Repentance

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
06/03/07 - Sunday Morning

Repentance

Matthew 21:28-32

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard’. And he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; and he did not go. And he came to the second and said the same thing. But he answered and said, ‘I will not; yet he afterward regretted it and went. Which of the two did the will of his father?”

· I am encouraged by the fact that one can be defiant and very stubborn (“I will not”), and yet still change. Verse 31 reveals that even hard-hearted individuals such as tax-gatherers and harlots were able to break from the callousness caused by their sins. Many other passages also reveal people breaking from highly addictive sinful lifestyles (1 Peter 4:1ff; Ephesians 2:1ff).

· This story also reveals the person who claims that they will obey, yet fails to deliver. We must not deceive ourselves into thinking that good intentions, or a fine speech take the place of actual obedience (Matthew 7:21-23).

· In like manner, we must equally avoid falling into the habit of professing that we are going to change; yet never really changing.

· I have found that the person who keeps professing that they are going to be a better Christian, or a better husband or wife, can be very discouraging to those around them. In fact, after a while the verbal promise that “I am going to change this time” can be very painful to those who hear it. No one wants to get their hopes up, just to have them dashed, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12). Thus giving someone a false hope can be crushing, while a hope that is realized is refreshing, invigorating and uplifting. What this means is that if we have been making promises over the years to change in some area, then we finally need to keep that promise, for God has no pleasure in those who say one thing and do another (Ecclesiastes 5:4; Matthew 5:37).

· We can also do a lot of damage by making some pronouncement to others or our family that “we are going to change”, and then not having the follow through.

· If this has been our pattern, then the best thing to do is not to make some pronouncement, but rather to simply change, and prove by a new consistent effort that we have changed.

Luke 15:15-19

“And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men’”

· Once again we are given a very encouraging example of a person being able to break from a habitual life of living for pure pleasure. Many might have considered this young man a lost cause and one destined to fail in living the Christian life no matter how hard he tried.

· One of the challenges of repentance is the thought that it is humiliating. Yes, it took humility to return home, yet we fail to remember that what is really humiliating is staying in the pigpen. God does not want to humiliate us, God does not want to see us crushed to the point of having no hope, for what will crush us is sin (Psalm 32:3-4).

· Sometimes we hesitate to repent or ask for help because we feel that when people find out what we have been struggling with or the sin we have been involved in, that they will no longer think well of us. Yet if we have true friends, they already see our faults, they already know that we are far from perfect, and they already know that we sin (Romans 3:23). In addition, we certainly do not want people following us or worshipping us, we want them to follow Christ (1 Corinthians 1:11ff; 3:5). Our purpose in life is to magnify God’s glory, not our own, and God is truly magnified when we turn from sin, because it gives people a chance to see the real power that is in the gospel message.

Luke 15:22-24

“But the father said to His slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet’ and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found’. And they began to be merry”

· We should not balk at repentance because we are afraid that people might reject us. Yes, some might (15:28). Yet the real person that matters is God. God wants the sinner to come home, and is eagerly waiting the chance to rejoice when even one sinner repents (15:7).

· The longer that we remain in sin or refuse to change the longer we put loved ones and God through an agonizing ordeal.

· What the verse is shouting is that the humble and repentant are always welcome, and celebration is due when sin is forsaken.

Repentance and Getting Back on Track

· One common mistake that people sometimes make when they come back to God is that they want to immediately take the lead. Such as a man who has not been leading his family in the ways of the Lord (Joshua 24:15), may get overly enthusiastic about doing this by suddenly seeking to micro manage his family through issuing endless decrees. In this situation don’t be surprised if the family is not impressed by this new found desire to lead.

· If I have been neglecting an area of my life I need to realize that I may be woefully out of practice. This means that before I can take command of my family, start disciplining the children, or evangelizing, I definitely need to take the time to find out what the best course of action is, and gain some knowledge so that I know what I am doing. One of the side effects of sin or apathy concerning a spiritual dimension of our lives is that we lose former knowledge and skills and basically need to go back over God’s truths again before we can move on (Hebrews 5:12-14).

· The previous verse is equally a great motivation to get back on track, because as time goes on we actually are getting farther and farther behind.

Repentance and Trust

· We should not demand especially in our families that people immediately take us seriously and that they just forget overnight about our poor behavior in the past. They will take us seriously when they see serious effort in our lives. It is one thing to profess faith, but it is another thing to live it, for the world is filled with people who make great promises and then fail to deliver, and do not stick with it, “and they have no firm root in themselves” (Mark 4:17).

· Added to this, the person who repents and then wants everything to immediately be as if they had never sinned or had never been unfaithful is actually showing the same impatience that they manifested when they were unfaithful to God. If people were patient and persistent with us when we were acting up, then we need to be equally patient as life returns back to normal after we repent, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2).

Fruits of Repentance: Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:20

Yes there are people who are unwilling to forgive, yet I have personally found that when the following qualities follow repentance, most people are willing forgive and often they completely forget the former life:

· A truly repentant person makes no excuses or attempts to justify their sin, but instead honestly views his or her past behavior (1 Timothy 1:13-15).

· A truly repentant person uses themselves as an example of what not to do and preaches to others, “Don’t do what I did” (Acts 9:20-21).

· A truly repentant person makes no complaints about the church or various members.

· A truly repentant person makes no attempts to get people to feel sorry for him or her, or make faithful members appear to be “the bad guys” (Isaiah 5:20).

· There is no blame-shifting.

· There is no, “I did wrong……but”

· The truly repentant person worships consistently.

· The truly repentant person is actively involved in the life of the congregation, including the social life of the members outside of services.

· The truly repentant person actively pursues friendships in the congregation instead of waiting for others to make the first move.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017