Sunday's Message - Preparing for Easter (Repenting)

During this season of Lent, we're moving through a sermon series entitled “Preparing for Easter.” In these five services, we're considering how we might get ourselves ready to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We’re focusing on the following:

• February 22 - Fasting
• March 1 - Forgiving
• March 8 - Repenting
• March 15 - Praying
• March 22 - Loving

On Sunday, we continued this series by looking at how we can prepare for Easter by repenting. Below is a presentation and the text of the sermon. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. (EDT).  You can hear a podcast of the service at the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel or the Sligo Presbyterian Spotify Page.

Now, to be completely up front with y’all, I’m choosing to see yesterday as a taste of things to come, and I’m not talking about the turkey dinner. Good night nurse, the weather, man, it was downright beautiful, wasn’t it; at least it was in the morning. I mean, the temperature was in the 70s, for crying out loud. And when I was walking over to the church, there were kids riding their bicycles up and down the sidewalk, something I hadn’t seen in months. And for the first time since, I’m guessing, early October, I opened up the window in my office. Regardless of what happens next week (and according to my phone, we may see the temperature dip into the twenties on Thursday)  I think I’m safe in saying that we’re right on the threshold of genuine, bonafide seasonal change.

And you know, it’s interesting, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning, you know, change. You see, we’re now at week number three in our series about how we might prepare for Easter. And as y’all may remember, we started it off by looking at fasting, you know, giving something up in order to move closer to God. And last week, we considered forgiving, something I believe we can do by acknowledging the pain we may have felt and by making the decision to forgive and by praying for those who hurt us and by establishing appropriate boundaries so this same kind of thing won’t happen again. Now that’s what we’ve talked about to this point.

And this morning, we’re going to move on to the next thing we might consider doing in order to get ready for Easter, namely repenting. And I’ll tell you, that’s the reason I said we’d be looking at change just a little while ago. You see, the Greek word we translate “repent” is μετανοέω, which literally means, “to change one’s mind.” Of course, this is one of those words that appears all over the place in scripture and that’s used an awful lot in the church, and so we’re going to spend a little time this morning discussing what it means and how we might do it. Now that’s the plan.  

But you know, before we get to the how, we really need to understand what repenting is all about. And I’ll tell you, for Christians, I don’t think there’s a better place to look than the Bible. Of course, as I said a minute ago, this idea of needing to change, man, it’s all over the place in scripture. But you know, for me, there are two examples, both from the Gospel of Luke, that sort stand head and shoulders above all the rest, at least, as it relates to illustrating what repenting is all about. For example, before Jesus even started his ministry, we’ve got the proclamation of John the Baptist. Just listen to how “the Baptist” explained repentance:

So John went along the Jordan Valley, telling the people, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.”

Crowds of people came out to be baptized, but John said to them, “You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? Do something to show that you really have given up your sins. Don’t start saying you belong to Abraham’s family. God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”

The crowds asked John, “What should we do?”

John told them, “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn’t have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.”

When tax collectors came to be baptized, they asked John, “Teacher, what should we do?”

John told them, “Don’t make people pay more than they owe.”

Some soldiers asked him, “And what about us? What do we have to do?”

John told them, “Don’t force people to pay money to make you leave them alone. Be satisfied with your pay.” [Luke 3:3, 7-14, CEV]

Now that’s what he said, and in my opinion, this is an excellent lesson on repentance. But maybe even better than that, just consider the example of the tax collector, Zacchaeus. This was what the Evangelist Luke wrote:

Jesus was going through Jericho, where a man named Zacchaeus lived. He was in charge of collecting taxes and was very rich. Jesus was heading his way, and Zacchaeus wanted to see what he was like. But Zacchaeus was a short man and could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree.

When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down! I want to stay with you today.” Zacchaeus hurried down and gladly welcomed Jesus.

Everyone who saw this started grumbling, “This man Zacchaeus is a sinner! And Jesus is going home to eat with him.”

Later that day Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “I will give half of my property to the poor. And I will now pay back four times as much to everyone I have ever cheated.”

Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.” [Luke 19:1-10, CEV]

Now that’s what Luke wrote.

And I’ll tell you, in both situations, the lesson was pretty much the same. I mean, based on what John said and Zacchaeus did, repentance really is about changing your mind. In other words, it’s about turning from self, you know, from what we possess ourselves and from what we can get from others and then turning to God, so that we can focus on him and on those around us. And you know, this change, this repentance isn’t just verbal or symbolic. You see, it’s as tangible and practical as taking one of your coats and giving it to someone who doesn’t even have any. And it’s deciding to go against the norms and even the  expectations of others and choosing not to shake people down for more money. As a matter of fact, it’s making the decision to give maybe half your property to the poor and being so serious about taking responsibility for your past actions that you pay back four times as much to anyone whom you may have cheated. I guess you could say that, using the Bible as a guide, repentance isn’t about using a bunch of spiritual-sounding words or making a bunch of spiritual-sounding promises. Instead, it’s as concrete and real as turning from the past and turning toward the future,  even if that might mean opening our closets and our wallets. And you know, according to the Bible, that sure seems to be the kind of repentance that we’re challenged to make.

And you know, as difficult as that might sound, I think this is something that we’re able to do, certainly during this season of Lent. Of course, it may not be easy or comfortable, but I believe, right here and now, we can turn from self and turn to God and others by applying and following what I think you could call the three “Cs” of repentance. And let me share with you what you are. 

