John the BaptistIt troubles me how many people think that to repent means to feel very, very guilty about something. And so I like this brief excerpt from a sermon for today:
Ah, yes. "Make straight in the desert a highway for our God!"Repentance is not the same as remorse or regret. It is not listing all the ways things could have gone differently. It is not wishing you were a better person, that some things had never happened, that bad things wouldn’t keep happening to you. It’s not feeling guilty or ashamed. It’s not feeling afraid. It’s not something that leaves us stuck, or standing still, or spinning in circles, going nowhere.
Repentance is about movement, letting yourself be grasped by God, getting new bearings, and relying on God for directions.
The new life that follows repentance, the new direction that comes with a fresh start is what John was proclaiming in the wilderness. John’s message is a call to action: repent, turn around, accept help. God is coming to meet you on a road in the wilderness.
"Repentance is about movement, etc." - that sums it up doesn't it? Thanks for the sharing this sermon tidbit.
ReplyDeleteI love that middle paragraph, just as Sunrise Sister said.
ReplyDeleteYep, yep, yep. Now, if you had posted this before I preached on Sunday....
ReplyDelete