The Art of Repentance

KiDZ Message

SLIDE - KiDZ Message

On-Ramp

Today is the first Sunday of Lent, a season of getting ready for Easter. Something we do in lent is “we repent”

You can remember because they rhyme! (repeat “in lent, we repent”)

Repenting is like this...

“Have you ever wanted to do the right thing… but didn’t?”

Wanted to be kind → yelled Wanted to tell the truth → didn’t

There is someone in the bible who had wanted to do the right thing but didn’t. His name was Levi. Luke 5:27-32

Levi has stolen from his friends and family

Jesus sees Levi and says: “Follow me.”

Levi did it, he walked toward Jesus

The Gap Example

Point to one spot: “This is where Jesus is.”

Step away: “When I make a choice that’s not loving, a gap shows up.”

“The gap doesn’t mean Jesus stopped loving me.”

“It means I’m not walking where Jesus is.”

Repentance is what we can do when we notice that gap

SLIDE - KiDZ BIG IDEA

“Repenting means turning and walking toward Jesus.”

And in Lent we _____? REPENT!

Practice Together

Activity: Stand in a spot, Walk away from Jesus, Turn and notice the Gap, Step back toward him.

Walking toward Jesus looks like...

For Levi, his step looked like throwing Jesus a party and inviting his friends

I wonder what you will do to step toward Jesus this week?

Prayer

“Jesus, help us notice the gap. Help us turn and walk toward You. Thank You for always wanting us close. Amen.”

_________________________________________________________________

MAIN SERMON

START TIMER

OPENING — REFRAME REPENTANCE

SLIDE - Title

I used to believe that repentance was the way you proved your remorse for bad behavior.

“I’m sorry for making you mad, God”

Asking forgiveness while assuming unworthiness

I believe that’s partially true—but a partial truth is not the same thing as a whole truth.

WHY I FOLLOW JESUS

I am a follower of Jesus Christ because I believe that he really lived, really died, and really rose again.

I’ve given him my whole life because I believe life is only experienced fully when it’s wholly devoted to him.

I want to be close to Jesus.

I want to be the person Jesus is inviting me to be—because I believe that’s what’s best for my life.

And I believe that’s what’s best for your life too.

2:00 benchmark

THE GAP

Every Sunday we come here to encounter Jesus.

Worship

hear and read Scripture

Prayer (private + communal)

Listening for the Spirit

And when I do that, I can’t help but notice a gap.”

A Gap between:

What Jesus values — and what I value

What Jesus instructs me to do — and what I actually do

What Jesus says and doesn’t say — and what I say or don’t say

What I believe — and what Jesus invites me to believe

Who I think I am — and who jesus says I am

Who I actually am — and who Jesus is forming me to be

I’ve come to that seeing this gap is good.

Because every time I see the gap, there’s an invitation to draw closer to the One who wants to draw close to me.

5:00 benchmark

We all have gaps, but what are we doing when we notice them?

Are we just feeling like bad people?

Are we physically or verbally berating ourselves?

Are we ignoring them, hoping they will go away?

Are we shifting our minds to other people’s gaps to avoid looking at ours?

God is already aware of the gap.

Jesus who is the perfect image of the father says a few things about it.

Scripture - screens, but not an invitation to “open bibles”

note: Ryan, move quickly through these, detail comes later.

Mark 1:15 - Repent and believe

This is a universal call to anyone who encounters Jesus.

Matthew 5:48 - Be perfect

John Wesley interpreted this as a clear call to holiness, but holiness not primarily marked by “good behavior.”

Instead it is marked by a rhythm of repentance and turning toward holiness in every moment.

Matthew 7:16–17 - You will know them by their fruits

We can believe “correctly”, but if out words, and actions do not align with what we think we believe, then we have deceived ourselves. As the book of James says “faith without works is dead”

So let me ask...

“Do you see the gap in your own life?”

The gap between who you are and who Jesus is inviting you to be?

Every single Sunday, we gather to encounter Jesus.

And if we really do that, we will see the gap.

When we see it, Jesus has one clear invitation for each of us.

SLIDE – REPENT

Repent.

8:00 benchmark

LENT AS REPENTANCE TRAINING

“Today is the first Sunday of Lent.”

“Lent is a season where Christians around the world prepare for Easter by spending forty days with special focus on the gap.”

“Lent functions best as a training ground for the whole of the Christian life.”

SLIDE – Martin Luther

1517 a priest noticed a Church-wide gap

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

“Repentance isn’t an emergency response.”

“It’s a lifelong posture.”

10:00 benchmark

SLIDE – WHAT REPENTANCE IS

“Repentance is an action toward Christ in response to seeing the gap between your life and his will.”

“Not just noticing a gap.”

“Not just agreeing that there is a gap.”

“It requires action.”

