Readings FIRST LESSON The first lesson is from “Repentance and Forgiveness” by Rabbi David R. Blumenthal "Recognition of one's sins as sins" is an act of one's intelligence and moral conscience. It involves knowing that certain actions are sinful, recognizing such actions in oneself as more than just lapses of praxis, and analyzing one's motives for sin as deeply as one can. "Remorse" is a feeling. It is composed of feelings of regret, of failure to maintain one's moral standards. It may also encompass feelings of being lost or trapped, of anguish, and perhaps of despair at our own sinfulness, as well as a feeling of being alienated from God and from our own deepest spiritual roots, of having abandoned our own inner selves. "Desisting from sin" is … an action. It is a ceasing from sin, a desisting from the patterns of sinful action to which we have become addicted. Desisting from sin involves actually stopping the sinful action … and making a firm commitment never to commit the sinful act again. "Restitution" is the act of making good, as best one can, for any damage done. If one has stolen, one must return the object or pay compensation. If one has damaged another's reputation, one must attempt to correct the injury to the offended party. "Confession" [of a personal nature] requires individual confession before God … the more specific the personal confession, the better. One who follows these steps to Teshuva is called a "penitent". Teshuva rooted in fear of humans or God, is called "repentance rooted in fear" and, while not the highest form, is the core thereof. Teshuva rooted in reform of one's character through analysis of sin, remorse, restitution, and confession, when combined with the ceasing of sinful action, is called "repentance rooted in love." "Repentance rooted in love" is most desirable but, without cessation of sin, reform of one's character is useless. SECOND LESSON The second lesson is from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 13, verses 1 through 9 Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
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This Week's Sermon Date: March 7, 2010 Title: What God Wants: Repentance Message Delivered By: Rev. Dr. Joe McMurray The battle between good and evil continues: And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach and green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so that man and woman would live together side-by-side and live long and healthy lives. And Satan developed the fast foods industry. And fast foods brought forth the 99 cent double cheeseburger. And Satan said to man, "You want fries with that?" And the man said, "Supersize them." And the man gained pounds. And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair. And Satan froze the yogurt, and brought forth chocolate, nuts and brightly colored sprinkle candy to put on the yogurt. And woman gained pounds. And Satan brought forth creamy dressings, bacon bits, and shredded cheese. And there was ice cream for dessert. And the woman gained pounds. And God said, "I have sent your heart healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them." And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big that it needed its own platter. And man gained pounds, and his bad cholesterol went through the roof. And God brought forth running shoes, and man resolved to lose those extra pounds. And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And man gained pounds. And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried of them. And he created sour cream dip. And man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol. And Satan saw it and said, "It is good." And man went into cardiac arrest. And God sighed, and created a quadruple bypass surgery, angioplasties, and stents . . . and Satan created HMOs... And thus goes on the battle between God and Satan. God gives us things that are good, and Satan comes along and changes them or adds to them. We must all choose what we will do with the things that God has given to us. What will you do with your life and the things that God has given you? You must choose every day whether you will use these things for God and God’s glory or for yourself and the world. The choices that you make today will determine what kind of life you will have tomorrow. Will you pray with me? And may my words and all of our thoughts be filled with honor and praise to you. Amen. The following is from Isaiah 55:1-9: Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; See, I made him a witness to the peoples, Seek God while God may be found, As I have encountered multiple theological and spiritual resources over the years, and heard many stories in the lives of people from multiple walks of life, it occurs to me that many seem to confuse repentance with forgiveness. Since this is the season of Lent and we’re exploring what God wants, and given that Lent is a time to look inward and examine our shortcomings and even our failures, I thought it might be appropriate to spend some time over the next couple of weeks with some thoughts on repentance and forgiveness. When we are penitent or repentant, we seek forgiveness for what has been done or not been done; we hope to atone for not taking responsibility for something for which we had accepted responsibility, either voluntarily or by default; we attempt to make restitution for the harm we may have caused or the damage we may have done. Repentance comes when we claim ownership of something for which we were responsible that somehow escaped our attention, left us lacking in our effort, or brought distress or caused harm to someone else. There are thousands of books written on the topic of forgiveness, many by psychologists, philosophers, theologians, and other spiritual leaders. However, there are not quite as many references that point toward repentance—the act of calling ourselves to account, accepting responsibility and feeling sorrow or regret for an action committed or omitted. In my experience, one of these acts in particular—forgiveness—seems to have a huge element of power attached to it. When a wrong has been done to you or to a loved one, only you have the power to forgive what has troubled your heart. Only you have the ability to absolve the wrongdoing. Well, of course, God does, but speaking in human terms, only you have the power to forgive. Utilizing that power—taking the steps to offer forgiveness—is associated with a certain aspect of acknowledgement, grace, and gratitude: an acknowledgement of the pain that was caused; the grace extended to forgive the one who caused the pain (this is the same grace always extended to us from God); and gratitude that we trust in the forthcoming blessings which are a result of the circumstance that has taken place.. Meanwhile, the act of repentance is one considered the weaker sister of the two: on its face, it appears to be an act that relinquishes one’s power—that willingly and consciously puts one in a position of apology or remorse; a posture of prostration and acquiescence. Yet, repentance requires honor and truth; it demands courage and forthrightness. With repentance comes humility, because not only do you risk coming forward and admitting your fault, you also take a huge risk that the efforts of offering your sorrow may not be accepted, and you may walk away unforgiven. In my view, repentance is more difficult than forgiveness, especially if you’re the kind of person who can never admit a mistake. Be that as it may, I don’t believe we really begin to understand the process of forgiving until we ourselves have sought forgiveness for wrongdoings we have committed. We cannot