Outgrowing Repentance?

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. — Romans 7:15 Sometimes church can get in the way of repentance.Repentance plays a huge part in our becoming followers of Christ. We pivot from our previous direction, turning toward the Savior.But then something happens. We get better. We heal and grow in faith. The Bible calls this sanctification, and this is a good thing.As we grow in faith, it can seem like we have less to repent of. And that makes sense. Our lives should change as we mature in our faith in Christ. But is that the whole story?Personally, I have grown in my resistance to some of the sins of my younger days. But I have to admit that other, quieter temptations can easily line up to take their place—sins like pride or defensiveness. When I see progress in resisting one kind of sin, I soon notice a new one cropping up. In Romans 7, Paul explains that sin grows inside us. I get that.I’m learning to adjust my idea of what spiritual growth looks like. As a boy, I sometimes wondered if grown-ups needed to repent. Now, as a grown-up, I realize that I’ll never move past my need for repentance. But, thanks to the work of God’s Spirit in me, I’m getting better at living faithfully.I hope you have experienced repentance. And, as your faith grows, I hope you keep experiencing that, with God’s help all along the way. Lord, keep us humble as we grow in faith. Remind us that we always need your grace, and help us continually to turn back to you, realizing we need you always. Amen.

I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. — Romans 7:23 Repentance isn’t complicated. It can be as simple as saying “I’m sorry.” Yet for all its simplicity, repentance can be surprisingly elusive.When I was a child, my parents taught me the basics of repentance. When I broke a rule or did something hurtful to my brothers, they instructed me to say I was sorry (whether I actually was or not!).If you think of repentance, how do you picture it? Does it show the relief of a reunion with a long-lost friend? Or is it more like the grim resignation of a driver pulled over for speeding in traffic—or, similarly, like an athlete called on a foul by a referee: sorry, not sorry!Actually, repentance is amazing, if we think about it. It gives us the chance to name our sins and have them taken away.Oddly, though, we don’t often think or talk much about repentance. And, perhaps more strangely, we can tend to think about it less and less the more we gain experience as believers. It’s almost as if we think we somehow outgrow our need for repentance. (More about that later.)And so we hide.When was your last experience of repentance? Can you remember it? God, remind me that true repentance brings freedom. Help me not to shrink from confessing, but to embrace turning toward you with joy and trust in your mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9 Shame creates distance from God, just as it did for the woman at the well. Since the fall into sin (Genesis 3), a sense of having spoiled God’s best for us has caused us to keep our distance from him. Even today we carry bad memories, broken expectations, and accumulated regrets. In our shame we subtly back away from God.How do we fix this problem? In the Bible God calls us to repentance for our sin. At its core, repentance involves complete honesty with God: a recognition of not only what we have done but also who we have become. Honest repentance provides a step toward the miracle of having our sins washed away, with our debts charged to Christ’s account. It furthers the process of our sanctification, God’s way of making us new.There is also a relationship side to repentance that is important to remember. Repentance involves more than simply acknowledging that a rule was broken. It involves recognizing that a relationship was damaged. The biblical word for repentance refers to “turning around.” When I repent of a sin, I turn away from that behavior and back toward the way God calls me to live. Repentance involves a new realization that we have in some way left God and are turning back toward him.When was the last time you repented, turning back to God? Lord, help me to be honest with you. Show me where I have sinned, and help me to turn fully toward you, with my heart open to renewal. Amen.

