesus Christ more. Didn't Jesus say that you cannot serve two masters? I'm in trouble now!"
Repentance is turning toward God. Repentance is treasuring Jesus Christ above all else. Let's consider a third dynamic of repentance.
Repentance as pleasing God.
When you treasure someone, only one thing matters in life; pleasing her! When Lara and I started dating, she absolutely hated this blue baggy BUM tee shirt I wore about every other day. She also did not like my faded, deteriorating high school sweatshirts. Because I treasured my relationship with Lara I gladly, even joyfully, made the decision to make some simple changes in my life in order to please her. For example, I started wearing my BUM tee shirt once every third day.
Notice how drastically different this perspective on repentance is. Instead of just obeying a cold set of eternal laws, instead of feeling condemned and coerced and pressured, instead of shame and guilt being our motivation, we are instead driven by a desire to please the one who we treasure. We begin living out of love instead of squirming out of fear. In 2 Corinthians 5:9 (NIV)Paul says, "So we make it our goal to please him (Christ)..." But there is another dimension to this.
When I first met Lara I only had a limited knowledge of what actually pleased her. Since we've been married that knowledge has doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. Now we know one another's buttons. We know what delights and what offends. We can read one another's body language, moods, and minds. I know when I am in really big trouble. I know when to speak and when to shut up. Usually.
Repentance as relationship is all about learning to please Jesus Christ. When we first meet Jesus we have a limited knowledge of what pleases him. But as we grow in that relationship, we get a clearer picture. We know his heart. As this happens we choose whether to please Christ or offend Christ. If we treasure Jesus Christ, we will live to please him. If we treasure self most, we will live to please self instead. No relationship can survive very long with selfishness. And so in repentance we selflessly give ourselves to the joy of living to please God.
And so let's recap what we've said up to this point. First, we make turning to Christ our focus instead of focusing on the sin we are leaving behind. We look forward, not backward. We think relationship, not rules. Second, we learn to treasure Christ more than anything else in our lives. We set our affections on him instead of on the things of this world. Third, we live to please Christ with our lives. This is a learning and growing experience, but our delight is in making God proud. I have one last point for us to consider.
Repentance as lifestyle.
Repentance isn't a one-time decision. It isn't an event, per se. Repentance is mostly a lifestyle. It refers to the overall direction of one's life. Until the day we die we will wrestle with repentance in some way. The big pieces will be in place of course, but we will forever discover newer and deeper ways to more perfectly please God. And when we discover these ways, we make a course correction to compensate.
When we talk about repentance being the second step of becoming a Christian, we are referring to the initial turning of your heart to God. We are referring to that time frame when you begin desiring a relationship with Christ more than you enjoyed a life of sin and rebellion. The truth is that many of you are still holding on to the old life. Many of you are still looking over your shoulder at Sodom and Gomorrah. There is absolutely no life to be found in the dust and ashes of our old sins. Life is to be found in turning to Jesus Christ and in repenting.
In Acts 11:18 (NIV) Paul is jubilant because the Gentiles had received a, "repentance unto life."
I wonder this morning if you have discovered this, "repentance unto life". There is life in a relationship with Jesus Christ. There isn't life in rules, rituals, religion, and the relics of our old way of living. Do you have a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ this morning? Why not repent? Why not accept God's invitation to begin a relationship? Why not turn your heart toward home and make Christ the treasure that you treasure? Why not make it your lifestyle to please him for eternity?
See? No guilt. No shame. No condemnation. Just a simple invitation. Repent. Please God.