Sunday 03/20/22 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Repent and Live!” (“New Life Is Coming” Series: Part 3 of 7)
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 63:1-8
New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Gospel Lesson: Luke 13:1-9
Every year in many jobs,
or maybe in one or more jobs that you had if you are retired, we have and had
our “annual performance review.” Maybe it was called something different where
you are working or where you did work. Maybe it happened quarterly or even twice
a year. It often involves that sit down meeting with your boss, and in this sit
down meeting you discuss how well you are doing your job.
Often in these meetings or
these reviews, you hear about many things that you are doing well and right.
These are the “highlights” or the “strengths.” Maybe you can remember, as I am
talking, a similar meeting that you have had, or perhaps many such meetings that
you have had. You were told your gifts and your strengths, but you were then
also told your areas of weakness. Your areas where you can grow, area that you can
work on, or what we commonly now call our “growing edges.” So, you hear the
good and the bad.
Imagine though if you had
job review after job review, and your boss just said, “You’re doing great, and
you having nothing to improve upon and no “growing edges.” Perhaps the first
time you heard this from your boss you would strut out of their office feeling
great. I mean after all, you have no weaknesses, no areas of growth, and no “growing
edges.” After a few years of this though, I wonder if this reality would make
us complacent and or stale? I mean we are just so good at every aspect of our
job. We do not need more training, we do not need more equipping, and we do not
need to do more in any one area of our job or lives. I mean we are just perfect
and have no area to in which we can improve. Does this sound like anyone here?
If we go to our annual job
review or some other sort of review, and if we never get areas that we can
improve upon, what is the likelihood that will just improve anyway? Do we
improve all the time because we are pushing ourselves to improve, or are we
also being pushed to improved? Do we need to be told by people that we love and
respect that we can do even better than we are right now? If no one ever challenges
you, pushes you, our tries to stretch you, will you really reach your full
potential?
I say and ask all of this,
as we continue with our “New Life Is Coming” sermon series. New life is coming
on Easter Sunday, as Jesus rises from the dead. New life is coming is us in
this season of Lent if we but turn to Christ. New life is coming as this pandemic
hopefully draws to a manageable close.
The season of Lent is one
of prayer, humility, giving up, giving away, self-reflection, and drawing closer
to Christ. Part of the drawing closer to Christ though is tackling our
weakness, our areas of growth, our “growing edges.”
In this first week of this
“New Life Is Coming” sermon series, I talked about dealing with Trials and Temptation,
like Jesus did. Last week, I encouraged us last Sunday to Stay Strong in our
faith and in our lives, knowing that there are many things that seek to tear us
down. Part of what can also tear us down though is our weaknesses.
The Apostle Paul reminds
in 2 Corinthians 12:9:
9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me (2 Cor. 12:9, NRSV).
If we have an annual performance
review at work, or something similar, and if we have no areas of growth,
weaknesses, or “growing edges,” then how do we really grow? If in this season
of Lent, we do not seriously look at our lives and see where we fall short,
then how can we ever grow, and grow closer to Christ? Are there areas of your
life upon which you can improve? I know that there are areas of my life upon
which I can improve.
Some of us or many of us
have heard the word “repent” before. We are called to “repent” of our sins and
turn to Jesus Christ. We are called to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, be
cleaned of our sins, and become a new creation in Christ. Coming to Christ, “repenting,”
being filled with the Holy Spirit, is to be forgiven, to be wiped clean, and to
be made new. Yet, the disease of sin and brokenness is still with us. For the entirety
of our lives as Christians, we should continue to strive to become closer to
Christ. We should continue to “Repent and Live,” as we should all continue to look
at our areas of weakness, areas of improvement, and our growing edges.
Some people struggle with
the idea that we are all sinners, even though we all are. We are and can be forgiven
sinners, but we are all broken. None of us are exempt from this, except Jesus
Christ, who was God in the flesh. This does not have seem punitive however, as the
historical hallmark of the Methodist Movement is grace. We believe that God’s
grace pursues us, follows us, and leads us. “Repentance” is our acknowledgement
that we have areas of needed growth, areas of weakness, and “growing edges.” We
all do have these areas, but sometimes we do not want to hear that we do.
Sometimes when we hear the word “repent” we also hear that we are all awful. We
are fallen, but God’s grace through Jesus Christ is abundant and offered to us all.
