Step 2 - Repent - Think Differently

Our Second Step

The second step in our journey through the 5 is that we need to begin to think differently or said another way we need to repent.

In our first talk we walked through the trash of the world or the trash that has been done to us. The pain the suffering, the hurt we feel, none of this is good and this is not how it was supposed to be. But we are the ones who have actually created this world of trash, this world of not good. We finished our talk with what we have done to God’s “very good” design. We have turned it into trash by choosing what we think is good rather than trusting what God says is good, even very good. But we finished with some hope, if you remember the picture of the trash art. That there is hope that Jesus is the way from trash to art, something beautiful.

Then this morning we heard from Ms. Alex Rae that God’s plan back to very good is in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the one calling people back to “very good” or what Jesus calls, “the Kingdom of God.” But as Alex walked us through, this begins acknowledging that we are actually at fault. We are the ones who have messed up. It is incredibly easy for us to point of the trash in the world, the trash that others are creating, yet we are the ones have chosen to do what is good on our own rather than trust God. Even with the smallest thoughts, the smallest things that nobody sees, these lead to nothing but death and destruction and pain, even if no one sees it. The path back to very good, the path back from trash to art, that we get straight from Jesus is to repent. To do that we need to first acknowledge, exactly what Alex talked on this morning. After acknowledgement our next step becomes repentance. We need to begin thinking differently. Which what on earth does that actually mean?

PICTURE OF THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of 7 children’s books by C.S. Lewis written in the 1950’s. In the first book of the series we are introduced to 4 siblings, Lucy (the youngest), Edmund, Susan, and Peter (the oldest). These four siblings enter into a fantasy world called Narnia through a wardrobe in the house that they are staying. We learn that Narnia is ruled by a tyrannical White Witch who has made it as one character explains, “[a]lways winter and never Christmas.”

The first book covers the journey of these siblings as they help the great Lion (Aslan) defeat the White Witch and free Narnia from her power. Restoring Narnia back to it's beauty and glory, no longer in winter.

PICTURE ASLAND AND LUCY

There is one part of the story where we focus in on Lucy. She desires to be beautiful like her sister and so she steals a piece of paper that she can say a spell. Well she says it one night. Long story short she goes into a dream where she is her sister, Lucy is gone (never born) and because of that no Narnia because Lucy found it. Then Azland the lion shows up and asks her what she has done. Lucy responds with I dont know, that was awful and Azland says but you chose it. She comes back with I didn’t mean to choose all of that, I just wanted to be beautiful. Azland says you wished yourself away and with it much more.

Lucy was willing to do whatever it took to change this moment, but what she didn’t realize was how important and valuable she was.

We see Lucy here do the same thing that we saw the humans do in the garden. She saw beauty as the goal, she saw being her sister as the good thing, so she does whatever it takes to make it happen, not aware of what will happen. We see that she becomes her older sister and then all these other consequences.

When Lucy comes to her senses, she has to do exactly what Alex talked with us this morning about. She feels the pain, the feels the sorrow, she regrets what she has done. And Aslan makes her acknowledge it so she can feel the weight of her decision of defining good on her own. She says it was awful and she didnt meant to choose it, Aslan says yeah it was, but thats what you chose. Before any change comes Lucy has to acknowledge it.

Aslan finishes with “Lucy, you doubt your value.” Once Lucy has acknowledged what she has done. The next step becomes, if she wants to get out of the nightmare she has to start thinking differently, or repent. She needs to stop desiring what someone else has and trust the value she has to Aslan. She needs to repent from thinking that her sisters beauty is what she needs. To repent.

Matthew 4:17

In Matt. 4:17 we see all of Jesus teaching summed up in one sentence:

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

Jesus comes onto the scene and He begins to teach people, “Repent, because the Kingdom is here!”

If we take the example Lucy what is Jesus saying here in using the word repent? Jesus is saying “starting thinking differently because the Kingdom is here” or “Start viewing the world differently because the Kingdom is here.” Just like Aslan with Lucy, Jesus is stepping into the nightmare of trash that we have created and says “think differently for the Kingdom of heaven is here!”

Now what on earth does the Kingdom of Heaven mean?

PICTURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

To make a comparison today we have the United Kingdom, sometimes called Britain. But the united Kingdom is by definition “an Island country located off the northwestern coast of mainland Europe.” And the United Kingdom is ruled by

PICTURE QUEEN ELIZABETH

Queen Elizabeth. So a Kingdom is an area where the King or Queen is in charge and if you are in that Kingdom, if you are a part of that Kingdom you are saying that the King or Queen is in charge and you trust them, living by their rule.

