Luke 13:1-9
Consider a few verses that speak of the call and gift of repentance:
Isa 30:15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
Isa 59:20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the LORD.
Jer 15:19 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me;
Ezek 18:30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.
Ezek 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?
Ezek 18:32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
Mat 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Mark 6:12 They went out and preached that people should repent.
Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Luke 13:3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke 24:46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
Luke 24:47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,
Acts 3:20 and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.
Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."
Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
2 Cor 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2 Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells Israel some very hard truths about themselves just before he dies and passes on the leadership to Joshua. Make a little note to yourself to read Deuteronomy 28-31. Moses says, “If you walk with God, he will bless and take care of you, but if you turn from God and do not walk with him, it will be bad, real bad, I mean really really really bad! And when you do turn from him (because I know good and well that you will) and when it happens that you get what is coming to you for turning away, if you will remember what I’ve told you and turn back, God will restore you.
That theme is repeated over and over in the entire Old Testament. It became the fabric of their theology. Throughout Israel’s history God blesses them, they get comfortable and turn away from him, God delivers them over to enemies and punishes them, they cry out to God and he sends a deliverer to rescue them, they get comfortable and turn away from God again, etc. etc. etc. This cycle is constant throughout the Old Testament. Solomon prayed it in 2 Chron. 6:22-40. The Prophets echo it throughout their preaching. It is the song of Israel’s history. Chosen, delivered by God, brought into covenant by God, they enjoy his blessings for a while but then they get distracted and turn away from God and seek their own way, usually by going after other gods who will endorse their evil desires. God punishes them and calls them back. Those that hear and repent are restored and brought home. There are always some that repent. Always! But only a few. Many are lost and do not return. With the few that repent and return God restores them to glory.
I wish I could say we’ve gotten past that, but I’m afraid that this song of Israel has become the song of the church.
Jesus entered his ministry preaching a message that sounded old and new at the same time: Repent! The kingdom of God is at hand!
Jesus reveals the ultimate blessing and punishment of God for those who repent and for those who do not.
God wants us to know that a lot is at stake over this issue. Will you, or will you not repent?
Now for some people repentance is like a flash of light that goes off and we reverse engines and make a 180 in one huge, life changing moment. That has happened. Saul becomes Paul. During a single road trip to Damascus we see a man changed from persecutor to persecuted, from Christ hater to Christian missionary. We read that and we all think that that should be our story, right? There should be a singular earth shattering event that turns our lives from sinner to saint, right? I mean, look at Paul. He is the example for us all. And we could point to others too. What about the Philippian Jailer? Didn’t he and his family change overnight? What about the 3000 at Pentecost? Weren’t some of them shouting, “Crucify Him!” just a few days before this?
Yes, this is true. There are people who have a crisis moment of conversion where repentance comes in an instant. But they are not the only ones we read about. In fact, for those of us who grow up going to church and hearing these stories, we may even wish for a huge life changing event so we could feel better about our salvation.
Listen, most of us are more like Timothy than Paul when it comes to repentance. Most of us have heard the word of God from childhood, many of us grew up in homes where Jesus Christ is Lord. Repentance for us is just as necessary, but it takes on a less dramatic looking shape. For those of us brought up hearing the gospel and loving Jesus since we could understand English, we must repent too! Repentance for us may look more like driving down the road making adjustments with the steering wheel as we go. If we go to sleep or for some reason don’t keep turning the wheel to make those little corrections, we will drive off the road and wreak just as surely as that drunk driver who is going the wrong way in traffic. We need to repent all along the way or we will just as surely perish. In fact, some of us are a little jealous of the crisis conversions of those who have grueling stories to tell. I have a message for those of us who experience this: Repent! Give up wanting a dramatic Damascus moment and joyfully claim the heritage of faith God has given you! Don’t worry. Someone you meet and share Christ with may have that kind of repentance experience and you can thrill with them over God’s dramatic deliverance. But don’t be ashamed of the gift of being brought up knowing Jesus all your life. You need to know that you’ve been spared. You’ve been richly blessed with less regrets to live with and less shame to live down. The real shame would be for you to turn your back on the blessings of God and do like Israel when she was comfortable. Don’t do it. The path you take will bring you misery and woe and many who go there never repent and come home. A few always do, and God restores them, but many lose their souls and never come to repentance.
I just finished my Ethics class last night. As part of the requirements I had to write a paper on an ethical subject. I thought of several topics and finally decided to write on the subject of shame. I entitled my paper: The Redemption of Shame.
Shame is a powerful motivator, for good or for evil. After God created us and put Adam and Eve in the garden the Bible makes an interesting statement that as a kid I used to think was embarrassing. It says of them that they were both naked but not ashamed. That was before sin. Where there is no sin, people can walk without shame. As soon as sin entered, the first thing Adam and Eve realized was that they were naked. And the Bible says they made coverings for themselves with fig leaves. Then when they heard God coming, they hid from him, because they were naked. Just imagining this can be uncomfortable. It was for them too.
Shame brought on by sin drove them away from God. I can’t go into my whole paper, but in the redemption, Jesus on the cross faced our shame, and for those of us that know Jesus, he swallowed up the shame that drives us from God and has restored shame to its proper place of driving us away from sin and toward God. Redeemed shame is that godly sorrow that works repentance.
God wants all to come to repentance, because in repentance is salvation that brings eternal life. We need a good dose of redeemed shame and a rescue from fallen shame.
Consider these words of this song:
Jesus! And shall it ever be!
A mortal man, ashamed of thee?
Ashamed of thee, whom angels praise?
Whose glory shines through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend,
on whom my hopes of heaven depend?
No! When I blush be this my shame
That I no more revere his name!
Till then nor is my boasting vain!
Till then I’ll boast a Savior slain.
And, Oh, may this my glory be,
That Christ is not ashamed of me!
Does anyone here need to repent? Would you come today and let the Lord know that you are not ashamed of Jesus, but of whatever keeps you from nearness with him?
