Nancy E. Petty

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church

March 11, 2006 – Third Sunday in Lent

Text: Luke 13:1-9

 

Fear or Freedom: Rethinking Repentance

 

Twenty, thirty years ago the taboo topics in churches across America were sex, money and politics. It seemed to matter not that most adults were having sex, everyone was spending money and many of us were politically active. The standard rule within church life was that we just didn’t talk about these things—not in our families and for sure not in most of our churches. I say most because I am aware that at that time Pullen, or should I say W.W. Finlator, was talking politics. But for most churches, especially in the south, the focus of church talk was on sin, repentance and salvation. The predominate message many of us got in church Sunday after Sunday was that we are all sinners in need of being saved. The key to being saved—to salvation—was to repent of our sins and turn from our wicked ways. In so doing, our reward was that we would secure our eternal fate—a place in heaven. For sure, we all knew what the preacher was referring to when he spoke of our sins, what we needed to repent from and why—according to the theology of the day, thanks to Augustine—and why we needed salvation. But the causes were spoken of in veiled references to our wayward behaviors.

            Now, however, with the rise of mega churches and the finances needed to support them, the religious controversy surrounding sex and sexuality and the powerful political agendas of our day—war, stem cell research, homosexuality, abortion, the environment, free speech and religion in our schools—church talk has shifted. In fundamentalist, conservative, moderate and liberal churches all across our land you are more likely to hear preachers pontificating on matters of sex, money and politics than that of sin, repentance and salvation. And if they do touch on these faith concepts in relationship to sex, money and politics they do so in ways that are harmful and damaging to our spiritual lives. In our liberal, more progressive churches--or as Roger Crook likes to call us, more open-minded churches—it seems our response has been to sacrifice all together our ability to talk about significant faith concepts for fear of perpetuating such spiritual violence and instead settle for intellectual discussions on issues we deem to be important moral and ethical issues. If we speak the truth about modern day Christianity and church life we have to admit that we have lost the language of our faith when it comes to discussing matters of social importance. And for good reasons.

            It is true that the way Christian doctrine and church history have interpreted and taught about sin, repentance and salvation has been spiritually damaging if not spiritually violent to our souls and even to our culture. In that light, and if for no other reason, we should be grateful that somewhere along the way church talk shifted. But that kind of thinking is short-sighted and just as damaging. The truth is that it is the responsibility of the church to discuss contemporary issues in the context of the language of our faith. And yet, for much of the last century the church has been unfaithful and irresponsible in doing so. The fact that liberal, more progressive churches have sacrificed the language of faith when discussing social issues and also been unwilling to offer new interpretations to our language of faith has greatly damaged our ability to be theologically grounded on many world issues—issues such as sex, money and politics. Indeed, our unwillingness to rethink and re-interpret the basic language of our faith has left us standing vulnerable on the world’s stage of theological debate.

            The English philosopher, John Locke, once said: “New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.” The Luke text that Lou has read to us this morning gives us an opportunity to rethink one of the major theological concepts of the faith—that of repentance—and consider, if we will, a not already common understanding of it. I must admit that when I first read this text, I tried hard to think about an angle to preach it without preaching on repentance. The most likely alternative was to focus on Jesus response to the question, “Did these people suffer more because their sin was worse?” But Jesus’ answer was so clear on that one. NO, he said—just a flat out, NO. His directness and clarity on answering that question left little room for speculation. And after all, most of us, if not emotionally then intellectually know that bad things don’t happen to us because of our sinfulness. While that might be easier to understand and possibly even easier to accept, it’s just not true. The mystery that surrounds life’s atrocities will continue to exist as one of the mysteries of life and faith. So leaving those thoughts with the text, I realized that to preach on this passage with integrity one must work their way through Jesus’ words, “…but unless you repent…” and try to discern what they mean for people of faith today.

            Repentance is one of those faith words that we have allowed the fundamentalists to own. When we hear it, our skin crawls with the memories of how we heard it preached—fire- breathing, bible-flinging and finger-wagging evangelists warning us that the only way to escape the hot fires of hell is for us to once and for all “repent and be saved.” Like me, maybe you didn’t even know what those preachers meant when they shouted those words at us. If you were a child hearing those words you probably wondered if that time you cheated on the playground meant hell was nipping at your heels unless you repented. If you were a teenager hearing those words, “repent and be saved” maybe you decided your road to hell had been paved the time you lied to your parents about not being where you said you were. And if you were hearing those words as an adult, well…probably a number of things you were engaged in at the time gave you pause for considering a walk down the aisle of repentance. My point is this: that for many of us repentance was centered in and connected to fear. Indeed, fear was the basis of and for repentance. It was the fear of hell, the fear of not being loved by God, the fear that somehow we were not good enough as God’s beloved. We were taught and we believed that our sin outweighed the goodness and blessing pronounced on us at our creation and in some final decision we must repent and be saved from ourselves. And because this is what we have been taught to believe, we have lost the true nature of why Jesus reminds us that repentance is a necessary part of our life of faith.

            The call to repentance appears at the beginning of every phase of the biblical message. According to Martin Buber, who points out that the Hebrew word corresponding to “repentance” meant concretely a “turning of the whole person,” the call to turn is “the primary word of the prophets of Israel.” According to Matthew’s gospel, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” was the message of John the Baptist, and precisely the same words are attributed to Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. The first preaching of the apostles is said to have been: “Repent, and be baptized.” There is no doubt that repentance is a primary theme in the life of a Christian. However, repentance as preached and understood by the prophets, the disciples, and Jesus himself is not so much about fearing something as it is about our freedom as people of faith. Repentance is as much about reconciliation as it is alienation. It is more about “turning toward” something than “turning away” from something. It is as an on-going process and not a one time response or action that we make in a moment of fear and shame and then claim to possess for all time.

            If you are willing to rethink your understanding of repentance, think freedom not fear. Think about how letting go of what is holding you back from fully living is an act of repentance. Imagine what it would mean to think about repentance as a way of turning toward something (God) instead of a “turning away” from something that someone else has told you is sinful. Think about repentance as a path that connects you to yourself and others as oppose to alienating you from yourself and others. Think about repentance as freedom—freedom to be the person God has created you to be without all the religious trapping that the church uses to shame you, belittle you and make you feel unworthy and not good enough. Think about repentance as a daily practice that frees you from the past and frees you for the future. Rethink repentance—for true repentance is about freedom not fear. Rethink repentance as those words and images that we sang only moments ago, “O judge us, God, and in your judgment free us, and set our feet in freedom’s open space; take us as far as your compassion wanders among the children of the human race.” Indeed, true repentance sets our feet in freedom’s open space without fear or shame.

            Our spiritual lives cry out for daily repentance only because our spiritual lives long for freedom. Today, as we recognize the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, our country’s soul is begging for our political leaders to repent because our world and all its inhabitants long to live in freedom not fear. As you continue on your Lenten journey consider rethinking repentance as one of your daily disciplines. And in so doing may your soul be released from fear and into the freedom of God’s love and compassion.

            And if you are a child hearing this sermon today, I hope you have heard that nothing you do can keep God from loving you. But it’s best to not cheat on the playground. And when you do, say you’re sorry.

            If you are a young person, a youth, hearing this sermon, I hope you will take with you that you are good enough and worthy of God’s love. But it’s best not to lie to your parents. And when you do, apologize and try not to do it again.

            And if you are an adult hearing this sermon, I hope what you have heard is an invitation to let go of all holds you back—from the past, and in the present—so that you can live your life in freedom instead of fear. And I hope that with each new day you will awake and consider what you want to turn toward instead of what you want to turn away from.