In fact, according to the Merriam-Webster
online dictionary, the word repent can be defined as:
1. to turn from sin and
dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life
2a: to feel regret or contrition b: to change one's mind (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repent).
As I frame sin and
repentance this way, and as we move through this season of Lent, what are the
areas in our lives of needed growth, weaknesses, and “growing edges.” I have
some, do you?
Our reading from
Psalm 63:1-8, ends with 63:8 for this morning saying:
8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me (Ps. 63:8, NRSV). The
goal of the season of Lent and our lives on this earth, is to cling to God, to
Jesus. Yet, we all have areas of our lives that we can do better.
In fact, I get
my sermon title for this morning from our gospel of Luke 13:1-9 reading, where we
hear about repentance. For example, Jesus says in Luke 13:3:
3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did (Lk. 13:3, NRSV).
Jesus
than says in Luke 13:5, once again:
5 No, I tell you;
but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did” (Lk.
13:5, NRSV).
We so often hear the word “repent” and feel fear, anger, or think
of “fire and brimstone,” but don’t we want to improve? Don’t we want to do
better in areas of our lives that are harmful to us and harmful to others? I
hope so, I do.
In looking at
our whole gospel of Luke 13:1-9 reading to get further context and
understanding, lets look at this reading one more time. Starting in Luke 13:1
it says once again:
13 At that very time
there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with their sacrifices. 2 He asked them, “Do you think that because these
Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other
Galileans? 3 No,
I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4 Or those eighteen
who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they
were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you;
but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”
To begin with, Jesus talks about a large massacre
of some Galileans by Pilate, and Jesus asked if these people that were massacred
were worse than other Galileans. Essentially, were they bigger sinners, resulting
in their massacre? The answer is no. Are the people Ukraine bigger sinners that
the people of the United States, resulting in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
No, we are all sinners. Jesus then says, that we all have to repent, every
single one of us. We all have areas of needed growth, areas of weakness, and “growing
edges.”
Jesus
then cites an incident where the tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen
people. This tower fell naturally, but there were eighteen victims. Jesus then
said were these eighteen people that were unfortunately killed when the tower fell
on them greater sinners than everyone else living in Jerusalem. Jesus then says
no, these eighteen victims were not worse than the rest of Jerusalem, but we
are all called to repent.
One area where some churches, some pastors, and some
Christians have failed throughout history is singling out groups of people. In
this way, they claim that certain group of people is somehow worse than
everyone else. The reality is my friends, is that we are all broken, and we are
all in need of repentance. We all have areas of growth, areas of weaknesses,
and “growing edges.” Unless we are perfect, then we all can continue to repent
and grow. Our livelong journey to be like Christ, is us growing more and more.
This
is why in this season of “New Life” we are called to repent, to give up, to
give away, and to draw closer to Christ. This is why last Sunday I said that we
are all called by God, to serve in the name of Jesus Christ. Each and every one
of you has gifts and graces to offer a hurting and a broken world, as we are
all broken people redeemed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Our gospel of Luke reading for this morning ends once
again, with what is often called “The Parable of the Fig Tree”. Picking up in
Luke 13:6 it says:
6 Then he told this
parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for
fruit on it and found none. 7 So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three
years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut
it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ 8 He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for
one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9 If it bears fruit
next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down’” (Luke
13:6-9, NRSV).
Jesus
is telling us that like a healthy fig tree, we are supposed to bear fruit. If
we are bearing no fruit and just existing, what good is this? Jesus calls us to
be the best us we can be. This means in the season of Lent, and always, we can
examine our lives to see where we fall short. You might say, “But Pastor Paul I
cannot serve God, I am not a pastor like you.”
Well
let me tell you a made-up story. Many years ago, a Methodist Bishop put an add
in a large city newspaper. The add said that the bishop was looking for people
called by God to consider being Methodist Ministers or to serve in another type
of ministry. After a month there was no response, at all. Not one letter, not one
phone call, not one response. You see though, the add in the newspaper also
said this, that each person who responded to the add needed to be completely
sinless, and as a result, there were zero applicants.
Friends,
we are all broken, bad things happen, like the invasion of Ukraine, but God has
called me, and God has called you. God is calling us all to “New Life.” Let us
in this season of Lent then, confront our brokenness, our weaknesses, and our “growing
edges,” so that God can better use us to grow our faith, our ministries, and
our churches. May we in this season of Lent, and always “Repent and Live!” Amen.
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