So when Jesus steps on the scene this is what He is saying, that God is coming to establish His reign as King and if you are going to live under Gods Kingship then you need to think differently or repent.

Why would Jesus says this? Remember, we have been waiting for a way back to very good, we have been waiting for someone to get us back to very good from the trash that we are in.

Just like Lucy who thinks it is good to look like her sister and ends up creating a nightmare. Just like Aslan calls her out of the dream by having her think differently.

Jesus does the same thing. He comes into the trash we have created and says start to think differently, because Gods Kingdom has come near, it is present. Jesus is saying right here that we have a way out of the nightmare and into the Kingdom of God and it is through Him!

The question becomes how do we think? How do we view the world? What is Jesus presenting to us as the way of life back to “very good”?

Sermon on the Mount

At the end of Matthew chapter 4 wee learn about the type of people that Jesus was hanging out with.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Jesus, the one claiming to be King is hanging out with the lowest of the, those who were not given value, treated like dirt, were not given dignity, this the type of King Jesus is.

This is not what a King does. - We actually had this happen in Louisville, back in 2007 Queen Elizabeth herself came to the Kentucky Derby. WLKY describes her trip to Louisville this way

“Fans stood for almost an hour to see the queen, most only caught her motorcade. But they were still excited to know she was around (they didn’t even get to see or meet her). She got a tour of the trophy room and watched the Derby with her husband Prince Phillip. The queen stuck around for about three hours before she life. The next day, she was in Washington for a dinner with then president George W. Bush.”

Royalty at any time in history, they are always associated with the wealthy, high rollers, nicest cars, biggest parties. Yet Jesus, could not be further from this. He looks at those that nobody cares about and says I care about you.

Then in Matthew 5 Jesus enters in what is called the Sermon on the mount, some call this the ethics of the Kingdom. Remember, Jesus whole message is summed up with “Repent (think differently) because the Kingdom is here, the King has arrived.”

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is going to let them know, what life in the Kingdom is to look like. How exactly they are to think differently.

I am not going to read the whole sermon on the mount, it takes up 3 chapters, but i want you to hear how Jesus begins it:

English Standard Version (Chapter 5)

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus looks at his disciples and the crowd following them, remember the lowest of low in the society and he says:

Are you poor in spirit? Are your mourning? Are you meek, look down upon because you aren’t the loud and powerful one? Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness because you or someone else has been the victim of injustice? Good news, your King is here.

Now these beginning statements from Jesus may not seem like that much to us but we need to clarify a few things. When Jesus says blessed, he is not meaning what we think as blessed.

Stanley Howerwaz - “Too often these characteristics of blessings have in Christian history have been turned into ideals or virtues that we must strive to obtain. Yet when we do that we turn them into formulas that help us gain status and favor with God. Which is exactly what Jesus is teaching against.”

What Stanley is saying is that these 8 lines are not what we strive for, we aren’t striving to mourn or be meek or whatever it may be. Rather what Jesus is doing here is saying that those who have not received any honor or value from society are the ones that the King is coming to first.

Stanley - “These people who are not significant, or honored in their society are precisely the ones who have received the honor to be the first among those called into God’s kingdom.”

Which is good news for these people. The worthless are the ones Jesus coms to. So what does this mean for those in the Kingdom? It means we begin to think this way, we view the world this way. Go onto to read the rest of the Sermon on the mount and this is exactly what Jesus is saying.

As we repent, start thinking differently. It means we view people differently. We no longer view others as enemies but as human beings made in the image of God deserving of value. We no longer view other humans as objects of sexual pleasure rather made in the image of God deserving of respect and dignity. We no longer strive to gain the approval of others, we no longer long to be liked by everyone, why? Because we ourselves are image bearers, we belong to King Jesus! We belong to the one who is above all of those things!

But Jesus isn’t just a social worker, He isn’t just going around telling people to love others. What separates Jesus from all other social justice movements is the claims that he made of being King and conquering the evil of this world.

The difference for those who belong to Jesus, in the Kingdom, is because we believe that Jesus is King we believe that one day all of this evil will end. No more tears, no more pain, no more suffering. That is our anchor as we move forward. That is our lens through which we now view the world. Everything in this world we view through the lens that Jesus is seated on His throne, therefore we act out of that. Letting people know about the King we belong to, through our words and actions.

As Ephesians 1:20 and 2:6 says

Christ is seated at the right hand of the father. He is seated on his throne. Then 2:6 says we are made alive in Christ and seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

The King is seated on His throne, because of Jesus death we now can belong to Him. Not as secondary citizens but seated with the King. We now view the world through that lens. Thats repentance.

Not simply a change in behavior, but a change in world view. Jesus is King of it all, Jesus is in charge of every part of my life. I give it to Him.