Sunday, January 22, 2006

Sun, January 22, 2006 - Repent and Believe

Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62:6-14
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20

"Never apologize and never explain - it's a sign of weakness." So said the great John Wayne, in his movie She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. It's a sentiment that some of us might agree with - in this day and age, apologizing for something we've done isn't really the cool thing to do. A lot of parents find it hard to apologize to their children, you'll almost never hear politicians apologizing in public, and when was the last time your boss said sorry for something and really meant it? Sure, we all mutter "sorry" under our breath when we bump into somebody, but we rarely truthfully and honestly apologize for the real mistakes that we've made. Probably for that exact reason - we don't want people to think we've actually made a mistake. We don't want people to think that we're less than perfect, that we have failed to do something or done it incorrectly. We don't want people to think, like John Wayne does, that we're weak.

Well, today's readings from the Old Testament and the Gospel are about repentance. Now, repentance is a lot like apologizing - it involves acknowledging that you've made a mistake, that you've been less than perfect, that you are not as superior as you like people to think you are. But repentance is about more than just apologizing - it's about more than just feeling bad and saying sorry. Repentance is also about action - specifically, about action that rectifies the mistake you've made. The Greek word for "repent," which Jesus used when he said, "repent, and believe in the good news" is "metaneo," which means to turn, and particularly to turn one's self right around from what one was doing. It is a word that is connected to actions, not to feelings or to speaking words, but to actually doing something.

That sense of turning, of action as a part of repentance, is felt throughout our Bible, both Old and New Testaments. In today's reading from Jonah, God sent Jonah to Nineveh to get the people to repent, to turn from their wicked ways. And when the people of Nineveh heard Jonah's message, they didn't just feel bad and hang their heads and say, "Oh, sorry, God, for our gluttony and vanity and generally wicked behaviour." No, they moved into action - they fasted, a sign of feeling sorry but also a 180 degree turn from being gluttonous, and they put on sackcloth - goat- hair shirts - another sign of repentance but also a 180 turn from wearing fine, expensive clothing. Their repentance included action.

In our Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus called people to "repent, and believe in the good news," and Simon and Andrew and James and John "immediately" leapt into action. We don't know what they were repenting of - there's nothing wrong with being a fisherman, but nevertheless, after hearing Jesus' call to repentance they turned away from their lives as fishermen and turned to new lives of being Jesus' disciples. In the Bible, the call to repentance is answered by action.

It ought to be that way today, too. God does, after all, call us to repentance in this day and age as well. The situation Nineveh found itself in that led it to require repentance is similar to the situation we find ourselves in. Nineveh was reputed to be a city of excess and greed, where every sin imaginable was committed - sort of the Las Vegas of Biblical times. Can we honestly say that we're any different? That we don't need to repent of these same things? Jesus' call to the disciples and the people of Galilee, to repent and believe in the good news - that's a call to us, too, issued every Sunday in the Brief Order for Confession and Forgiveness. We even hear God calling us to repentance in the words from 1 Corinthians - in Paul's words to turn away from the obsessions of the world and return to a focus on Christ. And remember, God is calling us to do more than just feel bad and say sorry, God is calling us to actually turn, to take action.

Now there are a lot of things we need to repent of, but there's one in particular I want to focus on today, and that is our overwhelming insistence on putting ourselves first. We live in an age of individualism, where what is good for me is more important than what is good for the community. We are told that I come first, that I have to take care of myself above all, that my needs take priority. Now, I'm not saying that self-care is bad, or that we need to sacrifice ourselves completely for the common good - but if you think of it as a pendulum, with one side being nothing but the community and the other side being nothing but the individual, well we've swung a little too far towards the individual side and need to return more towards the middle. If you'll forgive me for once again dragging politics into the pulpit, when politicians try to swing votes by promising personal tax cuts at the cost of community well-being and social structures, that is catering to the individual. When somebody asks for our help and our first thought is, "I don't have the time," - or the money, depending on what they're asking for - rather than "I'll give you whatever you need," that is putting our individual selves above the good of the other. Sister Joan Chittester asked a rhetorical question that highlights the seriousness of our problem. She said, "The real social question of the age is: How many ads can a person possibly watch on TV and stay more committed to the enlightenment of the self than to the aggrandizement of the self?" We are, each one of us - there are no exceptions here - dedicated to the aggrandizement of the self - to making ourselves more important, more valuable - in short, to doing everything possible so that the world revolves around us.

And it's wrong. Do I need to say that? Is it obvious to you why God would call us to repent of this self-centred individualism? For one thing, like I said, it's wrong. Living this way requires others to sacrifice themselves for us, and if everybody did it, we could very well end up ourselves as the victims of someone else's self-importance. Any action we can take to rectify that situation and turn it around is a good thing. God will forgive us, it's true, but that forgiveness won't fix the mistakes we've made or put right our wrongs. The responsibility for that belongs to us. But that's not the only reason God calls us to repentance - for this and for all the other things we do wrong.

God calls us to turn from acting this way because it's only in turning, in taking action and repenting, that we can turn away from ourselves and back to God. Simply feeling bad and saying sorry won't do a darn thing if we continue to act in self-centred ways. Unless we actually turn ourselves around, we will continue to walk the path of " me first" and we will discover that we are moving farther and farther away from God.

So that's the bad news. What's the good news? Well, the good news is that God isn't just telling you to turn away from your sins, and that's it. Instead, God is actually giving you something to turn towards. In other words, God isn't out there saying, "Repent or die" - threatening you until you act. Rather, God is saying "Repent and live." God is, essentially, trying to bribe you into action. You could call it positive reinforcement. When Jesus said, "Repent and believe in the good news," he wasn't saying, "Repent and believe... or else." He was saying, "Repent and believe because the good news is for you." And the good news is that God is merciful, and accepts your repentance, and is full of steadfast love towards you no matter what. The good news is that when you turn to God, God gives you new life, and helps you to complete your turning, and brings you into the kingdom of God.

The good news is also that repentance isn't a sign of weakness. Interestingly enough, even God repents. Even God turns from one thing to follow another path. After Noah and the flood, God repented of wiping out the earth and swore a covenant never to do it again. God took a new path. And when it came to the people of Nineveh, God changed God's mind about punishing them, God repented and turned to forgiving them instead. Repentance, it turns out, is a sign of strength, something to be followed, something that gives us new life and joy.

Yes, it's hard to truly repent. Muttering sorrys is a lot easier than taking action and turning around. But God has such a wonderful gift awaiting us when we do, that it's worth it. God isn't asking us to repent so that we'll be miserable, but so that we can truly enjoy life and be right with God. The Ninevites repented and were no longer sickened by their over-indulgent lifestyles. The disciples repented and although their lives were more difficult, I daresay that they found more fulfilment and satisfaction following Christ than being fishermen. God's call to repentance, it turns out, is a blessing in disguise. Although we might be reluctant to turn from our sin, it turns out that that's how we end up facing, and receiving, the good news. That's how we know that God is truly merciful and welcomes us and loves us no matter what. Thanks be to God. Amen.

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