Repentance: Acts 9: 1-9, Joel 2: 12-14 ( also the following verses)

February 21, 2010

            We have entered the season of Lent. Of the many themes of Lent, probably the most common one is the theme of repentance. Do you all know what repentance is? It is not just feeling bad or sorry about something that you did? It is an actual changing of your mind. Repentance, in the Biblical sense, actually means to do a 180, to turn completely around and face the opposite direction. That is a little bit more than feeling sorry about something.

Once there was a pastor who was painting the outside of his small church. Things were going along very smoothly until rain clouds started to move in an dhe knew that any moment it was going to start raining and he wasn’t going to be able to finish the job. To make matters worse, he noticed that his supply of paint was getting low. If he took the time to go get more paint, he knew it would be raining before he got back and the job would not get done. So the pastor added a little water to his paint and continued to brush it on. Things were going nicely until He noticed that if he was going to have enough paint, he was going to have to thin it down some more, which he did. This happened again, at which point it was hardly more than white water that was going on the side of the church. Just as he finished the last stroke of the brush, the thunder cracked and the rain came down. You know what happened. All that thinned paint washed off the side of the building and down the drain.  As the pastor stood there, arms drooping down by his sides, a voice spoke. “Repaint, Pastor, Repaint. Repaint and thin no more.”

It’s easy to tell someone else to repaint. It’s easy to tell someone else to change their mind. Today we will be looking at how God got the apostle Paul’s attention and got him to change his mind and maybe in the process, we can see a few places in our own lives where God might want us to change.

Examples of repentance are not a hard to find these days. All you have to do is turn on the sports news and you will see a video of Tiger Woods. Now, please understand, I am not judging the man. Being a faithful super celebrity with all kinds of women throwing themselves at him cannot be easy. And let’s be honest, he certainly is not the first famous person to fool around and he will certainly not be the last. Now I’m not saying that what he did was okay. It was definitely not okay.  But for someone who is as high profile as Tiger, it is hard to know if his public apology is because of his public embarrassment or is it really repentance?  I think Tiger though is a great example for the problem that many people even Christians have with repentance. Repentance is for those kinds of people. Repentance is for people who do those kinds of things. Repentance is for people who get caught. Only sinful people need to repent. Only really sinful people need to repent on tv. And it’s hard to know if repentance is real. Even when it’s us that’s doing the repenting

            Often, because we are who we are, it is hard to see the need for repentance unless and until your life comes apart. In 12 step programs, they call it hitting your bottom. That means that you’ve pretty much lost everything due to your drinking or your drug use or whatever it is you have doing. Life hurts so much that you are finally ready to change. You have reached your bottom and there is only one way to go, and that is up.

Ever been there? I know for certain some of you have.  

 Repentance means doing an about face. The Hebrew word for repentance literally means turning 180 degrees and going in the completely opposite direction. You will have to admit. This usually happens only because we have run into [pause] a wall. Think about it. Look around you. We usually only change when we absolutely have to. When we have hit a wall.

Two not so bright guys were digging a muddy ditch and the boss was standing up on the nice dry pavement watching.

“Hey” says one guy. “How come he’s not down here helping us?”

“Good question” says the other guy. “Why don’t you go up there and ask Him.” So he climbs out of the ditch, goes up to the boss and says, “Hey, how come you ain’t down in that hole helping us dig?”

“Cause I’m smarter than you,” says the boss.

“Oh yeah?” says the guy. “Yeah” says the boss. “And I’ll prove it.” And with that he holds his hand up in front of a brick wall and says, “Hit my hand as hard as you can.” And of course the guy does and the boss moves his hand and the guy punches the brick wall. And the boss says, “Now get back to work.”

So the guy goes back down in the hole and the other guy says, “So what did he say?” “He says he’s smarter than us and he proved it.”

“He proved it, how did he do that? “

[holding hand in front of face] “I’ll show you. Hit my hand as hard as you can.”

