Jesus said something really tough for us to hear. He said, "you can be sure that if you don’t turn back to God, every one of you will die." Luke 13:5
Jesus was informed that some innocent people had been murdered by Pilate as they were worshiping at the Temple in Jerusalem. Pilate was a brutal dictator and he did this kind of thing all the time. He maintained control and power with abject fear. So some folks wanted Jesus to answer what a lot of Bible teachers are asked when something like this happens. "Why?" "Why does God allow innocent people to be killed?" And this is how Jesus answers them, "you can be sure that if you don’t turn back to God, every one of you will die."
We see in his answer to this question the intense priority that God wants everyone to repent. Jesus focuses us on our sin problem. People die. In all sorts of ways. The important thing Jesus wants you to know isn't that God allows bad stuff to happen, it's that God wants you to repent before you die. Paul affirms Jesus teaching when he writes, "everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard" Romans 3:23 Jesus said, "Repent or die."
When we repent we are doing two things simultaneously. We're turning away from sin, and we're turning to the righteousness of God. We turn our lives away from the world so that we can fix our gaze on the cross of Jesus.
Jesus tells a story that a lot of us are familiar with. We know the story as the Prodigal Son. It's actually hilarious to consider why Jesus tells this story. Luke 15 begins with the explanation that there were notorious sinners who routinely came to hear Jesus teach. This idea that a Rabbi would indulge sinners, would eat with them and socialize with them, was horrifying to the sensibilities of the other religious teachers. These people actually thought they were too religious for repentance. They had it all together Spiritually, so what possible reason would they have to repent? I think there are a lot of church folks today who think the same way.
What would you think of a Bible teacher today going to a drug dealers home to have dinner? How would you react to your preacher teaching a group of call girls at the church building? The best question is how come we're not attractive to notorious sinners like Jesus was?
So Jesus tells this story.
A rich man had two boys. The youngest decided one day that he didn't want to be a part of the family anymore and wanted his dad to cash in his inheritance so he could go see the world. He burned through his cash partying really hard. Coincidentally the same time that he ran out of money he ran out friends. Complicating life for this fool was a famine in the land that made food scarce. Since he grew up rich and entitled he didn't have a lot of skills for the labor market and had to settle feeding pigs to survive. He was so hungry he began to eat the same slop. It didn't take very long before the young man began to think about what his life was like at home. He had a good life that he took for granted. So he decided to go home.
Unfortunately, he had disowned his family name. He knew his dad would not welcome him home as a son, but, maybe his dad would allow him to return as a hired hand, a servant. He came to the conclusion in the pig pen that living a life as a servant in his dad's house was better than eating with the pigs.
Every day that his son was gone, the father would take long moments to look out the window. Hoping, yearning, hurting for his son to return home. One day as the father is looking out the window daydreaming about the day his son would return he notices a figure on the horizon. "Could it be?" the dad is wondering. It only takes a moment before he recognizes this is the day he had been dreaming about. His son has returned! The dad rushes out of the house and runs as fast as he can to meet his boy. He grabs him, hugs him, kisses him, holds him for a very long awkward time.
Here is where Jesus would have looked at the indignant religious people. I think he would've paused for dramatic effect. You see, they were thinking there's no way the Father is going to allow this kid back home. They wouldn't. These religious ones would never be able live with a sinner like that.
"Dad." The son said, "I have sinned against you and God. I'm not worthy to be your son." His dad motioned to an employee and said, "Quick, bring a robe. My son was lost but now he's found his way home."
What the son in this story discovered is that repentance is not just about saying I'm sorry, it's about owning the attitude that I should live among slave's, obeying my Father because I love him and because I understand He knows more about life than I do. God has always been after the heart of His children.
Here's three things we learn from this story about repentance.
Repentance involves reducing yourself to servant status.
Matthew 20:26-27
"I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants." Luke 15:19
We're not entitled to heaven. The religious teachers that complained about Jesus hanging out with sinners needed to know that they were just as needy for the Father's mercy. Jesus had to die on a cross and resurrect himself from the grave to give us the right to live with God. Repentance is owning the responsibility that our sin is what put Jesus on the cross. The Bible tells us to have the same attitude that Jesus had. Jesus did not consider himself equal with God, even though he was God. As a human being Jesus identified with our human nature. He modeled for us what kind of attitude that God is looking for.
Repentance involves praying earnestly for forgiveness. James 5:16
"I have sinned against you and God. I'm not worthy to be your son." Luke 15:21
There are two things about repentance that happen in this statement. First, the son acknowledges that he sinned. The first step for any addict is admitting they have a problem. It's the same thing for repentance. And second, he humbles himself. He realizes he's not worthy of his Father's mercy. This is the part the religious people really struggled with. Pride is what keeps a person from admitting this, but, when we humble ourselves, we realize we have a problem. A sin problem. James gives us an outline for how this works. "Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor." James 4:8-10
For James washing hands was a religious ritual. This process was a reminder that just as hands need to be washed in order to be clean so does the heart. Repentance is the process that "washes the heart" or as James puts it, "purifies the heart." When we sin we should feel sorrow. This doesn't mean that we walk around gloomy all the time. The opposite is true. When the son in the story repents, he's really sad that he hurt his dad. He realized that he needed to turn from his wickedness and embrace his father's mercy. But then there was rejoicing. The sadness is for a moment.
Repentance involves removing wickedness from your lifestyle.
1 John 2:15-17
"So he went to his father" Luke 15:20
The Bible tells us that if we love God we will obey Him. It's important to consider that there is a difference between a follower of Jesus who sins and a person who says they're a follower but lives in sin. Everyone sins. We all do. Even those who follow Jesus do sinful things. In the Fusion magazine the Thursday devotional this week suggests, "We never change our behavior until we change our thinking, and where there is no change of behavior there is no true repentance."
When we turn our life from the pig pen to live with the Father we will desire what the Father desires. The Word of God sums it up best, "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there." Galatians 5:19-24
Repentance involves reducing yourself to servant status, humbling yourself even as Jesus did, it involves praying earnestly for forgiveness and eliminating wickedness from your lifestyle.
So are you like the son in Jesus' story? Or the religious people He was talking to?
