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A Change of Mind |
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Summary
A Change of Mind The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis had a very non-spectacular moment of conversion. It was during a trip to the zoo with his brother Warnie. When he stepped into his brother’s motorcycle sidecar, he did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. When he stepped out of the side-car, he did. Everybody has “light bulb” moments: a nanosecond in time when a long-dismissed idea suddenly refuses to be ignored; a truth about who we are, about what we’ve done or what we should have done; the realization of a regret, a mistake or an admission that a long-held selfish belief no longer works for us. At its root, the word “repent” simply means to change one’s mind. The primary biblical use of the word, of course, is in regard to sin. When we repent of a particular sin, we must first change our mind about it, namely to accept that the action was inexcusable and dishonoring to God. Repentance is so foundational to our relationship with God, that this is the first thing Jesus preaches about when he begins his ministry: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Today’s passage begins with Jesus receiving the news that John the Baptist is in prison. It seems as if Jesus is taking this event as a signal to begin his own ministry. John had been preparing the way for Christ, getting people ready to hear Jesus’ message. Now that John could no longer perform this ministry as a free man, Jesus was ready to fulfill the prophetic teachings of John. Jesus’ intention was to illuminate a world that was held captive by a darkness that people could not even perceive. Jesus was getting ready to provoke some “light bulb” moments. Rationalization It’s been said that rationalization covers a multitude of sins. If we are in a pattern of behavior that’s dishonoring to God, it’s usually because we’ve been practicing a type of mental gymnastics that is so complex we cannot even come close to realizing what we’re doing. And so, the very first sign that repentance has occurred is the willingness to acknowledge full responsibility for our words, thoughts and actions, without blaming or assigning responsibility to the person or circumstances that provoked what we chose to say or do. In C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair (one of The Chronicles of Narnia books) there is a scene when two children, Edmund and Jill, were walking near a cliff. Jill became careless and as a result, Edmund apparently fell over the edge to his doom. Shortly thereafter, Aslan appeared to Jill and asked her what happened. She had a choice. She could have blamed Edmund for the disaster that resulted in this tragic event, but Jill decided to be accurate about her role. But, by acknowledging her part in the accident, she would also be taking responsibility for the tragic consequences. And she did, to which Aslan replied, in essence, “You have answered well. Now don’t do it again.” Reluctance to accept responsibility for the consequences of our actions is probably the number one obstacle to repentance. That’s because it’s often such a painful thing to do. But it’s the very thing we need to do if we want not only to be reconciled with God, but also to have a growing relationship with him and others. Immediacy While it may take awhile for the Holy Spirit to break through the emotional, mental and spiritual barriers that prevent genuine repentance, when it does happen, it’s usually immediate, pronounced, and results in some sort of action. That’s what John the Baptist meant when he said, “bear fruit in keeping with your repentance.” Remember, at its root, the word repentance means to change one’s mind. While its primary context is sin, it can also be legitimately applied to the assessment of non-sinful mistakes, and even to the direction that our lives have been taking. In today’s passage, when Jesus called two sets of brothers to drop what they were doing and follow him, they did so immediately. Understanding the context of this encounter helps us to better understand why they left so suddenly. For Jewish young women in the first century, a common dream was to become the mother of the expected Messiah. Of course, as they pursued their goals of having children and raising a family, they would not know if they had been chosen for this role until their children were grown. For Jewish young men in the same period, the dream was to be called out of their everyday lives to become disciples of a famous rabbi. It was the equivalent of a sitting president of the United States asking you to become a member of his cabinet. Would you drop everything you were doing to accept such an invitation? Even if you were to turn down the offer, wouldn’t you consider it a great honor? Well, that’s what happened with these two sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Do you think they had any idea what was in store for them when they quickly accepted Jesus’ offer? Probably not. If they had even a glimpse of what lay head (three out of the four of them were eventually martyred for their association with Christ), they probably would have been overwhelmed and possibly even declined the invitation. In the case of James and John, Matthew mentions that their father was with them. Not only did they leave their nets, but they also left him. Matthew does not comment on how the father reacted to his son’s actions. Perhaps he felt honored that his sons had been offered an invitation similar to one he had longed for when he was younger. Maybe he felt a little left out; after all, Jesus did not call him to a ministry of nomadic discipleship. But regardless of how he felt, he was still left with the nets, and probably now needed to do the work of three men. That suggests that another obstacle to repentance, either from our sins, mistakes or wrong directions, is wondering how our families (and perhaps our friends) will react to our new point of view. Sometimes repentance results in the ending of relationships, because the new views of the one person are no longer compatible with the comfortable pattern of a pre-repentance relationship. On the other hand, the example of the truly penitent may provoke a similar response in friends and family members, and relationships grow. In either case, however, we are not responsible for how other people react to our healthy decisions. No matter how we might try to influence them, the path that they choose in response belongs entirely to them. The miracles In the final verse of our gospel reading, we find a short summary of things Jesus did to provoke repentance in the people to whom he was ministering. Matthew tells us that Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues (as all rabbis were expected to do), preaching the good news of the kingdom (that always began with a message of repentance), and then healing every disease and sickness among the people. People reacted to these miracles in different ways: Some began to view Jesus as a genie who would provide whatever they needed at the moment, whether it was bread or deliverance from the oppressive Romans. Some reacted with gratitude, ready to drop everything else in their lives to serve the one who had delivered them from their misery. Some, especially the religious leaders, reacted with bitterness and intense jealously because they did not appear to have the heavenly stamp of approval that Jesus clearly did. But, it seems the primary role of Jesus’ miracles was to add a supernatural, authoritative punch to what he was teaching to the multitudes. His miracles were signs of heavenly vindication of his teachings. Those who directly experienced Jesus’ miracles often interpreted them as signs of God’s undeniable authority. This was the message of Jesus’ miracles: We need to pay attention to what this man is saying. And the first thing he is telling us to do is repent. To repent To repent means to change our minds. To repent of our sins is to change our mind about who is ultimately responsible for what we choose to say or do. To repent of our non-sinful mistakes means to take a hard look at what we did wrong, and try to learn from them. To repent of a bad idea, no matter how cherished, often means to release what we’ve become accustomed to in order to embrace the better things that God has in store for us. Let us commit to beginning each day with an attitude of repentance and readiness for action. |
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