Repentance and Reconciliation
Thornbury Churches Together Lent Course 2010 ‘I will arise now and go to my father…’ (Luke 15.18)
This study guide has been put together with contributions from members of the different churches in Thornbury Thanks to: Bruce Goodwin Peter Hatton Sally Heath SPI Lewis Sarah Orrell Matt Sanderson
Cover illustration Rembrandt van Rijn The return of the prodigal son c. 1662 Oil on canvas
Contents 1. 2. 3.
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Launch event – a biblical overview of the subject of Repentance Week 1 - Joel 1 & 2 – Focussing on global repentance from the way we have damaged God’s world Week 2 - Psalm 51 – Focussing on the need for national repentance with specific reference to how we have bought into the cult of celebrity and our need to repent from how we have compromised with the world. Week 3 - Luke 15: 11-32 – Focussing on our need to personally repent and ‘come to our senses’ like the Lost Son as well as the repentance needed by ‘the older brother’. Week 4 - Revelation 3: 14-22 – Focussing on the need for the church to repent of its lukewarm witness and love for God.
Launch Event - A biblical overview of the subject of Repentance & Reconciliation „Love means never having to say „sorry‟?‟ When, years ago, my son did something naughty he thought everything would be fine if he said „sorry‟ often enough and loudly enough! Christians often seem to believe that if we say „sorry‟ to God often enough, even perhaps sincerely enough, then that is all we need to do. Repentance, as the Bible understands it, is something far more profound than just apologising. It involves moving, (or allowing ourselves to be moved); we must journey from a bad place to a place of blessing. Questions Where do we feel closest to God? How helpful do we find confession? (Either the shared ‘general confession’ or that offered in confidence in the ‘sacrament of reconciliation’)
Where are we? „You are nearer God‟s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth‟ says the poet, and indeed, in the beginning, according to the Bible, Adam and Eve were in a garden; not just in a place of plenty but very near to God, who walked with them in the cool of the evening. However, as we know, they disobeyed God and, full of fear, hid themselves from him. God came looking for them, calling out in the pain of loss „Where are you?‟ (Hebrew ēykah); but they had put themselves in a place where, it seems, he could not find them. This is a picture of the „human condition‟ – we hide ourselves from God. Our violence, greed, selfishness and disobedience separate us from him and from each other. „Lamentations‟, written after the dreadful events of the sixth century BC, when God‟s people were forced to leave their land and their beautiful city, Jerusalem, was in ruins,
begins with the same word ēykah, God uses in Genesis 3.9. But now it is the human writer who asks God „Where are you? He and his people live in a world where God seems absent; where he seems to have abandoned his people. So often God‟s people are found in a place of exile, pain and lamentation; a place where God appears distant. Even the Holy Land of Israel can be so full of injustice that people of faith there are in „internal exile‟ – bitterly aware that Jerusalem is not the city she should be (e.g. Isaiah 1.21-23). The Way back The Hebrew word shuv is the most common word for „repent‟ in the Bible – it means, literally, to return to where you came from. Here are some of the places in the Old Testament where ‘shuv’ is used: Amos 4.6-11; Hosea 3.5, 6.1, 11.5 Isaiah 1.27, 6.10; Jeremiah 3.7, 12, 14, 23 Split into groups and look at one of these passages, and the verses around them, asking where God’s people were when each was written. Why was it a bad place? How do people get into such places?
How do we feel? We must never forget that our repentance is an echo of, and a response to God‟s yearning to find us, his „Where are you?‟ While we do something – like the Magi in Matthew 2.12, we turn and go back home a different way - it is never a „work‟ in the sense that Paul uses the word in Romans 3.27-31; that is, a human achievement in which we can take pride („boast‟). No, repentance is provoked, made possible and accepted by the action of God „make us return and we shall return‟ (Lamentation 5.21). It is God who plants in our hearts the feeling that we are not truly at peace where we are; an awareness of being away from the place of blessing; a yearning for a return to that place. Here another, less common, biblical word for repentance, nicham, which means to feel regret, to change one‟s mind, has its place. ‘You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you’. St Augustine, Confessions
What then must we do? However, repentance is never just feeling sorry, especially feeling sorry for ourselves. If the world is a place of sorrow and sin, we must face our own responsibility for making it such a place. We must commit to living another way in this world, to being different people. ‘The sorrow of repentance may exist without a change of heart and life: because a passion may more easily be wrought than a true conversion’ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor
In New Testament the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, literally „a different mind‟. But this does not mean that the call to repent is only a call to think differently (though it is that). For at the heart of Jesus‟ message is the Kingdom of God; his proclamation that the world is to be transformed into a place where God is truly King and his holy will obeyed. We may be far from that place now, living in a strange land, where our material needs may be fully met but where we know little real joy and are often full of regrets. But the good news of the Gospel is that the way home is open. We have to swallow our pride; stop letting our feelings of regret paralyse us, but rather use them to move us to where God is in charge. And there, because of what Jesus has done on the cross, (Ephesians 2.11-21) we shall find a welcome in his loving arms.
Questions for reflection: What would our homes be like if God was in charge? What would Thornbury and Britain be like if he truly ruled here? What can we do to change these places, so they and we come back to God?
Week 1 – Joel 1 & 2
Care for our earth is gradually climbing higher in our priorities. Until now, economic growth at all costs, has been our driving force. But we are realising that our human activities – many more than 6 billion of us – are changing the fine balances of our earth. I am writing this in January and the first picture, a satellite view of Britain under snow, is a reminder of how tempting it is for those of us in affluent countries to deny that anything is wrong. But deserts are encroaching in many parts of the world, seas are rising, polar and mountain ice is melting: our harsh winter is just a local blip in a worrying and now fast accelerating warming trend around our world which has been building up over the past two hundred years of industrial development. To help us think about this contemporary question of our relationship to the whole creation, we shall read some words from the prophet Joel. Joel is one of those mystery books of the Bible. It is hard to determine when it was written but it is possible that the setting is after the exile in Babylon when the Jewish people had returned to their land, rebuilt the Temple, and established a priesthood. The Jewish people would have enjoyed a limited freedom, but only as a small part of a larger empire. Later, Joel‟s words struck a chord with the first Christians. St. Paul borrowed words from Joel (2.32): „Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved‟ as he shared the Gospel (Romans 10. 13). St. Peter interpreted the events of Pentecost (Acts 2.14-21) in terms of Joel‟s words about God‟s Spirit poured out upon people (2.28-32). Read Joel 1. 1-12 What are the problems facing the people in Joel’ time? Has anyone in your group had firsthand experience of a land where natural disaster has struck?
Read Joel 1. 13-20
Joel speaks about „the day of the LORD‟. Joel suggests that the disaster requires repentance and a turning back to God. In ancient times some people pictured God as hands-on, bringing disaster as a punishment or warning. How do members of group think that God is involved with the natural world? How do people (of faith and people of no faith) understand and re-act to natural disasters today?
In Joel‟s situation, plants and animals, rivers and soil, and the people who depend on them, are all caught up in suffering. Does our relationship with God, or lack of it, have an effect on the balance and order our world? What examples can you share of how the earth is becoming stressed? Are we right to worry about increasingly severe wars over water, oil, farming-land, fish stocks, raw materials?
Read Joel 2. 12-14 These words have been used by the Church for the Ash Wednesday reading at the start of Lent. What would a change of heart mean in our time, in practical ways of changing our behaviour to care for the whole of creation? Should Christians be giving a very strong lead about the environmental problems caused by human beings? What would you say to religious people who deny there is a problem in the way we use the earth and its people (for example look up the much older book of Amos, 8. 4-6), or even that as the world will come to an end anyway, we can use it up as much as we like?
Read Joel 3. 9-16 Some readers criticise Joel for having a narrow nationalistic outlook. But whose land is it anyway? (See Psalm 24:1 and Leviticus 25:23) Are there ways that we hurt people and nature by our attitudes to ownership, in this country as well as around the world? Can we do things differently?
Action You may decide there is some new action you can take to help yourself and others care for Godâ€&#x;s creation. As individuals, we can decide to change some aspect of how we live our lives. It might be encouraging to decide or covenant to do something differently in a group, (perhaps here, with friends and family, in church, at work, or in the local community.) Prayer – to end the session you might like to use this prayer or simply pray together: You are God of all that is huge and vast, ancient time beyond our imagining, distances we cannot understand, the dance of the galaxies, the orbits of planets. You are the God of all that is tiny, each moment we hardly notice pass, every tiny living thing, each part of the web of life, which we do not see but depend upon. You are the God of all that is beautiful, the breathing in and out of the seasons, bright colours and long growing days, or nature sleeping under shadow and snow, the dance of life. You are God of all people, of young and old, of black and white, of whatever our tongue or creed, your great cloud of witnesses through the ages. We do confess that we often live as if you are not the God of our lives, and instead we put other things first and make them our gods. We pray: Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. In a world where there should be plenty for all to share, we confess we do not take the needs of others seriously, and make it a world of hunger and violence. We pray: Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. We confess that we treat this wonderful, fragile earth, with seas and hills, its plants and creatures, carelessly and selfishly, and spoil its beauty and balance. We pray: Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. Gracious God, you are full of mercy and love, which goes on forever and ever. Help us to change our hearts and minds, to change the way we look at the world, and the way we act. To all who turn to you in openness and sorrow for sin, you give pardon and release. Help us to hear the invitation to follow in the way of Jesus, our Lord and our Saviour. Amen
Week 2 – David and the cult of celebrity Shamed Tiger Woods linked to another woman.
Prince Harry in nightclub scuffle Leading Lib Dem quits over sex scandal. Mark Oaten dramatically quit frontline politics last night over revelations of an affair with a rent boy. Dan Rather asked Bill Clinton the tough question about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky: Why? "For the worst possible reason. Just because I could," said Mr. Clinton.
Look at the images of celebrities and the headlines. What do they all have in common? Why do the papers and news take up so much space on celebrities who are ‘caught out’?
In 1 Samuel 16 David is chosen as King of Israel because of his heart. He was a great hero, greatly loved by the people and seemingly devoted to God. Yet like celebrities today he was only human and gave in to temptation. In 2 Samuel 11 and 12 we read of his most infamous failings. One evening, while his army were away at war, he was on the roof of his palace when he noticed a beautiful woman, Bathsheba, bathing on her roof. He liked the look of her and immediately sent orders for her to come to the palace, even though he was told that she was married. They slept together and she later discovered that she was pregnant. Her husband, Uriah, was in the army and David sent word to his army commander to send him home in the hope that he would sleep with Bathsheba and think he was the father of the child. Uriah refused to do so because, he claimed, he should be
with the army and not enjoying himself at home and so David sent Uriah back to the army with a note for the commander ordering that Uriah be put in the front line so that he would be killed. David and Bathsheba then married and a son was born to them. However God sent his prophet Nathan to David to confront him, which he did by means of a parable, which he then explained, and told David that the child would die. Which of God’s 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) did David break? (Not just the obvious one.) Do you think that breaking them or thinking he could get away with it was the greater sin? Do our sins seem less ‘bad’ if we can keep them secret?
Read Psalm 51, which is widely believed to have been written by David after Nathan had confronted him. What does David begin by asking God to do for him? Why can only God do this for him and for us?
The word translated „unfailing love‟ by the NIV is a word which speaks of God‟s covenant love. This is why David came with confidence to God to ask for mercy and forgiveness. What gives us that confidence?
In verse 4 David says to God, “Against you, only you, have I sinned.” Do you agree with him? (See also Genesis 39:9.) Why is repentance before God as important, if not more important, than seeking the forgiveness of those directly affected by our sin?
In verse 6 David speaks of God desiring truth „in the inner parts‟. What do you think David meant and why was that a particularly important lesson for him as a public figure?
Sin affected David‟s relationship with God and his own mental and spiritual state. Give examples of this from the words of the psalm. Do you find this true in your life?
David repented and received God‟s forgiveness but the son born to David and Bathsheba still died (2 Samuel 12:13-23). What is the value of repentance if we still need to live with the consequences of our sin?
If David’s sin had been splashed across the front of the Jerusalem Post and been the first item on the News at Ten, do you think the nation of Israel would then have been impressed with David’s repentance? Why or why not? Are we willing to forgive celebrities? Why or why not? Does God view their sin differently from ours?
To think about: A good response next time we hear of a celebrity who has „fallen from grace‟ would be to pray for them and those affected by their sin. We will probably not be in the position that Nathan was in to point out their sin, but there may be those who are in that position (Bill Clinton certainly had Christians around him), so pray too for them that God will give them the wisdom he gave to Nathan to confront the situation. Verses 13 -15 give a good reason for this prayer.
