The Need to Repent

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. His ministry was to call us to repentance preparing the Way of the Lord. It seems in the modern church that repentance is discussed very little. The meaning of the word repent is to have a deep sorrow for ones condition or behavior. The Greek word, 'metanoia' has the sense of changing one's heart or one's mind. Basically, we are to have a profound change in our attitude and behavior. One that turns away from our self-centeredness and toward total dependence on Christ as Lord, the ruler of our lives and savior, the propitiation for our just punishment of eternal damnation. Hence, we must know our condition to know Jesus' position.

In order to bear fruit that is worthy of repentance, we cannot choose to do whatever we like thinking it will be good enough for God. We must understand that we must change and that only God can change us! How often do we think we are alright as it is? Do we have an understanding of ourselves that says that all is not all right with us and One greater than us who is perfect must come into our hearts for our sake. And for our sake must be for the sake of The Kingdom. In other words, the end of our lives must be the beginning of our life for Him who was crucified died, and was buried! To say we believe in God is far different than saying our hard hearts are broken by the Him who died for us. Such a broken heart is necessary for new birth and that can only be done on Jesus' terms. Anything else is by our own initiative disregarding the Other's sovereignty!

Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

ARE WE SOWING RICE CHRISTIANS?

Yesterday I found myself in a parish that I once was a member of when I was a teenager. My sister and mother are members there now. It is ensconced in the wealthy northern suburbs of Atlanta. While I wore my collar, I sat in the pew listening to the sermon and stood in line to receive communion. The sermon was preached by a professional acquaintance of mine from several years ago! The readings appointed for the day were rich. 1 Kings 17:17-24 told of Elijah stretching himself upon the body of a dead boy crying to God to bring life back into the boy and the boy came back to life and was returned to his mother who would have been destitute without his care. From the Gospel of Luke the widow of Nain mourns the loss of her only son only to have Jesus say, "Arise!" and he too is returned to his mother who would have been destitute without her son. (Luke 7:11-17) And let us not forget Paul's Letter to Galatians where he proclaims that the Gospel is of God and hence supernatural rather than an invention of men. How else could he be a Christian proclaiming salvation to the Gentiles! (Gal. 1:11-24) Alas, the sermon really did not address the fact God can raise people from the dead. Or that the Gospel is supernatural in nature. In the sermon there were a couple of nice stories. They were more about how humanity can do the right thing. Really nothing about what God can do that is supernatural. If you feel good, perhaps you will see God.

So I come home, flop on the couch and turn the TV on. On TCM was an old Gregory Peck movie, The Keys of the Kingdom. The movie was about a Scottish RC priest who is somewhat of a misfit in his hometown. He is sent off as a missionary to pre-revolution China. There he sees an old dilapidated church building and 2 hosts who tell the new rector that everyone left when the previous pastor left as they had no one to receive payment from to stay and worship. But this couple will help repair the buildings and grow the church for their customary stipend. Fr. Chisolm, Peck's character, replies he has no money and has no intention of raising up "rice Christians". At this the couple leave in a huff and mock the priest's efforts in establishing a medical mission and a parish.

As a parish priest for over 20 years, I have encountered similar sentiments from my North American mission field albeit more subtle than the Chinese who looked forward to American and European missionaries doling out the wealth. Fr. Chisolm knew what a true convert was. But do we who pastor in comfortable America? There is an overriding, "What's in it for me?" attitude among church goers. When we make people happy, we are creating Rice Christians. Our goal is to preach Christ crucified. Are we bold to say that miracles abound today and that God still heals? Are we honest when we cannot say we have witnessed a miracle that defies explanation but are humble enough to appeal to The Almighty to show us one? After all, God is supernatural! Any effort to make church for selfish reasons is an effort to sow Rice Christians. When we define God on our terms rather than the Scriptures, we are making Rice Christians. It is no wonder that people church shop.

Later in the movie Methodist missionaries arrive in the Chinese village where Fr. Chisolm has labored many years. Knowing that it has not been his job to build a church but rather seek the lost for Christ's sake, he welcomes the Methodists as co-laborers! The Church for Fr. Chisolm was what Jesus wanted, not necessarily his traditions!

The problem with the American Church is that we want to build an institution, not the Body of Christ. We want to talk about ourselves and not about what God is doing or can do. We do not want to confess that maybe we are blind and deaf to His presence. A confession that requires repentance!

The truth is that Jesus is doing all the work to draw people to Himself. Those of us who are true believers can be missionaries in our own denominations and accept others who are members of Christ's fold in spite of our traditions!

Mystery of the Cross Part 3 Unconditional love - NOT!

Jesus died for us. As St. Paul says, "None is righteous, no, not one...no one does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10b, 12b) And so to that penalty, to appease God's wrath, He gave Himself up for us. There's the rub! There is a condition to God's love. In order for God to be just, all the debts of our crimes must be paid. It is true that we did not ask Jesus to die for us. If we had then we would boast in taking the initiative. No we aren't even that good. Only God, perfect in knowledge knows how to pay our debt. He even knows how and when! So what then are we to make of this love that require a man, born of a woman, to die for us?

As I said earlier, if you get the cross, you get Christianity. If you get the cross, your soul will be convicted and by this supernatural grace, (free, unmerited favor) you cannot help but to live a life for Him who died for us. So ask yourself, Are you a Christian because you say so, or because God says so?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer addressed it this way, Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

In the end, we are like one of the two criminals on the cross. One desired Jesus to pull Himself down along with him not acknowedging his guilt. The other knew well his guilt and accepted his penalty only to humbly ask Christ to remember him in paradise. Cheap grace puts us first telling God what to do. Costly grace puts God first as there is no other position to hold!