Repent!
Okay. Sounds easy,
right? That just means to say I'm sorry, and move on, right?
Nope. Sorry.
Repentance is more
than that. It's hard. It takes effort. Because to repent is not just about
changing an action, or saying sorry.
Being sorry is just being sorry.
It's important, don't get me wrong. But sometimes it's just words. There's a
great example going around Facebook of how sometimes 'sorry' isn't good enough.
It goes like this: take a plate; smash it on the ground; say sorry... nothing's
changed. Put the pieces back against one another, say sorry again - still not
quite good enough.
Saying sorry may make you feel
better, but the plate is still broken. And sometimes, the plate isn't a plate;
it's a relationship. So repentance goes much further.
It's a change of the action itself,
based on a change of thought and a change of heart. It's being so truly and
deeply regretful about your own wrongdoing or sin, that you feel compelled to
change.
So how does that start? Well, it
starts by being aware of the sin. If we aren't taking time to do some serious
self-reflection, we aren't going to know that we've done anything wrong. We may
talk ourselves out of it, we may ignore it, we may justify it in our own minds.
Going back to the plate example, we may say to ourselves things like "It
was my plate so I get to decide to break it;" "I have other plates so
it doesn't matter;" "meh, the plate was made to be broken."
But that's not always okay, is it?
It's not okay if we want to be living in community. It's not okay if we want to
be held accountable to one another, and to God.
Repentance starts with thinking
about an action. It takes that, and reverts back to the thought stage. It
causes us to ask "Why am I doing this thing? Why did I think this was the
right way to act?" This is the stage where we're looking at the broken
plate on the ground, wishing we hadn't smashed it, wondering why we decided to
smash it.
Next, we go back one step to the
thought process. This is where repentance has us asking ourselves questions
like "What is leading me to sin?" and "why am I not thinking
this through all the way?" This is the "the plate didn't do anything
to hurt me, and I knew it would be messy,
and I had to go out of my way to do it - so why did I intentionally
smash the plate? What's really going on here - is this even about the
plate?"
Then - even further, repentance
calls us to consider the heart of the matter - our intentions. The deep, blunt
reality of why it is that we're thinking and doing what we are. This is where
we ask ourselves "What feelings are there that lurk behind this sin? What
need is this fueling deep within me?" Here is where we admit to ourselves
that the plate was an innocent bystander. It got broken because we were angry
at something else... because we were feeling rejected or useless or unloved or
unsafe.
It's hard. This is the part of
repentance that we don't like; the part where we have to be honest with
ourselves, to go deeper than we might be comfortable with, to really delve into
what it is that's the basis for our actions. And sometimes we may not like what
we see. It might be easier to just ignore it, after all... but here Jesus
himself challenges us - commands us, even - to go deeper. To look deep inside,
to reflect on what is happening in our actions, our thoughts, and our
intentions - and to turn away from sin. Because more than likely, what has been broken
is not a plate; it's not something that can be easily swept away, then
replaced. It's something in our lives that is important and will be missed once
it's shattered. Like our relationship with community, with friends, with family
- with God.
So repent, Jesus says. Change your
heart, your thought, your action - so that you can make right those relationships
that you value.
Believe!
Okay - again, here's a word that
sounds easy, but again I'm going to challenge us to dig deeper. Belief is NOT
always easy. It takes effort, it takes commitment.
Part of our challenge, I think, is
that we overuse the word. By doing that, it's lost it's impact over time.
Believe me, it's become a common word. *pause* Yes, I meant to do that. Yet in
the scriptures, the word has so much more meaning. It has so much more
significance than what we're used to today. The 'believe' that Jesus is using
here is a word rich with relationship, with honest and open connectivity. It's
a word that is meant to have the same life-changing, thought-altering effect
that we use in the creed.
Oh wait, the creed
- the statement of belief - the words we recite every week, some of us every
day. Hmm. What if those, too, are words that are meant to shake us into action?
Well, friends, they are. The words
we say in the creed, those "I Believe" sentences - those should
literally rock your world. Because they're a declaration of belief. Of
unshakeable trust. Of complete and unchanging confidence. Of having such strong
connection to the object of our belief that nothing will be able to convince us
otherwise. So when we, in the creed, are saying "I believe in God!"
we're saying that at our very core, that is a defining feature of who we are -
and, by extension, of how we are going to act that day. Yes, belief takes our
intentions, moves with them into thought, and then grows them into action. 'Believe' will move us through the exact
opposite exercise from what 'repent' did.
We have a belief. Deep in our
hearts, in our inner selves, we have that desire to have a healthy relationship
with God, with family, with community. Great. Who would argue with that?!
So we then take this intention, and
put it into thought. It's where we start to consider how we might build on that
belief, to make it not just a concept but a reality. What does it mean to love
God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength? How am I supposed to love my
neighbour as myself? In what ways am I called to serve God and the world?
And then, we start sorting through
the answers to those questions, and putting them into action. Maybe it's
helping a neighbour do the shopping. Maybe it's driving a friend to church.
Maybe it's dedicating time to prayer. Whatever it is, it's done with a purpose,
for a reason.
These actions, done as a result of
our belief, will stand up to the questions we should be asking ourselves. Why
did I do that? Because it would help build community. What led me to want to
build community? A hope for a faith-filled relationship. What feelings are
behind that? A desire to live out my baptismal vows, my connection with God, my
commitment to the Good News.
And there you have
it. Repent, and believe in the Good News.
Repent.
Turn away from evil intentions, evil
thoughts, evil actions.
Believe.
Believe in the Good News of God - who
created all things, who forgives us our sins, who sustains us all our days. This
is the GOOD NEWS which has been shared with us through Christ, and the apostles
and everyone who has chosen to hear it and proclaim it.
Repent. Believe.
Only then can you truly follow Jesus - as he is inviting us.
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