Repent and Face God
Pastor Mark Breland
September 21, 2008
 

Believe it or not, repentence is a good thing.  When you think about your relationships or what I think about my relationships when I have people that I love or when you think about folks that you care about, you think about your relationship with God.  And how you need that type of give and take that takes place in relationships.  So repentence is a good thing.  But I know that repentence is one of those church words. 

I don't know how many of you guys are going to go out to day and when you're having your coffee or your lunch, and everybody's talking about repent and it's, it's one of those words you hear in church. 

But we all know what it's like to be hurt by someone.  We all know what it's like when we say things to other people and we feel remorse about those words.  And we ought to feel some remorse about when we say or do something wrong to someone.  It demands that we feel something, it demands that we want to do something, it demands that we want to make a change for the wrong that we have done. 

When I think about our presidential campaign, I'll let that's it for a little bit.  I'm not going to pick any candidate at this time.  There's a common theme that we have been hearing all along.  The word is change.  Have you heard it?  Talking about change, Senator Obama talks about change, Senator McCain talks about change.  They are jumping on the bandwagon about ways that we can improve our government, so that it works for us and not just for the government. 

What am I saying now?  Things are bad.  But if you remember me, if you put me in the White House, I will improve your lives. 

So they want you to remember them in November. 

However, changing is nothing new.  I'm thinking about repainting and we need to think about repainting as something that we do, change that we may.  Because all of us have been influenced by change.  It's a powerful message.  Many times we think about our young adults or our kids been media people.  But where do they learn it from?

You know, all of us are media people.  We read the newspapers and magazines.  We listen to the radio.  Don't we still watch TV?  Don't we often get our information from the Internet?  Many of us communicate through e-mail, Face Book, texting, YouTube.  Don't you shop online?  When you fly, they want you to buy your airline tickets online.  Don't you go to the mall?  All of us go to the stores.  We've got to buy food.  We have to buy some gas.  We have to get our medications.  All of us are media people, and we are affected by it each and every day.  No generation is immune.  When we go out, we see constant communications on things they want us to do.

So think about the term repentence in terms of change in our lives, and try to get away from that term repentence.  That's a church term.  That's a religious conversation.  Sometimes society takes our terms and gives them a new translation.  And so the media calls it change.  There is something wrong with us.  There's something that we need to change about ourselves.  They speak to us, and they want us to change.  And when you hear that, I say hold on to your pocket books.

Repentence, or change, is more than emotions.  It's a change of heart; it's a change of mind; it's a change that demands action.  So when you're watching TV, or if you're reading a magazine, hold onto your wallet.  Because if you need to lose weight, and many of us do of course, we know how difficult it is to drop a few pounds (or a whole lot of pounds in some people's cases.)  If you just try this pill, you won't believe the results.

If you are having financial difficulties, if you want to increase your financial stability, and you know you're not alone, all you need to do is purchased this book.  For the right price, and if you read it, you will learn these principles, and you will have a solid financial foundation.

And this is something I really like.  I have to tell you a story and this story is about my sister in law.  My brother and Iris divorced a number of years ago, but she and I still have a strong relationship.  Every time I see her, she says, "Mark, you haven't found a good man for the yet."

And I said, "That's a problem.  You want a good man.  If you want a man, I can find you one.  There's a whole bunch of them out there.  But you're asking for too much.  If you just say, ‘Give me a man,’ I'll give you a bunch and names.  But if you want a good man, I can't help you."  There are a lot of guys looking for a good woman too.

But the media doesn't care.  The media tells you if you want the right man, if you want the right woman, if you want to improve your love life, if you are looking for that soul mate, then join with thousands just like you.  All you have to do is enroll in this program.  It will change your future.

Isn't change good?  Change is good.  Enroll in this, read that book, watch that DVD, fill your mind with this knowledge, and for the right price, you can live not the ordinary life, but you will do some real living.  So, repent!  Stop feeling sorry for yourself, and do something.

People love to hear about change.  Especially when it benefits them, right?  People love hearing about change, especially when it's something someone else needs to do.  So when I think about change, when I think about repentence, sometimes I wonder about the Christian faith, those of us who love Jesus and proclaim him to be our Savior.  And I wonder if we are living up to our high calling to give witness to a God who loves all people.

From my limited perspective and experience, sometimes I hear Christians talk about their love for the Lord as if we have a special relationship that nonbelievers cannot have.  One thing I sometimes hear is that somehow, in this great nation that we call home, we have a unique role to play that other nations do not have.  Sometimes this frightens me because it may lead us to do things that are not God's will.

I just wonder about the good news.  I wonder if the awesome message of God's love is lost in our commercials of life.  Has it gotten lost in our selfishness, because we believe God’s hope is something that we should hold onto for ourselves?

That's one of the lessons from the bulk of Jonah.  It teaches that God can take the prejudice of a profit, and show His love for all people, even their enemies.  Jonah did not care for the Assyrians, but yet he had to learn a message.  When I think about this text, sometimes I can relate to some of the characters.  I can relate to Jonah, because I’ve had people who challenged my faith.

It’s OK, you don't really have to raise your hand.  I think I speak for everybody here, when I say that there are certain people in my life that I just didn't really care about.  And I learned as a minister that you don't have to love everybody.  You can respect everybody, but everybody's not going to be your best friend.  Everybody's not going to care for you as a friend.  There are difficulties that you just try to live with.

