The First Word of the Gospel
Today we celebrate the second Sunday of Advent. Now we follow the
lectionary schedule. Last week the theme word was “watch,” and this week’s
theme word is “turn.” Have you ever thought what the first word of
the gospel is? The first word of the gospel is not "love." It is
not even "grace." The first word of the gospel is "repent."
The first word of John the Baptist in his ministry was “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt 3:2). And the first word of Jesus’ ministry
was exactly the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (4:17 ). Repentance literally means to turn. It is to turn from our
sin and turn to God. In today’s gospel lesson John the Baptist made it
clear that repentance makes the path straight between the Lord and the
repenting person. Repentance is like clearing a highway of holiness to and from
God. It is safe to say that repentance is the first step to be right with
God.
Marks of Repentance
Then, what are the essential marks of true
repentance? Today’s Old Testament lesson tells us what false
repentance is. Let me briefly explain the background of today’s passage. At
that time the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. The twelve
spies just came back and reported what they had seen. And ten of them spread a
bad report. After hearing the report, all night the Israelites cried and wept
aloud. And they grumbled against God and Moses, and said, “If only we had died
in Egypt !
Or in this desert! We will fall by the sword. And our wives and children will
be taken as plunder!” They committed a great sin of unbelief. Then, God said to
them, “I will do to you the very things I heard you say.” And he continued,
“Tomorrow, turn back and set out to the desert in the direction of the Red Sea again.”
Mourning over Sin
After this, in today’s scripture the people
of Israel repent their sin. But it is false
repentance. We
find at least three marks of true repentance in today’s stories. The first
mark of true repentance is to mourn over sin. In Numbers 14:39 the Israelites mourned bitterly, not because of their sins, but because of the bad news
that they must turn back to the desert again! So, they came to Moses and said, “We have sinned.” They said this to
avoid a crisis and to flee from God’s coming wrath. In this case true repentance is to
turn back and set out to the wildness as God commanded. In the Gospel lesson
John the Baptist was called to proclaim a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins (Matt 3:11 ; Mark 1:4). At that time there
were two groups
of people who came out to him. The first group of people came out to confess
their sins and
to change their minds and actions. The second group of people, the Pharisees and
Sadducees, came out to flee from the wrath to come, without any contrite
heart. So John the Baptist said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you
to flee from the coming wrath?” True
repentance is to mourn over our sins and to come out to God to obey his will and even accept His
punishment.
Death to Self
The second mark of true repentance is self-denial. In Numbers 14 the
Israelites say, “We have sinned.” They get up early the next morning, heavily
armed, and say, “We will go up to the place the Lord promised.” But Moses says
to them, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? Do not go up!” But verse
44 says, “Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill
country…” This is a typical example of false repentance, repentance without dying to
self. There are many ways to experience of “dying to self.” In today’s story
giving in and turning back to the desert is an experience of dying to self. In
some cases we need to go to a particular person and ask for forgiveness. In some cases we
need to make monetary compensation to make it right. And in many cases, God helps us to
experience of dying to self by confessing our sins, especially in front of
people. James 5:16 says,
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another.”
Let me ask this question, “Which is easier
for you to confess your sin to God or to people?” For me, personally,
confessing to God was much easier because God is always loving and forgiving and keeps the
secret. But the thing is that I just kept sinning although I repented over and
over. I got frustrated. Later I realized actually I didn’t confess my sins to
God, but to myself and forgave myself. That is why God commands us to confess
our sins to another person, image of God. True
repentance must go through the experience of dying to self. During my seminary years what I
learned most was how to repent. When I came to the US in 2006, I had my own plan. It was to
earn a doctoral degree as soon as I can and become a pastor of a large church.
Therefore, it was very important for me to get good grades. I did my best for
excellent grades and was able to earn them. One day the Holy Spirit convicted
me. He reminded me that I submitted the reading reports of some of the classes
not in good conscience. I had just skimmed through part of the required
readings but checked them off as 100% completion. I had good grades. But the
Holy Spirit exposed my ambition deep in my heart. Eventually, I officially
confessed my wrongdoing to my professors, some of my friends and students, and church
family members. As a result, the grades of the four classes were reduced. And
it became very
difficult for me to pursue further study. It was painful experience, but
I learned a valuable lesson. I learned that true repentance must go through the
experience of dying to self. My ambition has been crucified to me.
Bearing Fruit Worthy of Repentance
The third mark of true repentance is to bear fruit worthy of repentance. The
people of Israel said to Moses, “We have sinned.” But they didn’t obey
God’s will but they insisted on their own way. They went up to the hill to fight. And the result,
the fruit was
verse 45. It says, “Then the Amelekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill
country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.” Hormah means destruction. The fruit of their repentance
was destruction, death. Why? It is because they repented on their terms, not on God’s terms.
Romans 8:6 says, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind
controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” When we repent led by the
Spirit, inwardly we have the fruit of life and peace. And outwardly, we
experience a change of action. True repentance is from the inside out. And it bears fruits worthy
of repentance. According to John the Baptist, it is to share our possessions
with the poor. It is to always keep our conscience and live before God. It is
not to misuse power and privilege for our own good. Most importantly, true repentance bears the fruit of the Holy
Spirit. So we
are called to look at our lives and ask, “Am I more loving than I was one year
ago?” “Am I more joyful than I was five years ago?” “Am I more peaceful than I
was ten years ago?” And so on. And further, “Am I seeing a transformation from
selfishness and inward focus to loving God and loving neighbor?”
“I Am Repentant!”
On this second Sunday of Advent, God invites us to
repent. Why do we need to repent? Because true repentance makes the path
straight between God and us and draws us closer to our holy God. In 2
Corinthians 7:10 Paul says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads
to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” So I
invite all of us in this room to ask the following three questions and answer to
them as we prepare
the way for the Lord during Advent:
What am I fearing and mourning over? My sins? Or the consequences?
How do I repent? On my terms? Or on God’s terms?
How am I bearing fruit worthy of repentance in my life?
True repentance is not a single act but an ongoing
and continual attitude. Those who truly repent don’t describe repentance as
a past accomplishment, saying things like, “I repented twelve years ago.”
Instead, they say, “I am repentant. I live as a repentant person.
I live in the spirit and attitude of repentance.” My prayer is that as
we meditate on today’s scriptures and message, the Holy Spirit will convict
us and lead us to true repentance, so that we may turn to God and bear fruit worthy of
repentance and have life and peace that God promised us through Jesus Christ here and now. Amen.
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