Repentance

Lectionary Reflections for the Second Sunday of Advent (A)

By Leon Spencer

Readings for Advent 2, Year A, Dec. 5, 2004

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

“Repent,” John the Baptist proclaims, “for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repent. “Repent,” Jesus follows up on John, “and believe in the good news.”

We're hearing a lot about repentance these days. That's what many in the Anglican Communion wanted the Windsor Report to call for, an act of repentance by the Episcopal Church for the “sins” of its 2003 decisions. But it's not just within our church that this fundamental theological concept is arising. I was watching a network television news broadcast the other night, where the reporter was interviewing a conservative pastor who was claiming that President Bush owed his election to the religious right. (He didn't describe them in that way, he simply said “Christians.”) As a result, the pastor declared, their agenda – a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and anti-abortion steps topped the list – needed to be adopted. But, the reporter asked, there are many Christians who have a different view about these issues. What do you say to them? “Repent” was the pastor's simple answer.

“Repent” was the pastor's simple answer. Those of us who embrace the social justice witness of the church might irately say, “How dare he?!” But the daring call for repentance has both a strong scriptural heritage and a sustained tradition throughout church history, often in ways and with a message that we admire.

Those of us who embrace the social justice witness of the church might irately say, “How dare he?!” But the daring call for repentance has both a strong scriptural heritage and a sustained tradition throughout church history, often in ways and with a message that we admire. I can well imagine that most of us have heard sermons, or preached them, underscoring the call to return, to be obedient to the will of God, a call to conversion, our becoming a “new creation.” Justice, love and peace may all fit well within that call. Repentance, we are likely to have heard or said, is a gift from God and a task for ourselves. There's integrity to these themes, and we can well and rightly recognize them as key to John's, and Jesus', message.

With these recent calls for repentance fresh in my mind, however, I found myself wanting to ask who among us has the right to call upon others to repent. The Old Testament prophets, scripture is at pains to tell us, were specifically called by God to the prophetic ministry. When they said “repent,” they were speaking for God. John the Baptist's call for repentance is clearly part of the messianic story; Jesus' is an offer of a personal choice, of following Jesus or a rejection of repentance, all related to the coming of the Kingdom. But the call to repent didn't stop there; Jesus sent out his disciples, in twos, and “ they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.” Under those circumstances, they too, w hen they said “repent,” were speaking for God.

Whom has God called to proclaim the imperative repent? I'd like to think that the voices of the abolitionists and in the civil rights and environmental and gender and peace movements – to name but a few – were called by God to offer a prophetic message God's people needed to hear. When, at the Washington Office on Africa earlier this year, I wrote a “manifesto” on the theme that we in the United States had become the most dangerous nation on earth, and issued a call for people of faith to return to a “moral values” agenda of concern for the common good, for the poor and marginalized in our world, for peace and for justice . . . when I wrote all that, had God called me? Maybe. Maybe not.

The Old Testament prophets were mighty sure of themselves, and if the stories of their call are to be believed, they had a right to be. So did John the Baptist, and Jesus' disciples, and of course Jesus himself. Me? I have a hard time putting myself in such lofty company.

It's the clarity that's the problem for me. The Old Testament prophets were mighty sure of themselves, and if the stories of their call are to be believed, they had a right to be. So did John the Baptist, and Jesus' disciples, and of course Jesus himself. Me? I have a hard time putting myself in such lofty company. When I rail against the policies of a government that claims greatness while putting far too little energy into just being good, I suppose I think there's a call somewhere for me to say what I say, but I'm more likely to believe I am offering something that matters to me to my faith community . . . to consider, for reflection.

What of the conservative pastor on the nightly news? He seemed very confident that he was called to proclaim repentance. Maybe he is. Maybe his call is his offering to the faith community, one that I need to reflect upon. I just get lost when I ask if the repentance he seeks from me is one that moves me toward, or away from, a kingdom of God that is comprised of justice and love and peace. I'd like to remain open to asking, how is God speaking through him, what do I need to hear, and how does his call reflect this vision of the kingdom of God? Maybe I'll find something there. Maybe I won't. But I'm far happier approaching contemporary calls for repentance as ones coming from brothers and sisters in Christ, who like me “have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

The Rev. Leon Spencer is dean of the School of Ministry in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He may be reached by email at leon.spencer@episdionc.com .