[Jesus] told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” — John 4:16 In this story we find hints that the Samaritan woman was accustomed to hiding. Her personal life had fallen into ruin, and her sense of shame affected her daily routine. She came out to draw water at the hottest time of day, when most people preferred the shade. She was hiding in plain sight.We, too, often hide. Ever since Adam and Eve crouched in Eden with those forbidden-fruit stains all over their faces (Genesis 3:6-10), we have tried to hide when we have felt guilty or ashamed.Sometimes we hide in our sin, like rebellious sons and daughters far from home. We may not even do this on purpose— it just becomes easier to do as we please when the people who know us aren’t watching us or telling us what to do.At other times we may try a different approach—hiding behind our “goodness.” We instinctively aim to act our best when we realize we have failed in some way. Think of how we put on our best behavior after sliding back into a sinful habit. We may not even be aware we are doing this, but our instinct to try to cover up and “clean up our act” runs deep. Like the woman who came to the well at midday, we tend to hide in our shame.How does shame show up in your life? Do you notice when you are trying to cover up? How do you respond? God, forgive us for trying to hide in our shame. Replace our fears with assurance of your grace and forgiveness, that we may enjoy the freedom you give us through new life in Christ. Amen.

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” — John 4:9 Most of us like to have a place to call home. We prefer to be in familiar territory and with people who are like us.Jesus was different. That’s why in John 4 we see him chatting with a foreign woman at an unfamiliar well at the least comfortable time of the day. Jesus seems to have loved skipping across social and territorial boundaries that other people had marked with “No Trespassing” signs. (Note: As a Gentile whose ancestors lived a long way away from both Judea and Samaria, I’m personally thankful for that.)Have you ever felt like an outsider— perhaps even with people in familiar surroundings, or maybe even among your own friends and family? If so, how did that affect you? Whom do you know who might be feeling like an outsider among God’s people today? What might God be saying to you about caring for them?In our reading today, we may sense that the Samaritan woman wasn’t exactly thrilled to meet a Jew at the local well and to have him ask her for a drink of water. (Was Jesus trespassing on her territory?) Yet Jesus replied with some words about God and said that he could give her “living water.” I’m glad Jesus didn’t just stay in familiar territory. He knew he was on earth for a reason—and every conversation he had was shaped by that awareness.What relationships in your life could God use in order to reach someone? Lord, help me to notice people I might overlook. Give me courage to approach them with care and to point them to you. For your sake, Amen.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” — John 4:7 To read this story well, we need to understand who this Samaritan woman was. As we saw yesterday, the Samaritans were a minority group that was distantly related to the Jews. And most “respectable” Jews in Jesus’ day kept their distance from Samaritans, having determined that they were “not their kind” of people.Further, we need to look at this woman’s place in her own community. As we noted a couple of days ago, she was lugging her heavy water jug to the local well in the heat of midday, though everyone else did that in the cool of the morning. She was keeping her distance even though it made her life more difficult. She was an outcast among outcasts.John 4 observes later that the disciples were surprised to discover Jesus talking to this woman (v. 27). And that’s probably an understatement. Any decent rabbi (teacher) would rarely talk to a woman, much less a Samaritan one. But here was Jesus, having a conversation with this woman at the well near Sychar.This encounter reveals something important about the kind of kingdom Jesus had come to bring. This wasn’t a kingdom where you spent your time with only the people who were like you and could help you get ahead. Jesus seemed drawn to people who had the least to offer him.What about you? Whom has God placed in your life who has little to offer you? Lord, help us to follow your example of seeking people who are overlooked or outcast. Give us the heart to love everyone, trusting you will use it to do good. Amen.

Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. — John 4:4 The story at Sychar is all about outsiders. Samaritans were racially mixed former Israelites who had intermarried when Israel was conquered and exiled (2 Kings 17). To the Jews, then, the Samaritans were no longer really God’s people. They were more like the embarrassing family secret that people didn’t like to talk about at get-togethers. Yet they lived next door to the Jews in Jesus’ day, so occasional run-ins were inevitable.In those days, most Jews traveled around Samaria to avoid going through it. But Jesus led his disciples right through the land of compromise as he traveled from Judea to Galilee. No hiding for them!Who are the “Samaritans” in your world? Perhaps they are people who live across some border near you? Or they align with another political party? Or they have a lifestyle that contrasts with yours?How do you react to your “Samaritans”? Often we bristle against them. We stiffen inwardly if we see them going against our convictions. Or, at times, we may feel intimidated and try to get them to like us. Sometimes they can also begin to change us, leading us to become more and more like them, for better or for worse. In Jesus’ day that kind of compromise was the religious leaders’ worst fear for Israel.How do you tend to respond to the “Samaritans” in your life? Lord, give us courage to cross boundaries without fear or compromise. Help us to reflect your truth and love among people whom we might otherwise avoid. In your name, Amen.

