We don't think about it much, but the two clauses of that sentence actually talk about conflicting impulses.
To "repent" means to "walk again", "pent" being the root of the word for walking. "Repent" is another way of saying, "Turn around, do it over, change direction!" Something is not quite right here.
This is part of our human story. Most of us try to be good (especially this time of year with Santa just around the corner!) Most of us want to do what's right. But we always seem to mess it up. Into our noblest, purest acts and intentions creeps some kind of selfishness or blindness. What we want to do we don't actually end up doing, at least not perfectly. Desiring the right, we can't manage to get there.
Most people read "repent" as saying, "Stop doing wrong! Do right instead!" That's not accurate. In fact, it's impossible to fulfill that command. Instead you should read "repent" as, "Give up on the idea that you are right and can be right. Stop following yourself and your own flawed instincts and pretending that they are The Way."
The reason for this turn-around is simple. The actual Way is at hand. Contrary to popular belief, the kingdom of God does not mean just heaven or the afterlife. That's part of the definition of kingdom, the final flower of it, but it's not the whole story. The kingdom of God is a living presence, in John's case embodied physically in Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is present wherever love, grace, forgiveness, and joy are brought to life among us. This is what we follow and walk towards, not what is "right" by our own definition but what is loving by God's definition, not our own example but his.
Theoretically "right" and "loving" should be the same thing. What is loving should be what is right and vice versa. In practice that only holds true for one being in the whole universe: God. God is wholly right, completely loving. There is no distinction between the two in him.
For the rest of us, though, sin clouds our vision, makes us short-sighted, causes us to fall short. We have to choose. We can either be right or we can be loving. Every once in a while we're blessed with a great moment when the two impulses come together. These are gifts from God, moments when we feel in tune with the world, the universe, heaven, and everything therein. Those brief glimpses aside, we're forced to decide what will be the bedrock of our life: our own righteousness or God. We cannot follow both.
Part of the reason we can't have both is that love and right require different actions and a different outlook. Being right makes you stand still. You've got it! It's clear. You are right. Why move? Being right causes you to stop your journey, build up walls, protect yourself from anyone who would change you, or even just try to change your mind. If you're right there's no need to hear, no need to transform, and no need to follow.
Love, on the other hand, requires motion, attention, sacrifice. Love moves you beyond what you were before, not just for your own sake, but for the sake of the one you are loving. Love is nothing but hearing, nothing but transformation and growth, nothing but following...following God in dutiful service and following the person you're sharing love with. After all, how do you know how to love someone if you don't follow them for a while, walk a mile in their shoes?
Being right always causes you to stop. Loving always causes you to move. The two cannot happen at the same time.
Scripture is pretty clear about which of these is the correct approach. You can listen to Paul tell you, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" or you can listen to John say, "When we say we are without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Both are telling you the same thing. You can't stop. The moment you call a halt to the journey you have to make compromises with the sin that's within yourself and the shortcomings inherent in the place where you stopped to camp. It would be like the people of Israel stopping in their wilderness journey. They may find a nice oasis in the desert somewhere but it's not suitable for living forever; it's not the Promised Land.
We are not called to camp in a spot of our own choosing, but to keep journeying towards our ultimate destiny: the kingdom of God, perfect love and grace and forgiveness and joy. When faced with a choice between right and loving, we choose loving. Otherwise we miss the kingdom even when it stands right in front of us.
Understanding this, it becomes clear what John was asking his followers to repent of: not just their sins and wrongdoing, but their idea that they already knew what "right" means and that they were capable of achieving it themselves. This is reinforced a couple verses later in Matthew 3 when John scolds the Pharisees, folks who followed the Law scrupulously but also thought that they knew (and were) right in every matter. John calls them a "brood of vipers", snakes huddled in their nest, unwilling to come out, likely to bite anyone who tried to roust them. That's exactly what happened when Jesus met the Pharisees. They didn't see him as holy, nor did they care about his message. Instead they plotted to kill him because he had the temerity to tell them that something in the universe was more important than them being right.
Right or love, which will you choose? Each of us is confronted with this decision every day. Those who are married know that the #1 rule of married life is that you can be right or you can be in love but you can't have both. You'll either be right and sleeping on the couch or be loving and have a marriage. The same holds true in different ways for relationships between parents and children, friends and neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers.
Turn on the radio or TV and you'll hear a host of people trying to convince you that they're right, that a certain point of view is right, that this is all you need in order to prosper in the world. The ones you already agree with (better: who agree with you) seem quite seductive, quite "right". Our culture will prod you mercilessly, convincing you that right is the answer: hold the right political opinion, invest in the right stock, buy the right Christmas present for somebody. Funny, those never provide the answer...at least not the ultimate one. Whatever happiness and security they bring is only temporary. For the most part, they give way to more fear, more division.
