The One Who Turned Around

The word repent is such a charged word in the English language.

It’s a verb but it’s also a command.

I repent. But you can also look at someone and tell them “Repent.”

We see this word being used by street preachers declaring the incoming doom to people who are not listening. Most often ineffective but thinking they’re doing the most. It comes off as judgmental and condescending.

If you look at the Gospel of Matthew, the first word Jesus says in His public ministry is Repent. His first address to the public when they hear this guy and know he’s special. “Repent.”

Now I always wonder why this word, when Jesus says it, doesn’t hold the same negative weight and baggage as someone does in the street.

I think the difference is this: the person on the street doesn’t know me. The person on the street with the megaphone, I can’t be sure that they love me after all they know about me.

What makes it even harder for someone to listen to that street preacher calling for repentance is that everyone in a busy street is often on a mission. They’re going somewhere. They’re doing something.

To call them to repent, is an interruption to their life, their itinerary, their schedule. If they were to stop, to listen, and to follow that direction, it would throw off their entire day, their trip, their itinerary.

Why am I bringing this up?

In our church, we’ve been in the season of repentance and reflecting on what it means to repent.

We often think of it as sorrow, guilt or feeling bad. But what it really is, is a turning back. It’s not a word about an emotion or mood, it’s more about direction or motion.

We can feel terrible about what we’ve done, but never turn. The opposite is true too, we can turn and repent without weeping at all.

The question repentance asks is not, “how bad do you feel?” the question is “which way are you walking, and are you willing to stop and turn?”

The reason why is hard is not because we’re being told to change, we’re being told to slow down. We don’t mind being told that we’re all over the place. this

But if you tell us to pull over, stop the schedule, go back because we forgot something, we resist. Why?

Because the momentum we build up feels like progress. As long as we’re moving, we assume we’re getting somewhere, whether good or bad, that’s the deception.

When we look at the gospel today, we see there are 10 lepers. People who had a serious skin disease that isolated them from community that led to death.

Jesus gave them instruction to go and show themselves to the priests.

They all followed his instruction. They were cleansed and healed. However, ONE of them walking with the group saw what had happened to himself and felt compelled to interrupt himself and turn back alllll the way to Jesus.

He had to break from the group. He had to GIVE UP the distance he had already covered.

That’s what confession costs us. That’s what fasting costs us. That’s what it costs to end a relationship that’s killing our soul, to turn off the screens, to make the phone call we’ve been avoiding. We lose the you thought we had. progress

Oddly enough in sin, there’s a voice in our heads that says, you’ve come this far, keep going.

Faith is what makes the brakes possible. This healed man believed there was someone behind him worth returning to.

In fact, out of the 10 only one back. This gratitude was the fuel was the inspiration for this man’s reversal. He came back and glorified God in a loud voice. turned

In fact, sometimes fighting sin, needs fast brakes. When we’re in the middle of juicy gossip, when the tea gets interesting, when we feel compelled to lie, when we feel like simply staying in bed, when we know that the night is going to end up in one way, God invites us to acknowledge what he’s done for us, turn back rapidly.

Pull over. Notice, the beauty of this story isn’t the fact that Jesus miraculously healed these people. But that he turned someone from dead inside, to alive with gratitude. Gratitude kept the life with Jesus alive.

Let’s ask ourselves this week, what’s one thing we have momentum in that we know is not of God and turn around and give Christ glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.