More than just sorry

Say you’re sorry

Say you’re sorry! At times I feel like this is the mantra of my house. It usually starts with a scream, followed by a Moooom, at which point Nikki and I exchange a look like this (eye and head roll).

Notice that it has gone far beyond an eye roll. With five children the frequency of these occurrences seems relentless so an eye roll doesn’t quite cover it. By now it requires a full eye head and even a shoulder roll. I fear in a few years we will just lay on the floor and roll back and forth.

Because by now we have learned, someone took something from someone and someone hit someone or someone is looking at someone or someone won’t play with someone. Or someone broke a lego sculpture of someone.

Don’t get me wrong I love my family to pieces. I am truly blessed and wouldn’t trade my life for anything but sometimes I just want to pull out my hair by the root.

And now I know what happened to my father.

These instances always end the same way. You need to say you’re sorry. You need to apologize.

Making a child apologize is a lot like trying to get a greased pig into a pen. You wrestle for what seems like hours and even if you succeed you question whether you actually won or not.

Especially when it comes out as.... Sorry.

Does this sound familiar at all. No no, not as a parent, but think back to when you were a child. Did anyone ever tell you, you had to apologize?

Did you do it? If you didn’t want an extra spanking or lengthened time out or I don’t know what your parents did back then. Maybe they took away your hoop and stick. Right mom?

More importantly than did you do it… Did you mean it? Of course not. At best you might of meant I am sorry I am in trouble.

For most people that is all a sorry really is. it is not an admission of fault but rather something you say to get others off your back.

Some have suggested we should stop forcing kids to say sorry because it is a form of child abuse. These people have obviously never looked into actual cases of child abuse or they wouldn’t devalue those words with such ludicrous statements.

Still one must wonder if it does any good. But this is how we raise polite people. In Canada we do this so well people say sorry when someone else bumps into them.

In fact if you sit perfectly quietly you can probably hear a Canadian appologising for something they did not do right now.

Truth is for most people the word sorry has become completely worthless.

This evening I want to start a series titled more than just sorry. In this series over the next 4 Sunday evenings we will be looking at different components of true repentance. And on the 5th Sunday we will look at the consequences of not repenting

See for some the word repent is used almost synonymously with words like sorry and apology, nothing but empty gestures and hollow words.

And hollow words, much like a hollow chocolate bunny just leaves you wanting more.

There are times when as a Christian we may need to repent. I mean who among us would be so bold as to say they have never done anything that has not dishonoured the Lord?

And we need to understand Repentance, true repentance is more than just saying...

I am sorry

So what passage shall we look at. While there are many great New Testament and Old Testament passages we can look at there is one found in that really seems to sum it up really nicely.

As you turn, let me give you a little context. Solomon, David’s son and wisest man in the world has fished overseeing the construction of the temple.

So they have a consecration service where they dedicated the temple to God. Solomon prays this long prayer of dedication to God offering Him the building. After He prayed fire fell from heave and God filled the Temple. Then they proceeded to make more sacrifices 22,000 cattle, and 120,000 sheep and goats and Solomon proceeded to consecrate the temple.

Then for 7 days they celebrated the festival of shelters on the eight day they had their closing ceremonies. And you thought we crammed a lot of stuff in to our events, but we’ve never kept you here for eight days. Not yet anyway.

Where we are jumping in is God is going to respond to Solomon after all this.

2 Chronicles 7:12–15 NLT

Then one night the Lord appeared to Solomon and said, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place.

The question we will be answering over the next few weeks is...

What are the steps of true repentance?

Tonight we will look at the first step...

Repentance starts with Humility

Me: How many again watched Sesame Street? You can learn good stuff from Sesame street, at least when I was a kid. For example today we are going to play the opposite game. I will say a word and I want you to give me the opposite. Let’s start with an easy one.

Up

Left

Hot

right

black

Apple

Why

Why do we think an orange is the opposite of an apple? Is it because of sayings like adding apples and oranges?

Sometimes it is not easy to determine the opposite of something. Like Pride for example.

I think you’d agree with me that the opposite of pride is what? Humility, yet for a lot of people they think the opposite of pride and arrogance is insecurity which in reality is actually just pride in disguise.

We: We need to understand Humility is not the same as insecurity. Pride is all about appearances and how we look to ourselves and others. That is why arrogance and insecurities all find their root in pride, because it is all about concern with how we look to others. Whether we want to be somebody who demands respect, so arrogance takes over and I am somebody or maybe our view of self is not as good as someone else so insecurities take over. The problem with both of these is it is pride and pride blinds us and keeps us from going to God. the arrogance side because we feel like I don’t need to and the insecurity side which says I am not good enough too.

God: This passage tells us true repentance starts not with insecurities, oh no I am not good enough, but rather humility by way of the acknowledgements of our sin and short comings. This is the only way to approach God.

The word here used for humble it the word Kn’ which translates to...

Really it is an acknowledgement of God and His holiness and of our low position, yet God’s willingness to forgive us because He loves us.

This reality does not produce insecurities, and a sense of unworthiness as we know we have an open invitation even though we don’t deserve it. What it produces is Humility. The realization that the creator of all invites you into His presence even though we have screwed up.

You: What I want you to get from this is, what often keeps people unrepentant is pride presented in two forms. Arrogance which says I am good enough and insecurities which says I am not worthy of forgiveness or I am not good enough to Go to God.

Therefore the only way you can start repentance is to approach God with Humility which comes form understanding

We: He is God and we are flawed yet God loves us so much He sent His Son to Die for us that we might be forgiven.

God invites us in so we are humbled as we submit to Him and posture ourselves at His feet admitting our faults.

Next Step: