Confess: Meaning of Repentance

Scripture Passage

Luke 3:7-14

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

¹⁰ “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

Sermon Script

Last week, we reflected on what it means to confess. Specifically, to confess our sins. I said confessing our sins is an integral part of our faith journey. If we think we have no sin to confess before God, we are fooling ourselves. When we confess our sins, we become more real and honest with ourselves. Through confessing our sins, we not only express our need for God but experience the power of God’s grace and forgiveness.

In today’s passage, John the Baptist mentions this word “repentance”. To the people who were coming to be baptized by him, John said—

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Luke 3:8

What is repentance? We know this word well. But what does it mean to ‘repent’? On the one hand, repentance can mean our DESIRE to turn from our old ways to a new way of living. In that sense, confession and repentance are connected. When we confess our sins, we are at the same time expressing our desire to repent from our sinful ways. I want to walk in God’s ways, not the ways of the world. That’s what we are saying.

Next Sunday, there will be a special service held at our church. It’s called “A Service of Repentance, Healing and Hope”. I encourage you to all attend. Our church is hosting this special worship on behalf of our broader Presbyterian Church in Canada. Our denomination is acknowledging how it overlooked and treated the ethnic groups in negative ways in the past.  The service reflects its desire to repent of its old ways.

Repentance, however, is not only about our desire to change. That is only the half of it. There is another side that we often overlook. Repentance may spring from the desire to turn from our old ways, but true repentance shows itself through ACTION. We don’t only talk the talk. We walk the walk.

In the same way, next week’s service will not be everything. The fruit of our denomination’s repentance will be shown in how we go on to live and co-exist with our ethnic brothers and sisters in the broader Church.

This is what John wanted to say to the people who came to him. He wanted to challenge their understanding of faith. People that came to him thought they weren’t all that bad because they were part of God’s chosen people. They had Abraham as their ancestor! John knew how they thought.

…And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

Luke 3:8

The Israelites had become complacent in their ways. They became blind to their own sinfulness. Sinful acts don’t necessarily mean grand, terrible, evil acts. It can be as subtle as being self-satisfied and lazy. Their faith became just a nice idea to them. They believed they were alright as long as they got baptized. They thought could just go on living the way they did before.

But what is baptism? It is a symbol of the new life that God has given us. It marks the beginning of a new journey. In accepting this gift, we are making a commitment to NOT to go back to our old ways but walk in God’s ways. There is an element of repentance, as you can see.

This was what the Israelites completely missed. John had his reasons for speaking harshly to them. It was as if he was saying, “Your faith is garbage!”

Where there is genuine faith, there is genuine repentance. When we experience God’s forgiveness in a real way, we repent. We don’t sleepwalk through life. We wake up. Our desire translates into concrete action. We no longer live only for ourselves, but for God and others. We live doing what is good and helpful. Genuine faith is always accompanied by genuine deeds.

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

James 2:15-17

John said something similar when the crowd asked him what they should do. Simple, honest, and selfless acts of giving.

Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.

Luke 3:11

We don’t do these things because we feel bad about ourselves. We don’t do good things to be a ‘good’ person. That’s a fundamental misunderstanding we have about faith. In Christ, God made us righteous. God forgave us without our having to earn it. We don’t need to prove our worth through our works. We don’t have to focus on ourselves so much anymore. We can freely love and care for others because God has already accepted us and been good to us.

But you may say, “I often make the same mistakes.” I do well for a bit, and then turn back to my old, selfish ways. I can’t always seem to love others and care for them. Is there something wrong with my faith, then?

Sin, as I mentioned last week, is what we will always struggle with. It is a powerful force that never disappears in our life. It tries to continuously turn us back to darkness. In that sense, it makes sense for us to stumble. Even St. Paul experienced this.

For I do not want to do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Romans 7:19, 20

That is why repentance is important. It is our way of saying NO to being self-centered and complacent, no matter how many times we fall. When we come to God with that desire, God will give us the strength to translate our desire into action. The power of God’s grace is stronger than the power of sin.

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:25

Don’t give up easily just because you see your own weakness. Come to God each time and look to him. Confess and repent. God will set you right on your feet again. You will be able to carry out God’s good will. Your life will bear much fruit.