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Printer Friendly Version“Repent! Repent!” These were the words of my then
three year old son who, at the urging of his grandparents, learned not only
a new word but also an old fashioned way to deliver it, with his finger in
the air and shouting with a sly grin on his face. This brought laughter from
all of us, especially his preacher dad, whose style is far removed from the
tent and street corner evangelists of long ago who shouted this word as a
precursor to a “fire and brimstone” sermon as crowds gathered.
Although (as everyone that day knew and as my parishoners today know) that
shouting “repent” is not my idea of a sermon, this text reminds
me that repentance is a key component of what it means to be the Church.
The tragedy of the Titanic was not just the enormous loss of
life, cargo and property from the arrogance of those who thought they were
in the “unsinkable ship.” The most tragic part of the story came
in the last hour or so of the voyage when more and more people, including
the captain, realized that the crash and demise of the ship was just a matter
of time. They were going too fast to correct their course in time to avoid
tragedy. Our lives are like that. Jesus reminds us that our time is short.
Just like those who die in unexplainable tragedies, we have no way of knowing
when our time will run out. It seems that we have two choices as we seek to
walk the “Jesus walk” during this Season of Lent.
We may choose to simply re-arrange deck chairs of the Titanic,
as the saying goes.
This means that they choose to travel familiar roads and live in their own
self-focused patterns, plunging full speed ahead into an unknown future. In
every life it is just “a matter of time,” according to Jesus.
What we do with that time is of the greatest of importance. Living “Teflon
lives” that always seem to deflect the call of God, never allowing the
love of God to “stick,” ultimately ends in tragedy. Jesus reminds
His listeners that the tragedies He described were not just tragic because
they happened in a brutal Titanic-like way. Rather, they were tragic because
they are reminders of how many people are not ready to face death, because
they have never turned – repented, metanoia in Greek, a “change
of mindset” or even a turning around – to encounter God through
a relationship with Christ. Until that occurs, we are simply making a future
tragedy look nice for awhile. God can help us “turn the Titanic around.”
In other words, we Christians are not a group or club that says,
“Look at how much we know and at how flawless we are.” Instead,
we are a group that is supposed to say, “Look at the One we follow,
and join us in seeking to match our lives with the life He lived!” This
matching our lives with the life of Jesus begins with repentance and continues
as we grow in that same grace God provides. John Wesley emphasized the need
for consistent repentance, since he did not define holiness as something that
happens “once for all time,” but as an event that is followed
by a daily growth in grace. During this daily journey of grace, as we mature,
God is able to more and more point out areas of “gap” between
ourselves and Christ. We then are invited to accept the offer to a “changed
mind” and changed direction: an offer to repent! In doing so, we keep
our ship moving in the right direction, away from dangers that can pull us
eternally away from the God who loves us.
The fear that many of us who comment on the contemporary church
have is this: that we spend so much time trying to make each other feel better
that we forget that Christianity is not simply about “feeling better.”
Rather, Christianity is about receiving the grace of God, which we need as
a remedy for our sins, and then walking in that grace each day in both joy
and humility. The Bible reminds us that it is the kindness of God which leads
us to repentance. God is so kind and loving toward us that our best and most
logical response is repentance (see Romans 11:22 ). This kindness is expressed
in God’s patience and in His sacrifice for us, seen metaphorically in
this parable in verses 6-8 the conversation between the two men regarding
the fig tree.
In this parable of the fig tree, Jesus is the kind gardener
who wishes to do all He can, including giving as much time as possible, to
make sure that the tree bears fruit. “Bearing fruit” is a long
held Christian expression that means actually living out the Jesus walk that
God has invented us for (see Romans 7:4, for example: So, my brothers and
sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might
belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might
bear fruit for God.).
That begins with “Repent!” and continues with ongoing changes of mind set as we develop into the holy people God intends, and guides, us to be! Without repentance and consistent course correction (like what happens during Lent), we are simply “rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.” Instead of rearranging deck chairs let’s allow God to turn the Titanic around!