Repentance

Presented at County Line Brethren Church on December 6, 2009.
Year C, Second Sunday of Advent
Scripture passages: Malachi 3:1-4 and Luke 3:1-6

“There Will Be Blood”, is a very dark movie about an oilman's ruthless quest for wealth in the early days of oil development in California.
As an aside, I must mention that I do not recommend this movie for the young or those with weak stomachs. But for those who are able to handle dark tales, this movie is a masterpiece that describes the depths of evil which exist deep in the human heart.

Daniel Day-Lewis played the role of the oilman flawlessly. Actor Paul Dano plays a Christian Revivalist preacher who challenges the heartless oilman. His sermons speak a lot about repenting. And this is the old fashioned kind of repentance. Turn or burn. It is filled with emotion and dramatic revivalist preaching. We can hear those words almost curdle off the tongues of these religious messengers. “REPENT” “REPENT” In this context, the focus is always on the avoidance of evil, wrong-doing, or sin. The focus is on choosing to stop one's evil ways.

Some may paint John the baptizer with similar brush strokes. After all, he is the voice in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew tells us that John wore clothes made of camel's hair and a leather belt holding it all together. His diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. He was the quintessential wild man. The people would gather around him and submit to baptism while confessing their sins.

So, before we go any further, perhaps it would be helpful to try to figure out how all of this relates to our Advent season. Let us be reminded that Advent is a time of waiting as well as a time of preparation. As we mentioned last year, this season of Advent is different than the season of Christmas. The liturgical season of Christmas officially begins with the birth of Jesus. Despite all the Christmas carols we hear in the stores and even in our churches, we are not actually in that season yet. It would be helpful to mention that there are some songs of Advent that are mistaken for Christmas songs. One prominent example is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” This song looks forward with hope to the coming of the Christ child, while recognizing that it is not here yet.

So, as we consider the season of Advent, these images of John the baptizer preaching this baptism of repentance come to mind. Indeed, we will be considering the lessons of preparation as found in the example of John the Baptizer during this Advent season.

The preaching of John the baptizer would have us to repent of our sins and receive forgiveness, so that our hearts are pure, and in readiness to receive the Christ child on Christmas morning. What I struggled with is the fact that we are already forgiven (as we discussed just a few weeks ago). So, if we are already forgiven, how does that figure into being ready to receive the Christ child. Does that mean we no longer need to repent? We find throughout most of the New Testament that the unregenerated are being called to repentance. Indeed, there appear to be relatively few passages that specifically refer to believers being called to repentance.

I am assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that John is speaking primarily to the unregenerated calling them to repentance. If this is true, then an appropriate question is: does John's call to repentance as a way to prepare for the Christ child, apply to us who have already been regenerated? If so, how does it apply?

There are a couple of New Testament passages that seem to speak our topic of believers being called to some type of repentance. The first is feet washing at the last supper. There is some type of cleansing here. Even though they were already identified as part of the group, the disciples were told that they must get their feet washed, or they would have no part of Jesus. Even though we have been baptized, our feet still get dirty. And we Brethren clearly understand that Jesus has instructed us to regularly participate in this feetwashing ordinance. Isn't it interesting that Jesus wants us to continue this practice, despite our being forgiven? And according to the structure of the ordinance, feetwashing precedes both the Love Feast and the Eucharist (or the bread and the cup). We may say that Feetwashing addresses both the dirty feet that we have acquired as we continue our feeble efforts to live for Jesus and it prepares us for the Love Feast and the Eucharist. The Feetwashing does NOT mean that the Christian is in need of being “saved” again as evidenced by Jesus' response to Peter's bold request to be washed entirely. Essentially, Jesus said that Peter had already been baptized, was already saved, but simply needed to have his dirty feet washed. The Feetwashing has nothing to do with the person's salvation or status of being justified by the sacrifice of Jesus. In this sense, the Feetwashing tends to focus on addressing past wrongdoings, sins or transgressions. And yet, this is not the only purpose of the Feetwashing. Feetwashing is clearly a preparation intimate communion with our Lord in the sacred space of the celebration of the Eucharist. Not only that, but Feetwashing would also certainly look forward in preparation to continuing intimate communion with our Lord following the conclusion of the Eucharist.

There is an important clue here about what repentance means, particularly as it relates to our preparations during the Advent season. Most of the time, in my experience, repentance focuses on addressing past sins and indiscretions. And yet Paul tells us that when we celebrate the Eucharist, “we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” What we discover here is that there is an inherently forward-looking perspective about this important Christian ritual. Indeed, if we look a little further, this forward-looking is an important aspect of the New Testament understanding of both repentance and the message of John the Baptist – which has some specific and powerful implications about how we prepare for the coming of the Christ child.

There are 3 different word groups in the New Testament that are translated as repent or repentance. epistrepho and metanoeo basically mean to “turn round, turn oneself round, and refer to a man's conversion” (NIDNTT). The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology goes into depth a bit more related to the Greek word, epistrepho.