Week 3 – The Parable of the Lost Son Read - Luke 15: 11-32 Introduction Here‟s a parable that encourages us to consider on a very personal basis our relationship with Father God. Jesus tells us to imagine two men, both heirs to their father‟s estate. The younger one decides he can‟t wait for his share of the inheritance and so he asks his dad to give him his share straight away. Then he takes off and has a great time „squandering‟ his funds on who knows what (actually v30 gives a clue). It‟s fun while it lasts, but then disaster strikes. The money runs out just as a widespread famine hits the land, and suddenly he can‟t even afford pig food. At this point the passage says „he came to his senses‟. We might imagine this to be a literal thing – an empty stomach, lack of a comfortable place to stay, up to his Wellingtons on a pig farm – plenty of tangible reasons to rethink life in the light of what he left behind. This younger son decides he has no choice but to go back and face his dad after all, empty handed and red-faced. As Jesus tells it, long before his son arrives, the dad runs out to meet him on the road and barely even waits to hear his son‟s confession before ordering a massive celebration with all the trimmings. He‟s over the moon! Meanwhile, big brother gets to hear what‟s happened and he‟s thrown by the news. All this time, diligently staying put and doing all the right things, with no champagne ever being cracked open on his account. Now for some reason, the prodigal returns and suddenly the fatted calf they‟d been saving is on the barbeque - let alone those rings and sandals and robes... We can probably imagine how this son feels if we‟ve ever been going through the motions and then seen someone else turns up out of the blue and makes a splash, jumping the queue, taking all the credit we would have thought we deserved. How can a loving father say that‟s fair? And yet the message is clear: You‟ve been here all along, with everything at your disposal. Your brother‟s come back, as if from the dead. He‟s home at last. Questions: 1. What did the younger son go in search of? What do you think he was really searching for? 2. Although the elder son may have been more responsible, what feelings might have risen in him as he watched his brother leave home? 3. Describe the younger son’s repentance. Is repentance the same as remorse (feeling sorry)? Is there evidence that the younger son is remorseful or are his motives still out of self interest? Does this matter?
4. What do you think were the things that prevented the younger son from ‘coming to his senses’ sooner? What might we learn from this? 5. Jesus tells this parable in response to criticism from the religious leaders of his day because Jesus chose to eat with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 15v2). Do we have more in common with Jesus or the Pharisees when it comes to our lives and ho we choose to spend time with? 6. When he hears of his brother’s return and of the celebration, the older brother is ‘angry and refused to join in’ (v28). Are there things which we get angry about that prevent us from entering into the joy and celebration in life? 7. The older brother’s anger / resentment seems to come from an attitude in which he thinks he should be entitled to something because of his good behaviour rather than viewing all of life as a gift to be enjoyed. This leads him to dwell on the lack (what he hasn’t had) rather than the fullness (all the things he does have) in life. How does that affect us? 8.
Do you relate to either brother’s story and could share that testimony?
9. Do you think that the Father in this story is fair? If not, why not? Is he something better? 10. Does this parable affect your understanding of God’s forgiveness?
Prayer Father God. Despite the mistakes I make, your love is big enough and radical enough to see my repentance as a cause for great celebration. Today I want to find myself face to face with a Father who loves me personally enough to drop everything and meet me on the way back home to him. And at the same time I repent of the self-righteousness I so easily feel when I compare my life with that of others. Help me instead to press on into the life you‟ve given me with everything I am, ready to find you there still loving and welcoming even when everything else fails. Amen
Week 4 – The letter to the Church in Laodicea Revelation 3: 14 – 22 Background This is the final letter of seven written to actual churches in seven different areas in Asia Minor. The general pattern of the letters is commendation, complaint and correction (NIV Study Bible), and overall the letters are designed to impress upon the churches they are written to, the need „for patient endurance in a time of persecution‟ (From R. Mounce‟s commentary on Revelation.) Laodicea was located in the Lycus River valley in Phrygia (modern day Turkey) on wellused trade routes. Three features of the city are notable especially in relation to the contents of the letter. 1. It was a wealthy city. Tacitus the historian noted that „after an earthquake there the city rebuilt itself with no outside help!‟ It became well known as a banking/ financial centre. 2. It was also known for its wool. The sheep there produced a glossy black wool that was used for tunics. Thus it had an extensive textile industry. 3. Laodicea was known for its famous medical school and exported „Phrygian powder‟ widely used as an ointment for sore eyes. In addition, Hierapolis, 6 miles to the north of Laodicea, had hot springs which flowed over the cliffs down into the valley where Laodicea was, leaving mineral deposits and lime „waterfalls‟. Laodicea‟s water supply was channelled from these hot springs and reached the city, tepid. Begin by reading the whole letter quietly to yourselves and spending a few minutes in prayer.
Study The study is in three parts: A. Verses 15 – 17a, 19 – 22.
B. Verses 17b – 18, and C. Verses
A. ‘I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.’ (Verses 15 & 16)
What things do you associate with the word ‘lukewarm’? Are there any other words you know like it? The word ‘spit’ (or spew) literally means ‘vomit’. Why would someone do that with a lukewarm liquid? The point here is that the people in the church at Laodicea were neither cold (refreshing like water), or hot (healing). In what ways might we apply this to our own spiritual condition and that of our churches?
‘For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing’ (Verse 17a). The charge is one of spiritual complacency, a smug self-satisfaction in their own spiritual attainment. Suggest ways in which we (and our churches) can become spiritually complacent. Move on to discuss practical ways in which we (and our churches) can guard against becoming spiritually complacent
B. ‘You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you might be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see’ (Verse 17b - 18) Look at the table below, follow the connections across between the Laodicean ‘strengths’ and the ‘reality’ as God sees it, and what then is God’s ‘suggested solution’, followed by the ‘result’. Laodicean strength Banking, Financial Wealth Wool, Textile industry Medical, Eye Ointment
Reality as seen by God Poor (even pitiable) Naked (or wretched) Blind
Suggested solution Buy gold refined by fire Buy white robes as clothes Buy salve for the eyes
The Result You will be rich Shame dealt with You will ‘see’
Reflect on the information above. How might we apply this paradigm to ourselves and our churches? What ‘in reality’ might God see in our situations in the second column and are there possible solutions? If you have time, explore what ‘fire-refined gold’, ‘white robes’ and ‘eye salve’ might specifically mean?
C. ‘I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, (Lit: Be hot) therefore and repent. Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you (Lit; anyone) hear(s) my voice and open(s) the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me. To the one who conquerors I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches (Verses 19 – 22)’.
The final part of the letter demonstrates God‟s love and forbearance. Although they were about to be „spewed out‟, there was yet an opportunity to repent. The wonderful Holman Hunt picture aptly titled „The Light of the World‟, accurately captures Christ outside the door and knocking. The invitation is addressed to each individual member of the congregation: „if anyone’ hear(s) and open(s). The response of Christ to the opened door is that he enters and joins in table fellowship. Meditation Exercise (This can be done as a group with the leader taking you through it, or at home) Imagine Jesus Christ came to your house for dinner. How would you prepare? What would you need to do to make your house ready for this special guest? Imagine you are now sitting down to eat together. What would you like to talk about? What questions might you ask Jesus? What does he say to you? Spend some time trying to quietly listen to what Jesus might be trying to say to you as you sit together. (Next time you take communion try to remember those words that He has intimately spoken to you.)
Conclusion Regardless of whether you have had time to do the mediation exercise or not, try to finish your time together by praying for each other & for our churches that we may not become spiritually complacent.
Space for your own notes:
Notes continued
A Prayer for Lent, by Henri Nouwen
How often have I lived through these weeks without paying much attention to penance, fasting, and prayer? How often have I missed the spiritual fruits of the season without even being aware of it? But how can I ever really celebrate Easter without observing Lent? How can I rejoice fully in your Resurrection when I have avoided participating in your death? Yes, Lord, I have to die -- with you, through you, and in you -and thus become ready to recognize you when you appear to me in your Resurrection. There is so much in me that needs to die: false attachments, greed and anger, impatience and stinginess.... I see clearly now how little I have died with you, really gone your way and been faithful to it. O Lord, make this Lenten season different from the other ones. Let me find you again. Amen
Illustration The Light of the World (1853–54) by William Holman Hunt ‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me’. Rev 3:20