You see, in my opinion, the first repenting “C” involves “conviction,” in other words, recognizing that we really do need to change, that there are things from our past that have separated us from God and from one another and that nothing is going to happen until we make the conscious and intentional decision to grab the bull by the horns and actually do it. And I’ll tell you, I think we can see this kind of conviction and self-awareness in something the psalmist wrote. In his prayer to God, he said, 

Turn your eyes from my sin
    and cover my guilt.
Create pure thoughts in me
    and make me faithful again.
Don’t chase me away from you
or take your Holy Spirit
    away from me. [Psalms 51:9-11, CEV]

You see, that’s what I’m talking about when I use the word “conviction.” Man, that guy was convicted, and brothers and sisters, so can we. 

But I’ll tell you, to pull it off, I think we’re going to need some real honesty and genuine openness. I mean, if we ever want to come to grips with our sin and weaknesses and limitations and with our obsession on self, man, we’ve got to be honest, and I’m talking about honesty in the way we see ourselves. And trust me, that’s not easy to do. Personally, using a good Mary Poppins phrase, I’d love to see myself as practically perfect; therefore, my repentance can be superficial at best. And so it’s much easier and more comfortable to just kind of drift along and not change at all. Repentance is difficult and uncomfortable. And that’s why doing it, man I think it takes radical honesty. I mean, it takes radical honesty for me to be willing to recognize my faults and flaws, my sins and weaknesses, and my single-minded focus on self. I’ll tell you, it takes real honesty to change, to repent, to allow yourself to be convicted. And along with that, I think it also takes the willingness to be open, you know, open to possible sacrifices I might have to make if I’m serious about change. I mean, let’s get real, if my vision is limited by blinders I refuse to remove, both my recognition and response has got to be limited. You see, if we want to repent, we really need to be convicted, “C” number one.

And personally, I also believe confession is also crucial, the second “C”. But right now, I’m not just talking about rattling off a bunch of sins committed and mistakes made, as though whispering them to God in the privacy of our own hearts is enough. No, the kind of confession I have in mind involves not only acknowledging the act but also accepting the accountability, something that I believe the writer of the Proverbs understood. Just listen to what he wrote:

If you don’t confess your sins,
    you will be a failure.
But God will be merciful
if you confess your sins
    and give them up.
The Lord blesses everyone
    who is afraid to do evil,
but if you are cruel,
    you will end up in trouble. [Proverbs 28:13-14, CEV]

You see, anybody can whisper their sins and mistakes and weaknesses, their self-centeredness, in a way that nobody hears. But trust me, it takes real courage and faith to take responsibility for what we’ve done. You see, it takes courage to admit that we aren’t always the kind of people we were created to be. And it takes courage to acknowledge that along the way, we’ve made mistakes that hurt others and that we were wrong when we denied what we said and tried to cover up what we’d done. And it takes real courage to stand up on our own hind legs and face the consequences for our words and actions and to do it even if we might have gotten away if we hadn’t. Now to do that, man, that takes courage. But it also takes faith. As a matter of fact, in my opinion, I can only admit my sin and self-absorption, and I can only acknowledge the pain and confusion and disappointment I may have caused and I can only face the consequences of what I’ve done and left undone, I can only do that, if I also believe that Paul was immutably and eternally right when he wrote to the Romans that “nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” [Romans 8:29b, CEV] But you know, along with courage, that’s exactly what confession requires. As it relates to repentance, in my opinion, that “C” number two.

And the third “C”, well, for me that’s conversion. And you know, even though that word is often associated with a person becoming a Christian, for me, it’s far broader than that. You see, when we apply it to people, it’s the intentional and deliberate decision to change from one thing to another. That’s being converted. In other words, it’s consciously turning from self to God, from past to future, from limitations to possibilities. As a matter of fact, I think it’s exactly what Paul described in his second letter to the Corinthians.

We are careful not to judge people by what they seem to be, though we once judged Christ in this way. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others. [2 Corinthians 5:16-18, CEV]

Now that’s what Paul wrote. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s something we need to remember as we consider our own decision to convert, you know, to change, to repent. You see, when you get right down to it, we’re really not doing this alone; instead, we’re building on what God has already done. Whether we acknowledge it or not, our ability to repent is based on his decision to love us before he created the heavens and the earth. And it’s grounded in his decision to enter our time and space in a way that we could understand in order to cleanse our past and to insure our future and to show us how to live in the present. And it’s enabled by his decision to send his Holy Spirit to do some of the heavy lifting by enabling us to feel convicted and by helping us to offer confessions. You see, in a real sense, repentance is actually a gift of God, one that we can claim by living a new kind of life. And I’m telling you, right here, although we can’t decide to have God love us, and we can’t decide to have Christ die for us, and we can’t decide to have the Holy Spirit inspire us, we sure as heck can decide to live as though we really believe that the past is forgotten and everything is new. And we can live as though we really believe that what we were will no longer be an anchor, holding us back from what we’re able to become. And we can live as though we really believe that, regardless of what happens along the way, God holds our destinies in his hands and that, as I said before, that “nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” [Romans 8:29b, CEV] Now, in my opinion, this is what conversion is all about, the final “C.”

And I’ll tell you, this kind of change, man, it’s special and unique. You see, when you get right down to it, the seasonal change we saw yesterday was nice, but not perfect. I mean, not only did we have thunderstorms that caused Coco Chanel to shake like a leaf as she hid under my desk, we all know that the change we saw 24-hours ago, even if it lasts, it will be changing back in about six months. As a matter of fact, the extra hour of sunlight we picked up this morning; we’re going to give back on November 1. What the Lord giveth...

But you know, that doesn’t have to be the case with the kind of change we’ve been talking about this morning. I mean, we can follow the words of John and the example of Zaccheaus, and we can choose to turn from self and to turn to God and others. And I think we can do it by claiming those three “Cs”: conviction, confession and conversion. And you know, if we do, I believe we’ll be preparing for Easter by repenting.