fully know the depth and breadth of forgiveness until we have tasted the bittersweet tang of repentance. Contrary to what we might believe, the stronger power, the deeper sense of self-satisfaction, the more authentic presence of grace comes with the act of repentance. The theme of repentance is two-fold in today’s gospel. Jesus was faced with a painful reminder of the story of the suffering experienced by a group of Galileans murdered by Pilate, whose blood was used to desecrate the temple. According to Jesus, sinfulness is an equal opportunity employer. Suffering is suffering; it is independent from the type of life you lead; hardships are not meted out according to the actions in your life. The second story concerns a fig tree that produced no fruit in the first three years it was raised and nurtured. In those days, a tree, from which production was eventually expected, was to be nurtured for three years without using its fruit. In the fourth year, the fruit produced was to be used in sacrifice as a sign of thanksgiving. Only in its fifth year was the fruit to be harvested. This parable gives us an insight as to the patience of God: that there is a time for everything to develop as it was meant to develop. You cannot rush a tree in bearing fruit, nor can you require instant perfection from a human being. But this much is true from both of these parables: repentance is an essential part of wholeness and oneness with God. In order to experience completeness, each of us must repent for the wrongdoing we commit against one another and against God. God is patient with us, and God’s grace is always waiting for us to enjoy. We can only hope that those whom we have wronged are patient and grant us grace. Isaiah reminds us of the covenant God made with us; God’s promise was to provide all we need and more. Even “the nations we do not know or that do not know us will run to us” because we have received the glory and grace of God. All we need do is remain faithful to God, seek forgiveness when we are wrong, and offer thanksgiving for the grace God extends to us. The hard part is not so much identifying when we’ve done wrong, for we usually know that. The difficulty comes in acknowledging it, being sorry for what we’ve done; the hard part is making restitution to those who were harmed, and forswearing repetition of the act. This is the work of making things right so that we might return to God. And again, God’s grace and mercy are always available to us, no matter what we have done, if we are truly penitent. The ancient rabbinic practice of Teshuvá spells out the steps of true repentance: the recognition of one’s sins as sins; feeling remorse for the sin; desisting from further sin; providing restitution to those who have been harmed; and making a confession before God. In most conflict, it is the first step that has traditionally been the most difficult: recognizing one’s sin as being sinful. Too often we walk through life blaming our woes and our suffering on everybody else without taking ownership of our part of it. Have you ever driven on the highway, only to be cut off by another driver. You look at them, they look at you – and then they scream at you (or gesture) because—now get this—because they did something to you and they don’t want to be held accountable. So they attempt to turn it around by making it your fault. It was all your doing. It was your fault for driving too slow or for driving too fast. It was your fault that they had to cut you off to get ahead of the other traffic. You were lame, because you were going the speed limit and preventing them from hitting 90 miles per hour; and they didn’t have time to slow down, or to be safe, or to consider the safety of others. Recognizing our wrongdoing as wrong, instead of providing excuses to justify our behavior, is an important first step. The next step toward Teshuvá is truly being sorry. There’s nothing worse than somebody apologizing for something when they don’t mean it and you know they don’t mean it. You can usually tell when that happens. When that happens, we should just be able to tell people “I don’t believe you.” (Which is much different, by the way, than saying, “Please don’t apologize” because what you really want is not to have to forgive people so you can continue to suffer and hold something over them.) Ceasing to sin again is another difficult principle to embody. There are times people offer remorse in the full knowledge that should the opportunity arise again, they will act in the same way. There is no movement here—no spiritual growth, no acknowledgement that the action was wrong, no admission that the act was hurtful. Such repentance becomes a hollow exercise devoid of meaning. How do we go about making restitution when we have wronged someone? Often, the injured party may claim there is no remedy, and often it’s remorse itself that becomes the restitution. Other times, when we have unfairly said things against people with whom we differ or just don’t like, we know that our opinion carries sway with others. In so doing, we may damage a person’s reputation by attaching their name to negative images, portraying them unfairly, or insinuating that they have committed acts we cannot prove. If you have wronged someone in this way, it is up to you to go back to all the people you spoke to and set the record straight. This is an important part of honest restitution. And the final part of Teshuvá is confession before God. One could argue that this should be the first step of Teshuvá, for without this, all other efforts ring hollow. When we sin against one another, we sin against God. When we speak ill of others, we speak ill of God. When we abuse others physically, sexually, emotionally or spiritually, then we abuse God. It is God to whom we must first confess. In some faith traditions, and especially in particular branches of Christianity, the priest or minister becomes the vehicle through which confession is made to God. In the Protestant tradition, the act of confession is not considered a sacrament. I must say that over time, my opinion of the confessional, or at least the sacrament of holy listening for those who are troubled, has changed. Speaking our truths, even our unpleasant ones, frees us from feelings of guilt. It can be very liberating to confess one’s shortcomings in the presence of another human being. Somehow the personal interaction acknowledges the severity of the offense, while grounding the confession in something tangible, thereby making both the acknowledgement and the confession seem richer and more heartfelt. But whether confession is witnessed by another human being or not, searching one’s heart, bringing oneself back to God, becoming one with God again, returning in good faith and asking for forgiveness fulfills the act of repentance, and through this act, limitless grace is extended to us. We should be mindful of the ways we have failed God and failed each other; we should be penitent for our wrongdoing; we should acknowledge our part and take ownership of what we have done; and we should seek God’s forgiveness, as well as the forgiveness of others to whom we may have caused harm. Lent affords us the opportunity to do this—to clean away those aspects of our bodies, our minds, and our hearts that have not lived up to our pledge of faithfulness. It will be a refreshing exercise that can lighten our hearts and our spirits. May we have the courage to be sincere, forthright, and pure as we seek to remedy our mistakes, and can once again find peace in the grace of God. And may we continue to follow where God is leading. Amen.
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