Sometimes you have a person that just challenges your faith.  You just don't like them, OK?  Maybe they have done you a wrong.  Isn't it human, that when you see that person going through difficult times, you feel that maybe that person is getting their just desserts?  You know, they've done all that evil and bad things to other people, now they are having trouble.  And maybe sometimes you feel that things are sweet.  I know you can't say that, but I will say that for you.

Sometimes we love to see people fall.  We love to see people go through difficult times, particularly those that challenge our faith.  And that's why I can relate to Jonah.  Jonah called to the priests of the city of Nineveh, the capital city of this eerie in empire.  The Jews and Jonah didn't care for the Assyrians.  They hated them.  The Assyrians worshiped false Gods.  So Jonah didn't really want to take on this task.  He even tried to run away.  But eventually he got the message.  Eventually he did go to Nineveh.  He did preach to the people, and gave them the simple message, "Repent from your wicked ways or God will destroy you."

Jonah is one of those books you can read with your coffee.  You can sit down in the morning or evening and you can read it at one sitting.  And I wish it gave more detail, because there is so much there that's left to speculation.  And I wonder why the King and people responded so positively to Jonas' message.  When he informed them that God was going to destroy them if they didn't turn from their wicked ways and turn to God in forty days, they heard him.

And they responded.  They repented; they turned to God.  All of the people fasted, and God responded to them.  God changed his mind.  God had compassion for them and He let them live.  He was moved by the acts of repentence.  They turn from their evil ways.  They acknowledged Him.  And He acknowledged them with his compassion.  We learned that God has a heart of love.  He is a God that is willing to show compassion, a God that is willing to show mercy to his people who repented.

Verse 2 tells us that the motivation for Jonah trying to run away was that he already knew this about God.  He was angry at God for not punishing the Assyrians.   And so he stated "I knew that God was a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, and abounding in love.  A God who relents from sending calamity."  We read in the dialog that God teaches his messenger a greater message.  The lesson that Jonah had no right to be angry at the people of Nineveh, for they heard the call.  They heard his preaching.  They changed, and they sought God's mercy.  Isn't it right that God gave them mercy and love when they responded so positively to the message?

Many of you guys know that Katie Miller, a student at Warwick High School, and part of the open campus program, has been helping us at the church office.  I asked her to look at this text to see what it said to her. She responded with a lot of thoughts, but one that I liked a lot.  She said that one lesson here is that God gives second chances.

And I wandered today as Christians, are we professing that message today.  Are we living that message today.  Or are we like Jonah.  Jonah knew God was a God of compassion, but that wasn't what Jonah wanted.  He wanted some revenge.  Jonah wanted those folks to feel some pain.  He wanted the city to be in ruins.  He wanted the wrath of God to be seen in HD Quality.  Jonah wasn't having all that.

Is it possible that God's good news has been diluted by our interpretations?  Because we believe in Jesus, because He's our Lord and Savior, because He's our shepherd, because we depend on Him, because He promises life now and into the future, we feel a special bond that is not open to those outside the church.  Are we like Jonah, the Hebrew, who believed that because of his heritage, because of his calling, somehow God was his special possession?  God loved just His people, and God would stand against the Assyrians.

But he was wrong.  For he knew deep down in his heart that God was a God of love.  And I'm hoping that we Christians have a heart that is more like God than our nature is like Jonah.  I’m hoping that we are Christians who won't make this a mistake.  When we are calling for repentence, when we are calling for people to make that change and give their lives to the Lord, we're not making the mistake of creating groups; groups who are churched and unchurched, those who are saved and unsaved, those who are in and out, those who are blessed and those who are unblessed.

 We are talking about people who are loved by God.  People who need to know that all of us are sinners.  None of us have a special hold on Him.  But his love is there for all.  And his compassion is there for all.  His mercy is there for all the world to experience.  When I think about the Christian faith and what it is that people see when they repent, I hope they see a God of love and compassion.  And that's the part of ministry that we need to live each and every day; that we are a people who want to live up to God's calling, and live the life of calling people to the Lord.  And knowing that when you repent, when you turn, when you change, that God loves you so.

From Matthew we have a wonderful teaching parable about the workers in the vineyard.  Again we learn about God's grace.  Those that worked all day were paid the same as those who only worked one hour.  And the thing about it is that God gives us more than we deserve.  People need to hear about that God, about a God who gave us His son and in whom we have life today and always.  They need to hear about a God that treats us by His standards and not by worldly standards.  We need to learn that people that we may despise, people that might be in prison, people who we think may be the bottom of society, are still God's people.  We need to learn that people who make a change, people who turn around their life, those who see God's love, those who repent for their sins, to them God shows compassion.

And also we learn that, in this political climate, from folks who are talking about change, Obama and McCain, don't have any corner on the market, because God has been calling for change for all time.  And his message doesn't cost you anything.  He's already paid the price.  He offers real hope for a world that is living in pain.  He offers real love for those who really repent for their sins.  He offers a real opportunity to live a relationship with him and with one another.

So we offer that message.  God is there.  And I hope that as brothers and sisters in the faith, we will have a heart seeking after God, a heart that when we ask folks to know the lord, and to turn their lives around and repent, that we truly have a loving heart, striving to know them and striving to serve them; striving to be a church that reaches out to people in times of need, and knowing that God is there and will never leave them alone.