TURN AROUND

Dr. Richard J. Henderson March 7, 2004

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Genesis 15: 1-12,17-18
Luke 13: 31-35

Introduction

Jesus talked about repentance a lot in his ministry. He was about change. He spoke to individuals about repentance; he demanded it from religious institutions as well. In our scripture today, Jesus calls on the city of Jerusalem to repent.

Jesus' ministry was not like the odd, bearded man walking the streets with a huge placard saying, "Repent, the end is coming." Jesus asked people to look within themselves and change their relationship with God.

Jesus spoke to some people everyone knew should repent; he also spoke to people no one dared tell to repent. Jesus said, "Repent!" to the scorned prostitutes and the despised tax collectors, but also to honored religious leaders and respected authorities.

Jesus confronted us with the need for change. Repent. Turn around. You can have new life.

I

To repent means, first of all, to face ourselves honestly. It means to look at our lives realistically and evaluate our faith. During these forty days of Lent we are especially encouraged to take a sober, honest, clear look at ourselves. It is forty days of spiritual re-evaluation.

When we look at ourselves we weigh our faithfulness to God as well as our shortcomings. We understand that our failure - our sin - is a barrier that stands between God and us. This is a time when we want to clear the barriers out of the way.

In some cases there are reasons for what we do. Some of our weaknesses have to do with our particular history or the family we were brought up in. Sometimes, for example, an alcoholic has a predisposition to alcoholism that he has inherited genetically. There may be reasons for particular difficulties, but we don't have to let those reasons be excuses. Our reactions are not determined - we always have a choice.

For example, a father has two sons. The father is an alcoholic. The first son is a teetotaler - he never touches alcohol. People say, "No wonder he's a teetotaler, look at his father." The second son is an alcoholic. People say the same thing, "No wonder he's an alcoholic, look at his father." The same reason can be used for both situations. Our background may be a reason for what we do, but it isn't an excuse.

Lent is a time to face ourselves realistically. We don't make ourselves better or worse than we really are. We don't beat ourselves up or let ourselves off the hook. We take an honest, fair, look at our lives.

II

To repent means we admit to God that parts of our lives are not in line with what God wants for us. For some of us this is a foreign concept. We hear so much of "I'm OK, You're OK," everybody's OK - except for those nasty people we see on the TV news, of course. David Head adapted a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer as a tongue-in-cheek rewording for our contemporary situation:

"Benevolent and easy-going Father: we have occasionally been guilty of errors of judgment. We have lived under the deprivations of heredity and the disadvantages of environment. We have sometimes failed to act in accordance with common sense. We have done the best we could in the circumstances; and have been careful not to ignore the common standards of decency; and we are glad to think that we are fairly normal... O Lord, deal lightly with our infrequent lapses. Be your own sweet Self with those who admit they are not perfect; According to the unlimited tolerances which we have a right to expect from You. And grant us as indulgent Parent that we may hereafter continue to live a harmless and happy life and keep our self-respect. Amen"

When we see ourselves as the "good guys" and people tell us we're OK, sometimes it hard to feel like we need to change. Even in the church we hear, "God loves you just the way you are"... which is true. But that doesn't mean God doesn't want something better for our lives.

Lent is a time to honestly face our lives and admit our sins to God.

III

When we repent we ask for forgiveness. We lay our lives before God and say, "Please take these failures from me," or "Lord, make me clean." However we phrase it, God knows what we mean.

When we honestly go to God, God forgives us and God clears away our failures. The past is over and gone. We can begin life new.

We in Michigan have a special ability to understand God's forgiveness. Several years ago there was a sparkling white car in the parking lot. It was new and it had just been washed so it shined. During the day we got a heavy snowstorm. All day long the snow piled up. In the afternoon that brilliant, white car looked dingy. Compared to the glistening snow that lay on it, the car seemed to be a light gray. The snow was so bright and brilliant and pure that everything else around it seemed dull by comparison. Jesus said that our sins will be cleaned white as snow. In Michigan, we know, that's really white!

When we're honest, God forgives us beyond what we can believe.

IV

Repentance means to turn around and make life different. We stop doing what hurts our relationship with God, and ask God for the strength to live a new life. With the past cleared away, we can live life differently. Whether we have changed our whole lives or a part of it, we start fresh. The word "repent" means to turn around; to change our ways. The Greek word - metanoia - means literally "to change one's mind." It includes seeing the wrong, feeling remorse, and determining to act differently. It is really a change of heart.

Many people have questioned whether Pete Rose's confession, that he did bet on baseball games, was sincere. Did he offer a technically accurate statement or did he repent of his mistakes? To repent means to see the mistake you've made, feel remorse for it, and determine not to do it again. You can decide about Pete Rose. To repent means to change.

V

Repentance leads to a more forgiving life. When we have been forgiven, we are more forgiving to with other people.

I knew a woman whom I always felt was pretty self-righteous and condescending. She often seemed harsh and judgmental. Later, she went thru a very difficult time. She was involved in a real mess. I had the chance to talk with her after this crisis was over. She was like a new person - she was more accepting, she didn't judge people, the self-righteous attitude was gone. Forgiven, she was more forgiving.

Remember every time we say the Lord's Prayer we pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." We are linking together our ability to be forgiven with our ability to forgive.

Conclusion

Some time ago the New York Times carried a story about Jean Sandiford. She is a black woman whose son, Michael, was attacked for no reason at Howard Beach in Brooklyn. Her son was killed by a group of white teenagers. Jean attended the trial of those teens and often she could be seen reading a small Bible while the trial went on. Even though her son was killed ten years ago now, she said the pain of her son's death has not lessened. "Sometimes I sit here and cry," she said. Then she spoke of the three men who killed her son. "At night I pray for them," she said, "I ask God to forgive them. When I talk to people about that, they say, 'You're crazy; how can you feel that way about somebody who killed your son?'"

When we are in a relationship with Christ, when we have repented and been forgiven by God, sometimes we are crazy like that.

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2004