All Saints Lutheran Church
Second Sunday in Advent
December 8, 2002
Pastor Tim Johnson
Mark 1:1-8

I'm not sure that there's any other way of saying this this morning except to be rather frank. God is calling you and me to repent--to turn from our sins and to turn or turn back to God. What I don't know is just exactly what it is that God is calling each of us to repent of or from, but I do know that there is at least something in every single one of our lives that needs to change in order to most fully experience the life the Jesus said was to be abundant.

What exactly comes to your mind when you hear the word, "Repent!" It is, after all, a command.

A number of things might come rather quickly to mind:

• Your own sin that keeps you separated from God and from others in your life. You may be mindful of a very particular sin--some act that you have committed that has remained secret, or some sin that has caused another person great harm.
• You may be drawn to think about another person's sin. Perhaps you're particularly mindful of how another person's behavior or attitude is hurtful. And your daily prayer is that that person in your life would experience a deep change or transformation so that they and you might be able to experience some wholeness and joy instead of pain that seems to never go away. You may think about the gift of forgiveness that is offered when we repent and the healing that comes when we receive that forgiveness. You hear the call to repent and you find yourself agreeing, and knowing that it is good and right to repent, to change, to turn back to God. Perhaps you feel a bit like Dennis the Menace, in Hank Ketcham's comic strip. Where Dennis is kneeling beside his bed saying his prayers, "I'm sorry, but I've got a whole bunch of 'I'm sorry's' for you tonight
• You may not even perceive the need for repentance. It might strike you as a rather antiquated and religious word and practice that has no relevance for life today.
• Or, maybe you think that because you are already a Christian that repentance is meant for someone else.

But no matter what we might think about, the call is clear this moming--It is to repent!

But, what exactly is repentance?

There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote repentance.

(1.) The verb metamelomai is used for a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used with reference to the repentance of Judas (Matt. 27:3).

(2.) Metanoeo, means to change one's mind and purpose, as the result of some knowledge. This verb, with

(3.) the similar noun metanoia, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, for which the forgiveness of sin is promised.

In Matthew's Gospel, John speaks of this when he says that repentance is something that results in life change that is evident. "Bear fruit worthy of repentance," he says. In other words, there's something different about us when we lay our sins bare before God with no excuses and no pretense, only to discover how merciful and beautiful is the gift of forgiveness.

Repentance, though, might best be thought of as a sort of process that unfolds, with these four components. For, repentance consists of

(1.) a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness. In other words, letting the truth be spoken. No rose colored glasses. No excuses. No blaming. No dodging our responsibility. This well may be the most difficult part of repentance because we live in a culture that can't stand guilt. In fact, it is not at all uncommon for people to reject any notion that guilt might have a critically important role in reconciliation and wholeness. Truth be known, we'd rather be right or feel good than be guilty. Yet, guilt is the first step in repentance. After all, if we were going in the right direction, we wouldn't be hearing the call to turn around and head back to God!

(2.) The second part of the process includes an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ. In other words, after we have seen the extent of our sin and our guilt, and have experienced a deep sorrow, we then must see that we have turned to an incredibly merciful and good God who wants healing and wholeness to come to us.

(3.) The third thing is an actual hatred of sin (Ps. 119:128; Job 42:5, 6; 2 Cor. 7: 10) and turning from it to God. If its sin and if it breaks God's heart, and if it hurts ourselves or others, we see the old way as an enemy.

(4.) And finally, repentance results in a persistent endeavour after a holy life, walking with God 'in the way of his commandments.

So, the truly penitent person is conscious of guilt and of helplessness, is sorrowful for their sin, but ultimately in a turning toward God discovers forgiveness and cleansing. Like the Psalmist, we cry out: "Have mercy on me, 0 God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." (Psalm 5 1)

Is it any wonder, then, that baptism follows repentance? That the purifying waters of baptism come as a gift when we reckon with the truth about our need for a savior and we discover that God has exactly what we need. Mercy and grace so that our lives might be filled with hope and might be something different. Dying to the old self, rising with Christ to a new person.

Repentance, essentially, is about change. It is about living out of a new reality, a new identity. It's about deep, foundational change. It's about a willingness to change. it's about seeing things differently. It's about a change of mind and heart that results in a life differently lived.

I don't know about you, but I for one have discovered in my life, just how profoundly difficult change is for people, *indeed for myself In fact, it's not uncommon at all to run into someone who says, "I can't change. That's just the way I am. That's just who I am." I think that the deeper truth when we say such things is, "I don't really want to change. I happy enough with who I am or what I'm doing, and I have no intention in changing."

In my undergraduate work in psychology, one of the first things that I learned was that 'there is almost never any lasting change in a person's life if a person isn't fundamentally convinced of the need to change or if they lack a deep desire to change. In my counseling classes, and *indeed over the years both in my own life as well as being a part of many conversations with people, I have found that change is hard, particularly when you feel like you have to do all the work yourself. That can feel overwhelming and defeating.

But the message that the Gospel declares is that with Jesus all things are possible. That with the power and mercy of God, and with the Spirit alive and at work within us, change, lasting change can happen. After all, don't we ultimately want release from our addictions, and from our hurtful behaviors, and from all the pressures to make it on our own, to prove ourselves, to be self-made people?

But in order for those situations to be different, it takes an emptying of our old self in order for God to move in a new way in our lives. It takes a surrendering of our attitudes that say, "Things will never change. That's just the way it is. That's just how I am." It  requires that we open up our hearts and minds to what God might want and do in our lives.

Repentance is, after all, a part of the Good News! It's not about our effort; it is about orienting our lives fully to God so that God can work in and through us to be about holy and good things. In 2nd Corinthians (verse 10), we hear Jesus speaking to Paul, as he says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."

Luther once said, "God creates out of nothing. Therefore until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him."

But that's the point. It's when we say, "Lord, I'm at the end of all my resources," that we hear the Lord's response: "Child, you're just at the beginning of M 'me."

That grace and that power of God that becomes available to us as we repent of our sins, and as we turn our lives toward God, is sufficient for each one of you. It finally opens our lives to God's resources. It is grace that is sufficient to change cold hearts and seemingly dead relationships into something good and joyous. It is power that can break addictions. It is hope that can purge depression. It is purpose that can eliminate a sense of worthlessness. And it is connection that can cure isolation.

It's no wonder that Scripture teaches that an encounter with Jesus is just like a rebirth. Being born again, we say. As one writer put it, "Repentance is not a fatal day when tears are shed, but a natal day when, as the result of tears, a new life begins."

Repentance is a good thing. It is a part of the good news that God has given us for our lives. In fact, we won't get to the fullness of the good news if we don't repent.

Truth be known, most any time we're pointing the finger away from ourselves as the reason for our unhappiness, we should probably make a u﷓turn and point it right back at ourselves as ask what sin is blocking me from experiencing a deeper relationship with God and with the people in my life. What needs to change in me? What is it about my attitude? What about my behavior? What choices need to change? How is God calli 9 me to change?

Christians, my friends, should be champions of change. We should be ever open to new ways of doing things, of living, of continually reorienting our lives to this good news that we have been given. It is nothing less than to experience salvation, and the beauty and glory of God.

Amen.