The use of epistrepho suggests that we are not concerned primarily with turning FROM the old life, but that the stress is on the turning TO Christ, and from him to God. (NIDNTT)

The third Greek word, metamelomai, “expresses rather the feeling of repentance for error, debt, failure and sin, and so it looks back” (NIDNTT).

So, if we look at these words, there is both an addressing of past sins and a forward-looking perspective, primarily toward Christ.

The second portion of scripture that came to my mind which seems to address this idea of believers being called to repentance is found in the letters to the churches in chapters two and three in Revelation.

Five of the seven churches are chastised by Jesus, who is speaking and are told directly to repent. What we discover in these letters is that some of the sins of individuals and/or the sins of the entire congregation are quite public and egregious. Others are more secret and pervasive. Jesus, who is speaking, on the one hand pronounces heavy judgment upon those who do not repent. On the other hand, every single letter closes with a description of the rewards for those who overcome.

And so, even in this passage which includes harsh judgments, there is a strong forward-looking perspective surrounding passages related to repentance.

Let me draw your attention to one more scripture passage and then we will move to our application and conclusion.

Do you remember this passage which seems out of context?

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." (Matthew 12:43-45)

I have to tell you. I wonder if this passage has some application to our present discussion? If repentance consists only of confessing our sins, expressing remorse, paying some type of restitution in order to restore or reconcile a relationship – I wonder if that type of repentance is only half of the solution? If we were to simply repent of our sins, we would be focused only on the past.

I would like to do an experiment. I want you to stop thinking about Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving dinner, we had two of them, was filled with too much eating and a fair amount of gluttony. I would like for you to make an attempt to stop thinking about Thanksgiving dinner. And stop thinking about all the pumpkin pie and the whipped cream. Don't think about the the stuffing or the cranberry salad or the moist white meat or the potatoes and gravy. It's bad! Stop thinking about Thanksgiving dinner!

How did you do?

Ok, let's try another experiment. Let's see if you do any better with this. Stop worrying about what you're going to buy family members and friends for Christmas. Stop worrying about Christmas. Stop thinking about all the decorations that need to be put up and all the cleaning you need to do. Stop thinking about Christmas. And stop being depressed about not having any money for gifts this year. Stop thinking about the Christmas rush. Stop feeling anxious and depressed about Christmas. Just stop it! Don't worry about Christmas – be happy! Stop being upset at all the problems that happened in Christmas' past.

How did you do?

Whatever the problem is, focusing on the problem will not, by itself, enable one to be victorious. Instead, focusing on the solution tends to pathway to success. It is generally not helpful to focus on past failure.

In the field of addiction, ruminating about alcohol, cocaine, or marijuana is not generally helpful. Instead, focusing on recovery is the pathway to freedom. Did you know that the original 12 steps for Alcoholics Anonymous, which is utilized by many 12-step recovery groups, mentions alcohol only one time. You see, focusing solely on past failures serves only to maintain the death grip of addiction.

With regard to depression or anxiety, it is a common problem that those who suffer have a propensity to ruminate about those things that sustain the depression or anxiety. And if they try not to think about these things, it is similar to our attempt to stop thinking about Thanksgiving dinner or the problems associated with the coming of Christmas.

I have discovered this in many Christian approaches to repentance. The more we try NOT to think about something, the more prone we are to think about it. Indeed, we may even discover that simply repenting of our sin only accentuates it in our minds. And before we know it, that evil spirit has returned with seven of his friends and produces even more failure and transgression than we experienced in the past.

The scriptural answer is that true and full Christian repentance, while addressing the past, is primarily forward-looking in its perspective.

Let's see how that works. As in the Brethren three-fold communion service, the ultimate purpose and focus of the Feetwashing is ongoing intimate communion between the believer and our Lord. The focus of the Eucharist is not the believer, but Jesus – his death and his coming. The ultimate purpose of Jesus' letters to the churches is to encourage them to overcome.

Having addressed the past, with what shall we fill our minds? I discovered a long time ago that my personal antidote for anxiety and depression is worship. Why is that? Part of the reason is that while I am focused on Jesus or the Father, I am NOT focused on what is depressing or producing anxiety.

Let's come full circle then and try to connect all of this with John's stated purpose of preparing the way of the Lord, by preaching a baptism of repentance. Have we figured our if, and how, this applies to us?

1. Believers are called to repentance as evidenced by the Feetwashing service and Jesus' letters to the churches.
2. This repentance is not identical to the call to unregenerate and does not involve our status as justified before God.
3. Repentance is incomplete without a “turning to” Jesus and our Father. This involves filling our mind with thoughts of Jesus, such as we experience in worship.
4. Full repentance is forward-looking and involves anticipating his coming. During the period of Advent, we look forward to the coming of Jesus not only in the manger, but also his coming in the clouds.
5. As we fill our minds with Jesus, we are able to experience freedom from our sins, our failures, our transgressions and wrong-doings, as well as our addictions.

Now, as I indicated a few weeks ago, I will take comments and questions about our topic today.