"Resurrection and Forgiveness"
"Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.' "
Before we get too far away from Lent and Easter Sunday, I would like us to take a look back. We began with an invitation to observe a Holy Lent. In that we were called to a time of "self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's Holy Word" (Covenant Book of Worship, p. 262). As a church we participated in some programs to put a special emphasis on prayer and scripture reading.
Some people emphasize the self-denial aspect of Lent. Maybe they give up chocolate or cookies or coffee or something for the season. I know some in the Confirmation class were going without chocolate. Such denial helps us to reflect on what it means to live by faith and by the provision of God. Others spend some time in fasting, so they can give more time to prayer. Many focus on developing devotional habits, or give special effort to reconciling strained relationships.
Then on Easter Sunday we celebrate, and maybe eat a chocolate bunny. We bring an end to some of the self-denial, but hopefully not in an indulgent way. What may happen, though, is that spring can be a very busy season, and we can find in the weeks following Easter that some of our good disciplines get squeezed out. We do not want to lose what we have gained.
So, how was it for you? How did you do? Did you develop any new habits that have strengthened you? Did you experience a renewal in your faith? Are you continuing in those good practices? How can we keep moving forward together?
I want to encourage our growth in Christ and our renewal in the Lord by lifting up a word from the resurrection account in Luke. The resurrection is central to our life in Christ because it brings to us a gift, a renewing power, an encouragement that is a cause for joy. Luke writes that it is the death and resurrection of Jesus that brings in the time of preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
The heart of the Gospel is the forgiveness of sin. That is stated over and over in the scripture. Christianity is a religion of forgiveness. Faith in Christ is centrally about the forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The forgiveness of sin is never a side issue, it is not something you grow beyond or find you do not need. The forgiveness of sin comes to us by the death of Jesus on the cross. This passage in Luke helps us to see that it also comes to us by the resurrection of Jesus.
One of the great causes of joy in the early believers was the recognition that the resurrection of Jesus empowers or enables repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Repentance is a gift. It is the process by which we find life. The resurrection of Jesus gives power and validity to that process. Repentance is a continual practice in our lives. It is our daily walk. We do each day that which brings life. The word in Greek carries the meaning of "turning." We turn from death and sin to life and holiness. In the cross and resurrection of Jesus your sins are forgiven. In the cross and resurrection of Jesus you are able to turn from death to life.
Ephesians 2:1 – "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved."
Yesterday at the Central Conference Annual Meeting, we heard Pastor Willie Comer, a young African-American church planter, tells us about how God has led him to begin a church in Champaign. This is just one part of a larger story, a process of planning in the conference and selecting church planters. But Pastor Comer was considering this opportunity to begin a church in Champaign, and struggling with the decision. He was there one weekend for a football game at the university. Before the game he was walking around where the tailgating parties were going on. He noticed someone bring in a full-sized coffin. He thought it had something to do with beating Michigan, but then he realized that this person had taken an actual coffin and insulated it inside, turning it into a cooler. He had then filled the "cooler" with all kinds of alcohol and ice, and was inviting the students and others to take all they wanted. As Willie watched this excessive consumption taking place, the image hit him. They were reaching into death and taking out what they thought would give them life. That image was significant in his decision to plant a church. He realized he had a heart to offer life in that community.
If we can turn the coffin image around, I think it gives us an understanding of the gift of repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Repentance is reaching into life, reaching into the reality of the resurrection, and there finding living water, there finding in forgiveness of sin a new life in Christ, a transforming and freeing life. It is this reaching into life that is to become for us habitual and continual.
The first part of repentance is the confession of sin. Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in "Life Together," "Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. In confession of sin the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart. All that is secret and hidden is revealed."
Then, once sin has been confessed, we seek life in Christ. Greg Jones writes, "There is no way to accept forgiveness appropriately without committing oneself to repentance." Confessing our sins is not enough. We then must grasp how God wants us to live, and clearly commit ourselves to the new life. We sincerely desire to change our thinking, our words, and our actions. We turn to the light and embrace it.
Repentance also means accepting our forgiveness. When God forgives us, we believe what God has done. We do not fall back into guilt. If God has forgiven us, we have no right to refuse to forgive ourselves.
Then repentance leads us to receive the love of God, the resurrection life, the Holy Spirit. The resurrection of Jesus did not lead to the story of the disciples going straight to heaven. The resurrection of Jesus led to the book of Acts. The disciples went out to live the commission of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
It is the gift of repentance that leads us to do justice, to do God's will, to love people, to seek the lost, to welcome the homeless, to feed the hungry. At the Conference Debbie Blue, the Executive Minister of the Department of Compassion, Mercy and Justice for the Covenant Church, challenged us to not close our eyes to the needs of people in the world, but to let our hearts be broken by the things that break God's heart, and to act as he commands us to act.
Sometimes the things we do in serving Christ can seem small and maybe we wonder if we are doing enough. On Friday afternoon we were invited to sign up for some service projects at the camp or in the community. I chose to stay and work at the camp, and spent the afternoon helping to paint the inside of the women's restroom by the staff housing. It turned out to be a big job, and rather hot and exhausting. And when we got through I wondered if I had really done anything meaningful. I had not prepared a sermon yet, and I could have spent the afternoon doing that. But then I thought that in a month or so, quite a number of college students are going to arrive at camp, and they are there to share the Gospel with children and youth. They will preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And the young women who are part of that staff will begin their day in a space that is now clean and light and bright. In a small way it will help their day to start in a better way, and maybe that will help them serve better.
Our contributions are often small, but everything we do in Christ keeps that process of repentance going and is meaningful as it blesses someone.
You made a good beginning in Lent. Now let's move on together in Christ. LetŐs build our prayer life. Let's dig deep into God's word. Let's reach out for that which is life. Let's experience the power of the resurrection. Let's share it with our community and with people throughout the world.
Amen.