Love is the way. The kingdom of God is still at hand. The problem isn't that it's disappeared, nor that it was only embodied in one person who lived 2000 years ago. Jesus brought it to the world that it might grow through all of us, transforming our lives and the life of everyone we love. The problem is, we don't see it. We're too busy trying to be right.
The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty. Every moment we spend being less certain and more loving--every moment we sacrifice our selfish desire to stop the journey at a convenient place and instead walk it in love--is a moment faith becomes more alive in us. This is how we prepare the way of the Lord.
Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand...today, tomorrow, and always.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Theoretically "right" and "loving" should be the same thing. What is loving should be what is right and vice versa. In practice that only holds true for one being in the whole universe: God. God is wholly right, completely loving. There is no distinction between the two in him.
For the rest of us, though, sin clouds our vision, makes us short-sighted, causes us to fall short. We have to choose. We can either be right or we can be loving. Every once in a while we're blessed with a great moment when the two impulses come together. These are gifts from God, moments when we feel in tune with the world, the universe, heaven, and everything therein. Those brief glimpses aside, we're forced to decide what will be the bedrock of our life: our own righteousness or God. We cannot follow both.
Part of the reason we can't have both is that love and right require different actions and a different outlook. Being right makes you stand still. You've got it! It's clear. You are right. Why move? Being right causes you to stop your journey, build up walls, protect yourself from anyone who would change you, or even just try to change your mind. If you're right there's no need to hear, no need to transform, and no need to follow.
Love, on the other hand, requires motion, attention, sacrifice. Love moves you beyond what you were before, not just for your own sake, but for the sake of the one you are loving. Love is nothing but hearing, nothing but transformation and growth, nothing but following...following God in dutiful service and following the person you're sharing love with. After all, how do you know how to love someone if you don't follow them for a while, walk a mile in their shoes?
Being right always causes you to stop. Loving always causes you to move. The two cannot happen at the same time.
Scripture is pretty clear about which of these is the correct approach. You can listen to Paul tell you, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" or you can listen to John say, "When we say we are without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Both are telling you the same thing. You can't stop. The moment you call a halt to the journey you have to make compromises with the sin that's within yourself and the shortcomings inherent in the place where you stopped to camp. It would be like the people of Israel stopping in their wilderness journey. They may find a nice oasis in the desert somewhere but it's not suitable for living forever; it's not the Promised Land.
We are not called to camp in a spot of our own choosing, but to keep journeying towards our ultimate destiny: the kingdom of God, perfect love and grace and forgiveness and joy. When faced with a choice between right and loving, we choose loving. Otherwise we miss the kingdom even when it stands right in front of us.
Understanding this, it becomes clear what John was asking his followers to repent of: not just their sins and wrongdoing, but their idea that they already knew what "right" means and that they were capable of achieving it themselves. This is reinforced a couple verses later in Matthew 3 when John scolds the Pharisees, folks who followed the Law scrupulously but also thought that they knew (and were) right in every matter. John calls them a "brood of vipers", snakes huddled in their nest, unwilling to come out, likely to bite anyone who tried to roust them. That's exactly what happened when Jesus met the Pharisees. They didn't see him as holy, nor did they care about his message. Instead they plotted to kill him because he had the temerity to tell them that something in the universe was more important than them being right.
Right or love, which will you choose? Each of us is confronted with this decision every day. Those who are married know that the #1 rule of married life is that you can be right or you can be in love but you can't have both. You'll either be right and sleeping on the couch or be loving and have a marriage. The same holds true in different ways for relationships between parents and children, friends and neighbors, co-workers, and even strangers.
Turn on the radio or TV and you'll hear a host of people trying to convince you that they're right, that a certain point of view is right, that this is all you need in order to prosper in the world. The ones you already agree with (better: who agree with you) seem quite seductive, quite "right". Our culture will prod you mercilessly, convincing you that right is the answer: hold the right political opinion, invest in the right stock, buy the right Christmas present for somebody. Funny, those never provide the answer...at least not the ultimate one. Whatever happiness and security they bring is only temporary. For the most part, they give way to more fear, more division.
Love is the way. The kingdom of God is still at hand. The problem isn't that it's disappeared, nor that it was only embodied in one person who lived 2000 years ago. Jesus brought it to the world that it might grow through all of us, transforming our lives and the life of everyone we love. The problem is, we don't see it. We're too busy trying to be right.
The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty. Every moment we spend being less certain and more loving--every moment we sacrifice our selfish desire to stop the journey at a convenient place and instead walk it in love--is a moment faith becomes more alive in us. This is how we prepare the way of the Lord.
Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand...today, tomorrow, and always.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
