Topic: Repentance and Awe
Repentance means literally to turn around. I have often mused that
repenting twice is like a double negative. If you turn around once and then
turn around again, you have made a complete circle and are going in the
wrong direction again. You have to be careful with repentance; that is, in
its literal meaning.
The intention is not literal, however, but rather spiritual and
directional. It is more like driving a car, paying attention to the road,
or constantly correcting your way to keep on the straight and narrow. To
repent is more like making a slight correction. In our moral and spiritual
life, most of us are going generally in the right direction, but we just
need an adjustment from time to time. And of course, the slight nudge is
important. When driving, just a slight adjustment to the steering wheel can
mean the difference between disaster and safety. To repent then, would mean
to deal with our feelings of anger, lust, unfaithfulness, greed, uncharity,
or maliciousness before they do irreparable harm to our self-esteem or
spirit.
Jesus began his ministry by proclaiming, ³Repent, for the kingdom of God
has come near.² Repentance therefore has a reason. We repent because of
the grace and blessings that we have received from the kingdom of God. To
repent is not just something we do for ourselves, though as I said above, it
may have great benefits for us. Jesus calls us to repent out of
thanksgiving for what God has done for us in the kingdom. Repentance is a
response to the great gift we have been given.
On Ash Wednesday, we say as a part of the ancient liturgy, ³Repent and
believe the Gospel.² Here, repentance is not just a response, but also a
focus, a direction. We get our lives straight, back on the proper road, and
turn to the Gospel, the good new of what God has done in Jesus.
This is the kind of repentance that leads to awe and wonder, true worship,
and it is the prelude for such devotion. In Acts 2:37f, the disciples are
filled with awe and wonder and in that state of worship, they build a new
community, which is of benefit to everyone. That awe and wonder has come
from their nearness to the grace of the kingdom, their sheer appreciation
for what God has done for them through the kingdom, and their continual
turning from those things that would harm the spirit and faith of their
community through repentance.
