February 25, 2015

“All this is from G*d, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:11 – 21

“This process of surrender – this movement full speed astern – is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. In fact, it needs a good (person) to repent. And here comes the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person – and he would not need it.” C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) Mere Christianity

To repent is to turn around – to change direction – to follow a new path, but in the opposite direction. All our lives we follow certain paths – so much do we travel the well-worn path that we wear down the terrain – we trudge it down so much nothing else can grow there. All that remains is what we want there – what we are comfortable to have there – what we have spent our whole lives cultivating. And then one day something jars us awake to realize that what is existing all along our path is devoted just to ourselves – self-serving, selfish wants, needs, behaviors, and interactions. We realize that we need to change – but as simple as that sounds, it may turn out to be much harder. It means unlearning what we have taught ourselves for so long. It means finding new paths, ones that we have never trodden – developing new behaviors, ones we have never considered. It means doing what we absolutely do not want to do, and what we desperately need to do.

But we need not travel this new path alone. No matter how much or how little change we need, we all need the Holy Spirit who will help us trudge onward. Coming to the realization that we need to change, that we need to repent, is the beginning of our spiritual wisdom, the beginning of our spiritual growth, and the opening to our new path. Jesus came to proclaim the message “Repent and believe – the kingdom has come near.” Here is your path for Lent – it won’t be easy – but the road less travelled is never easy.

Pastor Dave