A Samaritan woman came to draw water. . . — John 4:7 This month, we’ll get to know a surprising woman whom Jesus befriended. John 4:7 begins to describe a situation that was not what this woman would have wanted.To begin with . . . it would have been hot at “about noon.”For a dozen years my family lived in northern California, which has a Mediterranean climate. There is usually a 30-degree swing in temperature every day. In the morning it is usually cool, but later in the day it will be taking-pizza-from- the-oven hot. Then in the evening it will cool back down. People adapt their schedules to this pattern.Now, if you were going to haul a water jug the size of a child all the way out to the public well to fill it and haul it back, when would you do that? Probably not at noon.This isn’t just a detail about the time of day. It speaks to how this woman saw herself in her village. She was keeping her distance. And you don’t do that if people like you.This Samaritan woman had learned to hide. At least until Jesus found her. In the end, her isolation turned out to be a gift, drawing her close enough to the Savior to be found. We’ll focus more on that later.Are you facing unpleasant circumstances lately? Can you picture how Christ might be meeting you in that situation? Ask him for help; he is near. Lord, meet us even in the places where we might least expect you. Use even uncomfortable circumstances to draw us close and to reveal your grace to us. Amen.

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” — Luke 5:30 Followers of Jesus are expected to be nice, well-behaved, and untainted by the world, right? Most believers seem to think that.But Jesus never seemed to catch on to that idea. In fact, he tended to do the opposite. He sat comfortably among people whom others avoided and disapproved of. He didn’t join them in their sin, but he enjoyed their company. In an important sense, they were his kind of people.But we often act differently. We cluster with people who think, vote, and worship like we do. We keep a safe distance from people whose lives are different from ours—and seem to be rather complicated. On the other hand, if we try to blend in, we can tend to blur our convictions.Imagine Jesus glancing at your calendar this month. How much time would he see you spending with “his” kind of people? Would he see you keeping your distance from them? Alternatively, might he see you blurring your convictions in order to fit in?One day, when Jesus returns, every believer will be surrounded by people who are free of spiritual struggles. That will be a great day indeed. But that day isn’t here yet.Look at your calendar for this month. Whom might Jesus like to arrange for you to spend time with? Are they hiding? Will you go and find them? Jesus, help me to see others as you do. Teach me to embrace everyone you love, stepping outside my comfort zone and showing the grace you have shown to me. Amen.

“The more they were called, the more they went away from me.” — Hosea 11:2 This month we’re reflecting on hide and seek—the game about wanting and not wanting to be found.We’ve been playing that game with God for a long time. Think of Adam and Eve hiding in Eden, as God called, in effect, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” (See Genesis 3.) Or think about God chasing down Jacob as he ran from the brother he had cheated. Jacob hid in the wilderness, only to hear God calling out, in effect, from a stairway to heaven, “I found you!” (See Genesis 28.)Or think of Israel in exile. They had rebelled against God for so long that the Lord had finally given them what they wanted: a life without him. Hosea shared God’s haunting words: “The more they were called, the more they went away from me.” God’s people had become experts at hiding.So it’s not surprising that when God the Son came, he joined in the game personally. Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost,” he said (Luke 19:10). He offered forgiveness and healing to people like us who couldn’t do forgiveness and healing very well on our own. And yet we tried our best to avoid what he was offering. Why do we keep doing that?Jesus called all kinds of people to follow him, and they did. Yet even his closest followers had their own agendas and often tried to keep going their own way (see Mark 10:35-45).When you hear Jesus calling you, what is your response? Faithful God, thank you for never giving up on us. When we drift or resist, pursue us with patient love and teach us to trust in your grace. Amen.