In today’s scripture reading, we encounter Paul on his way to the city of Damascus. What we really know Paul for is writing fourteen of the 27 books of the New Testament. What we so often forget about Paul is that he started out as a Christian hunter.  Scripture tells us he had quite a reputation and that all the Christian community was fearful of him. When Stephen was stoned to death for his proclamation of Jesus, Paul was there. He held everyone’s coats for them like it was some kind of sporting event and here in Acts 9, we find Paul on his way to arrest anyone he can find that is following the Christian way.  If anyone needed to repent, it was Paul. If anyone needed to do a 180, it was certainly Paul. We know he was mistaken. He had beliefs that were causing him to do crazy things. He needed a brick wall badly and God gave it to him. While he was travelling on the road, God pulled him over like a spiritual traffic cop. You know that feeling you get when you see those police lights in your rear view mirror. When your heart is right about here? [gesture to throat]. Well, multiply that by about 50 and that’s probably how Paul felt. He came face to face with the risen Christ. Scripture tells us that there was light all around him and that Jesus spoke to him, “Paul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus didn’t ask for his license and registration, Nope. He gets right to the point. And Paul, he’s just like us when we get caught speeding. “I’m sorry officer. Was I going that fast?” He tries to play this game and so he says, “Who are you? Lord” Like he doesn’t know. You see, Paul is not going to repent just because God pulled him over on the highway. He is not going to change so easily. He refuses to see his mistake in judgment. And he is definitely not ready to change the way he thinks about Jesus. Repentance is hard. It’s not easy to admit you are wrong and need to change. In fact, it can be one of the hardest things you will ever do. Jonah had to get swallowed by a whale before he repented. If you don’t believe me, read the story. Does God need to send a whale after you? Repentance is that important. Maybe that’s why it’s so difficult, because it is that important.

Paul’s need for repentance was obvious. He was killing people and intending to kill more. Our need is not always so straightforward. Our need for repentance may be in how we think about our neighbor. Our need for repentance may be how in our attitude towards worship. Our need for repentance may be in how God wants us to deal with our finances or our children or our spouse. Any attitude you can have may need repentance. Any thought or opinion that you have may need a holy 180. As you start thinking about repentance and what it means, you will begin to see that the follower of Jesus needs to live a life of repentance. Repentance is not only for the blatantly and publicly sinful. Repentance is also for bad attitudes that no one sees. Repentance is subjecting your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions to the healing and guidance of God’s Holy Spirit and then allowing that healing to come forth in a visibly changed person.

Mary received a parrot as a gift. The only problem was that the parrot had a bad attitude and a profane vocabulary. Mary did all she could to change that bird’s behavior but nothing worked. Finally, she told the bird that if he did not straighten up, she would put him in the freezer until he agreed to stop swearing.

 The parrot continued to swear, so in desperation she put the parrot in the freezer. There was a lot of squawking and swearing at first but then it got quiet. Mary waited a few more minutes just to make sure and then she opened the door.

The parrot sat there in the freezer, shivering. Mary said, “Are you going to swear anymore?”

“No M’am” said the parrot. “Are you going to behave?” “Yes Mam”, said the parrot.

“Then you can come out of the freezer, then,” said Mary. “Before I do,” said the parrot, “Can I ask what the turkey did?” 

Repentance may begin because of fear of consequences but it must become a desire to do God’s will if it is to be a lasting change. Real repentance is a change of attitude, a change in the way we think. Real repentance goes far beyond a difference in the way we act or behave.

If you go home and read the story of Jonah and the whale, you will find that Jonah really only changed his behavior. Being swallowed by a great whale was so unpleasant for him that surprisingly, he did not want it to happen again. But at the end of the story, his heart is unchanged. He is still bitter and resentful and has not allowed himself to be filled with God’s love and concern for his fellow man. At the end, Jonah is angry with God for being loving and forgiving and filled with grace and ultimately refuses to repent.

God calls each one of us to repentance on a daily basis. It is not about good behavior or earning brownie points in heaven. It is about becoming the kinds of people whom God wants us to be. You don’t need to run into a wall to change, it’s just that sometimes that is the only thing that is going to get you to change. Paul was pulled over by Jesus on the Damascus road. Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Tiger Woods ran into a fire hydrant and all of them were then forced to confront what they should have been confronting all along. Where is repentance needed in your life?

Acts 9:1-9 (New International Version)

 ¹Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest ²and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

 ⁵"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

   "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. ⁶"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

 ⁷The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. ⁸Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.