Action requires moving our bodies.

Action is at least visible, if not communal (unless you are a hermit). “You can’t do it only privately.”

An aside for clarity: We are talking about the “vertical” kind, but all these lessons apply to the Horizontal kind.

Horizontal works best when it is supported by vertical.

“Repentance is an essential part of the spiritual diet of a follower of Jesus.”

12:00 benchmark

JESUS & LEVI

Let’s look at how Jesus talked about it in today’s scripture reading.

SCRIPTURE – Luke 5:27-32

Levi (later known as Matthew)

Tax collector

Exploiting his own people

Jesus says “Follow me.”

“Jesus didn’t say, ‘Fix your life and then follow me.’”

“Levi wasn’t finished. He wasn’t fixed. And yet—he followed.”

Describe the banquet

Levi invites friends (other tax collectors + others)

Jesus eats with them (he has not commanded repentance yet)

The Scribes and Pharisees criticize him for breaking the laws by congregating with known sinners.

His association looks like affirmation

Jesus is not affirming their sin though is he?

He is doing something important here. And he speaks his intentions clearly.

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

“Repentance is not how we earn closeness with God.”

We do not demand people repentance in order to get them close to Jesus

Jesus offers himself first.

“Repentance is a gift to people who are burdened by the gap they see.

Repentance is in fact a GIFT to those who encounter Jesus and see him clearly.

17:00 benchmark

THE ART OF REPENTANCE

SLIDE – TITLE

“Jesus offers repentance, but he doesn’t explicitly say how.”

Instead he offers stories of repentance. They show up examples of HOW to do it.

Stories like today’s where Levi follows Jesus and throws a party

Stories like the Samaritan Woman at the Well, Zaccheus, the woman caught in adultery, Peter after denying Jesus, the prodigal son, and many others.

As I read these stories, I noticed a rhythm that we can emulate because...

“Repentance is offered, but the act of repenting takes practice”

it’s like learning a new kind of art, there are techniques to learn before you can express yourself freely.

This year I am going to teach you the rhythm I discovered in these stories in order to help you practice this essential artform.

“What I’m offering this Lent is not the biblical method.”

19:00 benchmark

A RHYTHM OF REPENTING

SLIDE – THE RHYTHM

Encounter Christ

Confess the gap

Move toward Christ

Receive his invitation

Obey his instruction

“We’ll practice all five every week. If you miss a week, you’re not behind.”

21:00 benchmark

Let’s practice together today as we finish.

Cue band

Step 1 – Encounter Christ

We've already done this one.

You just encountered Christ by hearing the scriptures read and explained.

Think about what was faithful in that encounter, and what was not...

Levi immediately followed Jesus and invited his friends.

Do you immediately get up and go when he calls you?

Jesus' aim is to those who are "unwell" so, but to not leave them unwell.

Do you say "It is what it is?" or avoid change?

Do you see yourself as well and others as sick?

[Pause to give time for this]

Step 2 – Confess the gap

“If you’re seeing clearly, there is a gap.”

“Name it. Write it or hold it.”

“God already knows—but you must be willing to look.”

If you do not want there to be a gap, if you want to be closer to Jesus, then continue to the next step.

If don’t see a gap, or you don’t care about the gap, then God honors your choice and will not force you to come close to him.

Just know that he isn’t going anywhere and will wait until you are ready.

I would encourage you to consider that inaction is just as much of a choice as action is. To not draw closer is to make a choice to stay away.

[Pause to give time for this]

Step 3 – Move toward Christ

“Physically.”

Identify a place in this room that can represent Jesus. A spot, a Pew, a person, the aisle, the altar.

Stand / kneel / step out. Move away from where you are, toward Christ in some way.

“Don’t just think about moving”

“Actually Move your body toward Christ.”

LONG PAUSE, give them time to move.

Step 4 – Receive his invitation

Now that you have come toward Christ, tell him the gap you see and ask him what he would have you do and don't leave that spot until you have a next step, one thing you will do differently this week to live closer to him and his way of being.

Maybe it's a commitment to act for decisively when he calls

Maybe it's to not wait until you are healed to invite others

Maybe it's to spend less time looking at others are needy for Jesus, and remembering that YOU are needy for Jesus

Maybe it's to commit to coming back next week.

He said "Follow Me" so where is he leading you today and this week?

Give plenty of time for this

Step 5 – Obey

“This happens after worship.”

“Faith without works is dead.”

“Come back next week ready again.”

CLOSING

NORMALIZE

“This may feel mechanical today.”

“That’s how learning an art works.”

VISION

“Over time, this becomes natural.”

“If it’s working, you’ll start longing for it.”

EXTEMPORANEOUS PRAYER

Availability

Trust

Courage to move

Band lead final song

Benediction and Connect Card AFTER music.