“THE CALL TO RELENT AND REPENT”

LUKE 13:1-9

13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?

3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’

8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.

9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Alice Walker tells a wonderful story about a moment of truth that she faced when she was a little girl.  Some of you may recognize Alice Walker’s name.  She won a Pulitzer Prize back in 1983 for her book “The Color Purple.”  Alice Walker had this to say about her moment of truth.  “When I was a little girl, I accidentally broke a fruit jar.  Several brothers and a sister were nearby who could have done it. But my father turned to me and asked, ‘Did you break the jar, Alice?’  Looking into his large, brown eyes I knew that he wanted me to tell the truth.  I also knew that me might punish me if I did.  But the truth inside me wanted to be expressed.  ‘I broke the jar,’ I said.   The love in his eyes rewarded and embraced me.  Suddenly I felt an inner peace that I still recall with gratitude to this day.”

Jesus wants you to feel the same inner peace that Alice Walker felt that day.  That’s why he talked a lot about the need to repent.  He talked about it all the time. In fact, when Jesus began his ministry the first thing he said was, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.”  Jesus said the same thing to the people who asked him about some Galileans who were executed by Pilate in a particularly shameful way.  Jesus answered their question with a question of his own.  Jesus said, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”  Jesus said the same thing about the people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them.  “…unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus talked a lot about the need to repent.  Unfortunately, the need to repent is a part of Christian theology that isn’t in vogue these days.  That’s because before you can repent you have to admit that you did something wrong.  You have to admit that you’re guilty and that you did something that you shouldn’t have done. People just don’t do that these days.  Take the man for example who smashed into another car while backing up in a parking lot one day.  After it happened the man got out and looked at the dent that he put in the other car.   He then took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote a note.  This is what the man wrote:  “Dear Sir or Madame, I just smashed into your car.  The people who saw the accident are watching me. They think I am writing down my name and address.  I am not.  They are wrong.” 

People today don’t take responsibility for their actions. They don’t admit to being guilty of anything.  Just look at what’s going on right now in the aftermath of that shooting down in Alabama.  Three people are dead and we now know that Amy Bishop, the woman who shot them, also shot and killed her brother 24 years ago.  Have you been following this story in the news?  If you have, then you know that the local police chief, the district attorney and the state trooper who investigated the shooting 24 years ago are all saying the same thing.  “Don’t blame me.  I didn’t do anything wrong.  It was the other guy’s fault.”

These days when it comes to guilt my mother was right.  When one of us did something wrong and no one would own up to it she used to say, “The angels must have done it.”  Did your mother say that too? 

Before you repent you have to admit that you’re guilty and that you did something you shouldn’t have done.  Now there’s a reason why  people don’t do that and it has to do with something that I called horizontal guilt.  Horizontal guilt is a guilt that is harmful and unhealthy.  It’s a guilt that says, “I’m a bad person.  How could I be so stupid?  How could I be so mean?  How could I be so selfish?”  Horizontal guilt fills you with an overwhelming feeling of shame.  Instead of saying, “I made a mistake,” deep down you say to yourself, “I am a mistake.”

Now I can tell you that there really isn’t any reason to beat yourself up like that.  That’s because there’s usually someone close by who will do it for you.  Just look at the people who asked Jesus about the Galileans who died that horrible death.  Read between the lines and what they’re really saying is, “They must have been really bad for that to happen to them.  I’m glad we’re not like them.”   “The people had got killed when that tower fell on them also must have been really bad.  I’m glad we’re not like them.”

A church secretary used a little horizontal guilt to her advantage one day.  It all started when the pastor of the church asked the secretary to write he later.  He gave her a list of people who hadn’t been in church for quite some time.  Then he said, “I want you to write a letter to these people.  Maybe that will get them back to church on Sunday morning.”  Well, the letter worked.  A few days later the pastor got a letter from a prominent physician whose name had been on the list.  In the letter the wayward parishioner apologized profusely for not being in church. The letter also included a check for $1,000 to cover the contributions he would have made had he been there.  He also promised to be in church the following Sunday morning.  Finally, there was  a P.S. at the bottom of the page.  “By the way please tell your secretary that there is only one t in dirty and no c in skunk.”

Horizontal guilt is an unhealthy and harmful guilt.  It’s a guilt that doesn’t lead you to forgiveness.  It doesn’t lead you to reconciliation and healing.  It only leaves you feeling more and more miserable.  So, when Jesus said you need to repent he wasn’t talking about horizontal guilt. He was talking about vertical guilt. He wasn’t talking about a guilt that drags you down into the clutches of despair.  He was talking about a guilt that lifts you up into the arms of God’s grace.

You can see how much Jesus wants you to end up in the arms of God’s grace by looking at the Parable of the Fig Tree.  In the parable the owner of the fig tree wants to cut it down because it hasn’t produced any fruit.  The gardener, however, convinced the owner of the fig tree to give it one more chance.  The gardener promises to put some fertilizer around the tree and give it some tender loving care. Then the gardener says, “if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Jesus told that parable because he knew that the clock is ticking. You’re not going to live forever.  So, don’t put off until tomorrow what you need to do today.  Do you need to make some changes in your life?  Jesus would say, “Don’t wait.  Repent and do it now.”  Do you need to have a heart to heart conversation with someone you hurt?  Jesus would say, “Don’t wait.  Repent and do it now.” Is you’re life becoming complicated by too much drinking or prescription drugs or a desire to roll the dice?  Jesus would say, “Don’t wait. Repent and do it now.” Have you lived your life in a way so that material things are more important than people?  Jesus would say, “Don’t wait.  Repent and do it now.”

That’s what Paul Pierce did.  Paul Pierce is the assumed name of a successful businessman who’s story is now being told online in a blog called “The Recession Diaries.”  At one point Paul Pierce had a net worth of over $30 million dollars.  When the recession hit he lost everything.  As he struggled with the traumatic turn of events  he made a painful discovery.   In the blog he wrote these words: “I was too busy, too uptight.  I didn’t give time to people, the time that they deserved.”  He had become a stranger to his two young boys and he’d drifted away from his wife who was now ready to divorce him.  It was then that he was given an unexpected lifeline.  The unexpected lifeline came from his estranged brother Bill.  This is what Paul Pierce wrote in his blog: “Bill...called me up in March; he lives in California now, so I've kind of lost touch with him. He told me, 'You need to have a partnership with God. Maybe you've drifted away.' He was right on the mark there, but he was also right about having a partnership with (God) and trying to make decisions with Him."

It’s called repentance and it starts when you stand up and admit to yourself and the people who love you that you were wrong.   When you do that it will lift you up into the arms of God’s grace.  It will bring you back to the God who loves you and believes in you.  It will bring you back to the God who can make all things new.  It will bring you back to the God who wants you to feel that deep inner peace that Alice Walker felt when she said, “I broke the jar.”  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

March 7, 2010